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Show III H E A N G E L OF PAULINE' C O V E f m 'LER Ministrations to the Crew of Her Husband's K PS) Whaling Vessel Amid the Perils and Privations of , IS Arctic Seas Have Won Their Boundless Devotion B lfe ' "--lit m ' tstcam Whaler Navarch JmH fc.'SIHB iCooyrisht. 1311 b7 ti Jir York Herald Co. All rijrhta reervrd UVTt . . " H HE Angel of Pauline Cove," they call her, ifciv 1 but those who kuowher host know her us Hi I a patient, sweet tompeied woman whose vjj home Is the green-blue sea, and not the 3S blue ether of the sky. Her name is Viola !gWD. Cook, and when she is not roving the tea In the heat tjijfbHiidlng tropics or the stark, chill Arctic, she stays fnwlth her daughter in Prorlncetown. Sfil There are Eskimo women In the Far North who iftfjjlook upon stalwart sons stalking through fiwen snows iSJJand remember a vlslou of a plain, kindly faced woman Jtlbeated in a snow hut nursing back into strength and ijhealthf ulness a coughing infant, too weak to cry KTbcro are savage islanders In the South Seas who re- siSjTcall the same palo woman working umong them, dls- 1jIpeusulE kindness, relieving pain, trading always fairly, considerate of them. ml , As a matter of fact, Mrs. Cook Is the wife of a cap- 5 tain of a whaling steamer, and since 1S03, when she M went on her first voyage, has aggregated onlv five jj and a half years on land. At rtrst she went for health, S, and, finding it, continued to go for love of rovlug and "gl of the sea and of great Ico fastnesses, and out of doors V It was In this manner that she gained her name J5, 'The Angel of Pauline Covo." The steam whaling vos- i sel Navarch, of which her husband was captain, was 'Hi .winter bound at Herschel Island, approximately 70 K degrees north latitude. In Tauljnc Cove. There were ?Sl provisions a-plenty, but the men needed fresh meat 'Tjyfind change of diet to ward off scurvy. With sleds and jjRlogs and Eskimo guides a number of tho men had fforccd a way twenty miles through the snow and ice iuiMjn search of game. Accidentally one of the officers, afrrcd West, discharged his gun and bis, arm was badly Mflmanglcd. HR,lW,Itb the bitter cold and the. exquisite pain of the Htvround he almost perished during the long sled trip JSIhack to the vessel. The great thongs of walrus skin rgliblssed.and snapped over the backs of tho dogs, and nlthe Eskimo guides squatted on the forward end of fllkjthc sled or plodding behind, pushing and heaving to AQfhelp the animals, yelled, and ever again. IE. Little did the seamen know of surgery, but thongs flBlwerc used as tourniquets, and the rapid, pulsing How (Srafrom the wound was stayed until the vessel was iSffrcnchcd. It was an anxious group of whaling masters Jhnd officers who met in the captain's cabin to discuss Wjwhnt had best be done. Some were or amputation,' jjlfBut none dared attempt the operation. Medical help gjgjjiwas out of the question. At last they decided that aTigthere was a chance to save the arm and the man's JfJulJIfe. Comfortably as might be, he was bundled in 2?lwarm robes. The wound was cleansed and roughly wjjfbandaged. && When the work was but half done the door of the JHJJScabin pushed gently open and the captnln's wife np- 'Jpearcd. no hurried, to intercept her. &iMi "You must not come in." he whispered; "It Is tcrrl- ufjble, ghastly. It will sicken you," jC "I know," she said. "But here Is my place. A IJjJjvoman's hand Is needed and a woman's care." Wgff The captain hesitated, but he was proud of her and ffjljstood aside. A little gasp escaped the woman's lips 3tfflhs she leaned over the body of West and saw the gash DflDn Ml3 nrm" ne swa5'e slightly and the captain's jf ready arm circled her waist, ready to lend her away. jBK "No, no," she whspcred tensely. "Here Is my work. ffllj nm all rlcbL" ffk With pallid lips drawn tight, checks like chalk, she ilmsicd deft fingers, adjusted bandages that had beon Iclumslly placed by men's fingers, w rapped soft cloths lin little ways of skill that ubluuisdicd thoso who mt watched. When it was all done the captain led her, lneak and trembling, away. But she would not remain floug. Stimulants rpgtored a touch of color to her Hrchecks and Btrengthcucd her. H "I will watch blm," one said quietly, and would not HkiaKe reinsai. H Long into the night she sat by the berth of the dp-BniiioUK dp-BniiioUK man. Outside the snow scurried and rasped B.1 against steel and timber. Wind bowled as it does Hf only within the Arctic Circle and in the cold blackness H Ice crackled and screeched. A dingy lamp dickered Hl and threw dancing shadows, and as the woman Hj watched sleep drooi)ed her eyelids and it was only H with acute phj-sical effort that she stayed awake. HL The wounded man was fitful Jy unconscious. Strange H things he spoke and told, and sometimes the watcher H was afraliL It was a grim test of courage such as H comes to few men. There was nothing tangible for Hr her to fight, only her own strong dread, ber own de-H de-H sire to seek company and help. H Surgery in the Cabin. HL Suddenly she was awakp. There wad no new eound, H:' uo sight that startlrtl her, onrj' a vague, penetaaLing, H' faint odor. She lifted one of the- bandages slightly. H' Terror struck into her heart. Qujckly, stumbling from PR fatigue and weakness, she hurried to the captain's -jL berth. V 1 jHp. t "Danl Dan'.' she whispered, shaking blm by the aBj shoulder. "Come quickly; It's gangreqel" 9B The ripping planks, tho crunching of steel would , jMj 'not have brought the captain more quickly to hla feet. &9t "My God!" he wblbpercd, "What are we goiug to "SbF. do?" "jjifljl "There is only one thing to do," said the woman do- fiSSr tcrmlnedly. dBF "But wo can't, Viola' whispered the captaiu. 