Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-10-19
OCTOBER 10. 1866
Y. Statel;st;nIlro1al1r.rt., l;t;I i n. /,
'EAREUL GALEON THE ATLANTIC.
THE ARAco. J. IN q CYCLONE. O. !.
1hriIllng scenes sad Incident.

storm with Which the 31e@ Steamer 1 fal hafa t1o 70
pa''ie' s 1ot. VIII - nrn. IGji5,9 no
! We we're six days out when cyclone
| caught us under, one Of its,,Wings, and sent
J us Mhirling. The constant Wind had raised
the sea into full motion before the gale
| came on, which lashed it into rage. five
| had .contended face TO face with it we
would have caught some severe blows, but
our Captain put the boat INFO the, trough
| of the sea, and though she rocked fearful
ly, she rode safely and moved apace on her
| As we labored in this valley Of waters the
whole ocean to the horizon lifted itself mp,
and above its level rose the ascending wave
| to fall again, and rise again upon the other
side., We hung and swayed like a ipendu-
lum. There was a Niagara on each side of
! Us, and another pouring Its green waters
| and scattering its spray at our stern. There
/ was fascination In the scene, which the
| slight ingredient Of danger perhaps added
| TO-. Fortunately 1t lasted only about twelve
4 hours, though when the wind abated the sea
still rolled and the ship labored in her
course. All next day the vessel tossed and
pitched, and the bright. sun, which had
| Ightened the scene, disappeared The rain
drove us into our cabins, and the day was
one Of discomfort, till the night rocked us
| in our uneasy cradle to unpleasant dreams,
We were walked in the morning by the cry
| of'a man overheard" !" A young sailor had
had been at work, A heavy wave dashed
him and his companion from their
feet. The elder had saved himself,
falling across the spar; while this poor
fellow fell overheard, the lurch of the
vessel pitching him far off, so that he was
sweptaway to Windward of the wheel, fast
upon his fatal course. At the cry the en-
gine was stopped, the officer at the stern
threw overheard two life preseTvers, either
of which had be caught them would have
Insured his safety. The small boat was
lowered in two minutes, and though it was
a hazardous attempt, In that tumultuous
sea, crew was there, and the second Off
Ger, bare headed, took command. Captain
Gadsen, up in the shrouds, watched the re-
treating form and gave orders and signals
for the rescue, IL was in vain. Working
in the rain and wind the sailor had put on
his souwester and his, heavy boots, and
lthese bore him down, / saw the sailors re-
turn from their frGitless search. They 81
lently drew up the boat, restored each thing
Ito its place and went to their allotted tasks.
IFewIwords were said, and noilamentations,
tno repinings heard. They felt it, for the
incident was brought close home to them
lbut each man had his days work to do, and
Ihis Indispensable duty to fulfill, and he set
about it-mutely, but diligently. "'.'as T,
II / had noticed the young fellow on the
llSunday previous, as went forward to the
bow to measure the waves and the rise and
fall of the vessel. He lay coiled up in the
IIcorner of the bow, absorbed in reading a
book. His young, e6eminate face, and al
most beardless chin, his bright, sympathet-
iclook, and his absorption in the volume
before him, attracted my attention
by the contrast it offered to the rough and
sensual sailor of twenty years ago. He
had a young wife and child in New York ;
and in the morning watch before the acct
dent, had banteringly told his companions
how they should Behave to a wife, should
they ever have the luck to get one. What
agony of despair, what hope that aspired
to safety only to be Knocked in death, pass
ed through, that mind, who can ever mag
ineS, .Wesubscribed the widow some 1900
francs in gold among the passengers, which
the sailors raised to 1000, 1t was little,
less than nothing, when we thought of the
poor mother coming to the ships side, when
we reached port, to show the, child to its
father, and looking for him In vain, !" ,....,' . ,
TIE day passed silently and sadly. The
southeast wind gave us rain; and once or
twicea little furry OF snow--l phenomenon
which had preceded the gale of Tuesday.
We had two or three sea CaptaiDs on board,
who, as well as our own commander, saw
mischief in the aspect of the heavens. The
barometer fell suddenlyan inch or more.
"If there isnot storm, and rousing one"
said one Of them, 'there is no use for ba-
romeser, and you had l-etter throw It over-
| board.o But the barometer was right in
| its warnings; and the wind, which, by this
| time, had nearly boxed the whole compass,
veered to the northwest, and came upon us
with the suddehness of a simoong The litS
tie sail we were under was taken in 10 ttme
1t came on, as the sailors say, "butt end
| foremost" and for lfour hours the Arago
wentthrougha tempest such as itnever be-
fore enc6untered.1 The roll, as she was put
in the trough of the sea, was bad enough; !;
but once in a while she encountered sea
thatshook the vessel, and made every tim
Der in her strong frame tremble and quiVer
| 1t was dark The wind, which, in the pre-
viods1gale, had sttng through the shro1ds,
sounding like plaintive voices in the disr
| tauce calling far help, now wshriekedaD
| and in hoarse threats. The darkness was
| absolute and as hewaves broke againstthe
| sides of the vessel the air was filled with
| the scattered waters-'spoon dfift,p as it is
called-and Que could not see across the
vessel. Waves do not rise mountains high,
except in newspaper paragraphs and nauti!
cal novels written byI Mndsmen!i The
highest unbroken iwaves9we estimated at
from % to 80 feet in hight But whentheF
dash agaidst the sides or bow, the tops
break off and surge over wheelhouse and
bridge and over smoke stack, and falling,
sweep along the deck, whole hogsheads full
~ ft,T;
when a long and heavyiwave strikes broadL
side against the vessel, it Is as Ii IA hammer
Of a Hundred ans had been let drivea lei
It smayhes iron work. and snaps asunder
the strongest bands OF steelupdHfJ ,yuI9al
Luckily the storm was brief auddid it's
worst in the beginning If ID had been
protracted much longer, the ship could not
have stood It. ASST was, hardly alpOund's
worth of damage was DONE The steps on
the Wheelhouse were torn Off by an ascends
ing wave. Some from bolts that held the
boats were snapped asunder. One of our
second class passengers, tossed across the
deck, had hislrlbs broken but, with these
exceptions, we rode out the storm triumph-
antly..9 The 'passeng gers were Sariously
affected; but on the whole behaved admiral
bly,, particulatly y the Iladlesg They were
earnest and anxious, but silent and 9aba
sorbed.h One or two gehtlemeh put onithe
preservefs..i One or two boisterohs fellows.
whom we had mistaken for tlare-deviis,
took to frantic Lamentations and PRAYERS.
One Of our Hebrew bfetherhg took to the
same (lfrectioh,t hi Nli0 oi libt VliUcd 0gO
Many Of thepassengers watched allnIght,
refusing 70 50 to their berths. Many lay
,-N o4VA~vluJ Wv 4uJ uVtl % 9I9u liiA .lulll