ROMANCE IN LOVE AND WAR

Nelson Evening Mail, 16 May 1917, Page 2

ROMANCE IN LOVE AND WAR

The British barque .'Galgom Castle was slielled without warning and sunk by a U boat recently. The captain's wile wa.s saved. Perhaps -the meagre announcement is remembered. And since every ship on the ocean has a talc of adventure and sacrifice, perhafis you wondered what was the history of the little bark before it met the torpedo oif the Irish cost. It was a talc of toil, patience, and long years of love (affirms the Philadelphia Evening Ledger). More than 40 years ago a sturdy lad sailed away from Plymouth, an English Channel port, to see the world, make his fortune, and return to claim for his bride a young woman who had waved a loving farewell to him from the quay. Years passed. John Frampton "sailed the seven seas." He became mate, chief mate-.and captain. He prospered. T\yo or three salvage payments for his part in snatching ships from the deep helped swell his bank account. His sweetheart. Mary, was fortunate. She became a governess, then a teacher in a private, school, and later principal of a fashionable school for girls. The frugal woman invested her savings in profitable shipping ventures. Mary and John hoped to own a ship, or the greater part of one, "some day."

Years flew- by, and their funds grew. When they approached 50 years of age they decided it was time for them to become life partners in love and business. 80 thev bought a large share of the j barque* Galgom Castle. Then thev were married and sailed away in her. Caretul management and good seamanship won fame for the Galgom Castle. In all the big ports of the "world John Brampton and his wife were known. When little Mary arrived, they told me they believe'd they had reached the zenith of their happiness. She was a "child of the sea," for she was born as the Galgom Castle tossed in a storm oif the west coast of South America. Mrs Frampton made a real home aboard -ship. She taught Mary her daily lessons. and every Sunday she told the child of the Master Pilot, who ruled the deep. When the child was 11 years old the great war came. An officer of the British Admiralty has that, of all the seamen risking their lives for England, the sailors on the. unarmed merchant ships performed the most valuable service and underwent the greatest 'peril : and. while Captain Frampton was willing to take the risk himself, he did not wish to expose his wife and daughter to the tender mercies of a U boat captain. So he stopped at Falmouth, and sent his little girl to a boarding school. "You'd better stay ashore, t0.,.'" Captain Frampton told his wife. "Indeed, I'll not." she replied. "I ye sailed with you all these years, and I II sail on. If they get you they will get I me at the same time." And the Germans finally 'got ' the ship as she was near home. Mrs Frampton told the short story of the sinking that was cabled to this side. She said : . "When we were approaching the Irish coast a submarine, without warning. lired several shells from a, distance ol two miles. The vessel was hit scvera times. We took to two lifeboats. Tin submarine continued the .shelling. Out

lifeboat's fate is unknown. At dusk the submarino was seen alongside the missing boat. Though badly damaged, the Galgom Castle was not seen to sink. We lost our ruddei'. and the boat was so

leaky three men were always bailing. 'l'his ends the sea career of the FTamptons. Their vessel is gone, and with it their savings of years and their means of earning a living. Captain Frampton, perhaps, is a. prisoner of the Germans, as the news despatches make no mention of him. War wrecked the era it that love bought; but it didn't crush the spirit of ■ John Frampton. for he's a "'fighting man."