'Wo uian't amputate bis arm. We would kjll him." nR ""'t will be a wor-e death, thatVroni th" pangreiie," Wt ) I J Mrs VIOLA D. COOK she aald, und passed a bund quicLJs across bur ejea "Then let us wait until morning, when there Is light," he begged. "We can't," said his wife. "It must be done now. Perhaps It is too late." The o0iir were awakened and the group, of pn ous. frightened men gathered again in the cabin. They were sturdy and would face auy danger and not tlluch, but this deed, this deed that was walling for them, to which-they must 1uiti their bauds', blanched their-cheeks. their-cheeks. They quailed and t.huddcr'd, and It was the woman who was strong, relentless. Yet iife.v moments mo-ments before she had been afraid of shadows, and her husband had often chlded her for her fear of a mouse. No need to describe the scene In the smoky, stuffy cabin, still but for a weak stilled groaning and the deep, harsh breathing of men sorely tested In mpral stamina and physical valor. They panted and wearied as though their struggle was actually of muscle against muscle. "The Angel of Pauline Cove." When It was over the woman fainted. The men took It differently. Some wore. Some paced the desk in the tprrlfic cold. Others smoked and found grim relief re-lief In talking of the deed. West lay quiet, helpless, but slowly recupernting. Nights and days the woman hovered about the berth of the wounded man and saw blm grow Miong and well. His comrades did all In the world they knew how for him, but they wondered at the little ways the woman found to make him comfortable, to ease and shorten the pain laden hours. That was not the only mliu who fell 111 that winter, nor was he the only one to be nursed back to hcalth-fuluess hcalth-fuluess by the captain's wife. That is how she came to be called "The Angel of Pauline Cove." And there Is courage of a different temper In Mr6. Cook. When the peril Is her own she takes It even moie calmly than when It 1 another's Men tell of how she carries hot cotTee and spirits to them in I ho stress of storm, when every ounce of human effort available Is needed to wrest the vessel from the vory jaws of destruction. One night the Nnvarch was grinding and Jamming through the ice. For days the throbbing hull of tho hurried ship had raced erratically to port, to starboard, star-board, ahead, astern, ever dodging current flung Ice spears and seeking asylum In ouch of a thousand ohniice offered, current fashioned lane?, only to be forced to fly frdm each In turn by swiftly contracting Ice hedges It was as If the great Spirit of the North was hunting tho craft of steel, biullu:; at It mis-slips mis-slips whose tonnage di-ticd Imagination, and the live creature of teel Hod and redoubled, panting, exhausted, ex-hausted, unable to fight Iriclr, bent only upon escape. They were where nature could not be bound and bidden bv man. , At pumps and boilers and cables the men worked frantically, staving ofT death ''i'herc Ind been no sleep and little time for catliur. All were wearied until it seemed that lost wnv moie deniable than life Then, In the- blackness of the long Arctic nlyht the captain's wife went down into tho stoke holds nnd onto the frigid deck, with word, of cheer and, belli still hot Muff to diink and little Miatehes of food ' Wind, bitter and biting, bleu o that she toiili scarcely keep her footing, and the men, even as the" partook of her pi offered iefre.hineut, besged her t go below before -lie should perish. Sometimes whlh a man gulped hot roffee he buied herself for a mo inent al nts fak. throwing herself Into the work with ham? f 'ffl 'l v- lir -- -Jl3 Whaling Bngantinc Viola a will that made np for lack of actual puj&icai strength. The steam steering gear was not in working order So intense was the cold that steam coudensed in the pipes and the vessel was guided by a man at tho wheel From the crow's nest men bawled warnings to the helmsman, telling where was the greatest danger, dan-ger, where was a slightly better chance for safely. At the wheel Mrs. Cook found the helmsman struggling strug-gling with the rudder. His lips were blue and numb, sy that ho could scarcely whisper to her when she spoke to blm, offering food aud drink. "1 will take the wheel," she said; "just for a