ABSTRACT
The following incident from which this Song [ 1 ] was written is related by Mr. A. Bates, one of the rescued passengers from the burning wreck of the late Steamship Golden Gate, destroyed by fire, near Manzanilla on the afternoon of July 27th 1862. Mr. Bates says: “While standing at the bows grasping a rope, a little girl, a lovely little child about 8 years of age, named Addie Manchester, came up to me, and said, “O, mister, can you swim?” “O, I told her I could, and would try to save her if she would do just as I told her. She said, “Save me, do please. I don’t want to be drowned!”