moment while you swallow this." From the man's motlons,sbe saw that his hand' were so numbed with cold he could not release tbo spokes. She unclasped the rigid fingers of one hnnd. Sne knew the man could uot stand much longer. Judt at the moment the lookout roared. "Port! Steady port!" The steersman tried to grasp the spokes of the wheel again with the fingers the woman had loosed from It. With the other baud he wrenched at the wheel, but the collapsing point had been reached. As the w heel spun to port he dropped to the deck. The danger had been avoided, but only to confront another, and ns the man crumpled, groaning, the lookout yelled madly: "Starboard: Starboard! For God's sake, starboard!" The captain's wife snatched the wheel and swung it hard over to starboard. Careening, the vessel veered and grazed an Iceberg which towered over the fuuncls and became dim iu the darkness above She had saved the vessel, aud the crew of the Navarch Nav-arch refused to believe longer In the superstition that the presence of a woman meant an unlucky voyage. Her First Voyage. . It was In the Navarch, from San Francisco, in ISiW. Hint Mrs. Cook first went to sea. She had been ailing aud her husband persuaded her to take the voyage into high latitudes for her health. Thro' oars to a day they were gone on that first voyage, and Mrs. Cook giew from a tlrtd. fragile woman of ninety -three pounds to a health sjecln!en of robust womanhood and a weight of 130 pounds. Two long winters, from early September to late July, were passed during this nynge, the Naiarch lying Imbedded In six feet of clear Ice at lleischel Island. .. . - - . .,.AA.ttAtAJtakAtAAAA AA4AAAA.14 mm :-;; n '? nk- To the men It was a tedious, dreary time of waiting, but the cuptaln's wife was spellbound by tho romance of It all To her thero was always some new wonder In the treniendoim manifestations of nature, thp prcat ice mountains and the heaven hkh mounds of snow. Above crackling and grinding and howling of wild winds could be heard the -humming rumble of her little sewing machlue, which purred and spun, while fat, greasy E.-klmo women squatted about her on the floor and watched odd pieces of heavy cloth grow into comfortable garmeuts which kept out disease and cold and discomfort. It wa6 in those two winters that Mr&. Cook learned Eskimo dialects, and though she never preached directly di-rectly to the simple minded women about her, the way Iu which .she grew close to them and planted the seeds for fnturc development in their hearts did a world of good. To the accompaniment of rude music on an accordion ac-cordion Mrs. Cook led her yellow skinned friends in tho singing of hymns which she had translated Into Lsklmo dialect, aud so heartily did the natives enjoy the .simple ceremony that they ofteu gathered In the mltldle of the week and demanded that a meeting be held. They saw no leason why Sunday should be set apart for such affairs Icebound in the Arctic. Until the winter of 1S07 Mrs Cook continued to voyage voy-age in the Nnvarch. then she and ber husband decided to remain Iu Provlncetown for a few months. The Navarch went north under a new commander and was destroyed by Icebergs. Captaiu Cook was given command of tho Bowhead, and despite the 111 fnte of the Navarch and the captain's reluctance to take her Mrs. Cook again went to sea. The summer of 1S9S was spent In the Arctic, aud the time from October 20 to Janunry 1, 1SO0. was spent In Ice does off Indian Point, Siberia, where many whales were taken and much profitable trading with the natives was indulged in. Still capturlug whales the vessel was taken to Yokohama, Japan. Imnug the vo.ncc war had been declared between the United Sates and Spain, and the Bowhead touched at Guam just in time to see the Americun nag raised for the first time ocr the island. Approaching Guam, the men of the Bowhead saw Kcxoral laige steamers lying off from the eutranco to the harbor and guessed Immediately that they were i Iff - ii ' vv-t J?" '.fei -: . r v l & &r . Steam Whaler Bowhead in the Ice at ' v jH Herschel Island's Cove transports bearing United, States troops. With uo fear f H for their own safety, they forged ahead full speed to.. H witness the engagement or whatever action might be H about to take place. Between cliffs a straight column H of smoke was rising and progressing, showing the H course pf the Bennington Into the harbor. By the VM time the Bowhead was abreast of the transports lhe Bennington had entered the harbor and an hour later H the (lag was raised oicr the citadel. After discharging a cargo at Yokohoma and taking H on supplies the Bowhead was stecicd again into the M north Ai Dutch Harlwr, UnalHska. the rnh for the JH gold fields of the Klondike was in full swing. Mrsr M Cook bought apples and oranges there for sixty-five H cents each and came in rinse touch with the througs of H gold seekers Never will sho forget, she says, the law- M lesnoss and disorder which prevailed and the destitu- H tlon of men and women who had expected to scoop up H gold nucgels by the shovelful, and had spent their M every dollar for transportation to the gold fields. M That trip ended In San Francisco November. 1890. M and the cargo comprised 20,iXK) iwunds of baleen, M valued at $100,000. This again disproved the super- H stltion that the presence of a woman means an un- M fortunate voyaged M Four months later Mr?. Cook, on board the Bow- head, was again hound for the Arctic The wmter of M 1000 and 1001 was spent at Balllle Island, far north- fl cast of Herschel Island, and according to Mrs. Cook, H was the most lonely she has experienced. From No- H vembei22 to January 19, fifty-eight days, the sun was - H below the horizon and darkness and cold were In- M tense. Fifty degrees below zero was the highest tem- B perature registered by the thermometer, and often the jH mefcury dropped to 57 degrees below zero. But the H cruise was successful and netted 23,000 pounds of H bone, worth $115,000. ,H In the spring of 1903 Mrs. Cook started on the most H memorable voyage of her career, which was to con- H tlnuc until December of 30OG. The Bowhead was pro- H visloned for two year;, but the plans were to return ll ' In September, 19QL, Vhales were scarce, and day 1 after day the Bowbead cniised lec dotted seas, with 'IH never the sight of prey, and late in the summer of 'll 1001 It became imperative to remain In the Arctic for H another ypar. Only a few weeks previous to the be- H ginning of the cruise Mrs. Cook's daughter had been H married. From the very outset of the voyage she had I H counted the months, then the weeks before she wonld H return to her loved ones, and the necessity to remain H at sea another year was a bitter blow to her. Yet Ph M was cheery and helpful, finding comfort In making jH tho ordeal easier for others. H Mall carried twice during the long winters to the H Bowhead by dog sled bronght news of the Uttio homo ) H In Provlncetown and of the birth of a baby girl, mak- j H ing Mrs. Cook a grandmother Her eagerness to re- H turn home was increased. Others, too, were anxious 1 to leave the frozen Arctic, and Mrs. Cook was not tho H only one to count the vory days before the Bowhead 1 would be turned toward civilization. The eecond H summer had been little better than the first. Few H whales had been killed and there was a scant supply H of bone to carry back, but provisions were short and H It was necessary to leave the North. IH Closing of the Ice Trap. ' H Then suddenly, when all were working with a will, , H eager for the bomogolng, without warning the jaws H of the groat ice trap closed with terrific vlclousness H and the Bowhead was held Imprisoned a thousand H miles of unbroken Ice between her and the Arctic out- H let. Helpless the vessel lay there, and the men, poorly H nourished uud iu uo good condition to withstand the jH hardship, were unable to obtain sufficient meat by H htinllng. Then it was that Mrs. Cook's kindness to H the Eskimos was repaid and proved a blessing not jH alono to her and hers, but to the men of the Bowhead's i JM crew H Across wide wastes of ice and treacherous snow J IH doughty Eskimo hunters camo with game and meat. tH Tribe nfter trjbc, whose members had been befriended, ) IH heard of the plight of the whalers and sent provisions IH ,.i,h hnnieiv to rhe md of tho "Great Pale Lady." They IH bad no hope of reward, and Indeed there was little on j JH board the Bowhead Avlth which to reward them. , jH Piirelj for loe of the captain's Avife and in romem- I IH brani.o of her kindness the Eskimos tirelessly hunted H game and brought in food for the all but starving men. H Finally, in the summer of 190G, with only three jH days' rations on boird, the Bowhead, ramming for H ten days through rotting Ice jambs, broke into the I H clear ocean and si earn wl away for home. Back In H Provlncetown Mrs. Coolc met her daughter and two H little ones4)lrn during the long absence. 1 The captain and his wife will cruise no more Into H the Arctic, but danger and privation cannot deter H them from life at sea. and they are at present on board H the brlgantlno Viola, cruising tlio North and South H Atlantic In search of sperm whales H The Vmla left port June 30, 1010, and up to data JH ha taken nearly 1,0"0 barrels of sporm oil and fifty- H five pounds of first chop ambergris, tho whole worth IH more than $I0KX. H There Is probablj but one white woman who hns H spent more time than Mrs. Cook intlie Arctic region, H and It would have surprised the Intrepid traders of H Hudeon's hay of a few generations ago to have known H Unit a cultured white woman would presently eclipse H their furthest north ieconl. Trom the fjords -of Nor- H way aud leagues further north she has traversed th JM seas to Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, the Bed Sea. H China, Jnpan and. nfter hpundlnp an Iqe looked winter m in'the Arctic, has a few weeks later sat In the shade H of. her awning over the quarterdeck sewing comfort- H by In tun degrees south latitude. H |