The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1869-03-21

In plain but effective letter-efective because
plain-the stewardsss Of the hspless Hibernis
lately gave narrative Of the fate of that ship,
and OF the suherings Of some, ct least, of those
who were on board. The tale of shipwreck need
not be told here 10 full it noticed in connection
with one only among crowd Of incidents. A
well appointed ocean mail steamer left New York
on certain day about the middle of November
last, proud 10 her majesty, and well laden with
passengers, mails and merchandise. ALI went well
for about week, when one of those stormy pc.
RODS commenced which % ceiamtocsly marked
the closing weeks Of the year. Things went wrong;
the machinery broke down, and the ship filed to
such an extent that precipitste retreat became
absolutely necessary. On the 18th OF the month
the boats were lowered, and the passengers and
crew embarked In them. BY far the greater num-
Der Of the sufferers never saw land again. The
most successful of the precarious feet had on
board the stewardess OF the steamer. When the
occupants Of this boat reached land, the steward
ess was one Of those who wrote brief narratives of
the shipwreck. She told how, during the boat
voyage, the captain poured oil upon the waves to
smooth their roughDess and to lessen in some de-
gree the splash Of water into the open boat-not
actually to level the rolling bilows but TO allsy
their wild tossing and breaking into spray.
Whether oil was taken on board the boat for that
purpose we are not told We only know that IL
was thus used, two or three times, during that
eyentful 18th Of November.
This subject of oil upon the waves IL q curious
one. Ii is by no means of modern date, either in
its knowledge or its application; and yet there is
only a, indistinct appseeiAtioe OF A. snonsss Ne
generally. We DO not place II among our every
day truths.
In ages long past, the effect of oil on sitting
waves was known to many grades OF seafaring
men. Pliny stated that the divers in the Mediter-
ranean and the Archipelago were wont to take in
their mouths bit OF sponge dipped 10 OIL and that
they were by this means enabled TO remain longer
under water than other divers who were not so
provided As the diver wants to retain all the
breath he can, and as long he can, it il difficult
ar OF IN laoh o ha of n
object could be facilitated BY this agency; but an
explanation soon offers itself. The object of TAX
ing oil in the mouth was to calm those small
waves on the surface Of the sea, which prevent the
light from being steadily transmitted to the bot
tom as 10 necessary to enable the divers to find
the small objects they search for without delay.
By ejecting little oil from the mouth, 1t rises to
the surface and, spreading out upon IL, Gains the
waves sufficiently to admit good daylight to pen
citrate through the water. The habit followed by
many fishermen and boatmen gives probability to
this explanation. DIR. HALEY mentioned that he
saw some of the Florida Indian divers remain I'M
der water two minutes ct time; and he proceeded
to notice the effects Of thin film Of oil in fscili.
tating the divers work. century and half
ago, the fishermen Of some of the HEIR des were
accustomed, when the sea was getting rough, to
tie to the end of cable mass made chiefly ofth
fat Of sea fowl and allow II to dip into the sea be-
hind the rudder; the oil from the fat exerted q
soothing agency upon the waves. The Lisbon
fishermen sometimes allay the waves on the bar
across the Tagus, when they wish to cross, by
During the siege OF Gibraltar In the last century,
the British officers often observed the Spanish fish,
ermen pour little oil upon the sea- to see oysters
at the bottom. Herring fishers on the coast Of
Scotland can see from long distance when aud
where shoal is approaching the water acquires
peculiar smoothness OF appearance from the oil
Of the fish, Seal catchers in the Arctic regions
have often observed that, when the seals eat oily
fish (which they often do), the surface Of the sea
ahav fhau hooo m fhar thor
parts. The ocean is often observed to have pe-
cnliar quietness in the wake Of laden whale ship.
This ia due TO the small quantity of oil which,
somehow or other, manages 10 exude from the
vessel perhaps pumped out with the bilge water
from the hold. OF some coasts, where fish are
speared instead of Melted, little oil is poured on
the water TO enable the fishers to see their prey
below.
DR.. Franklin, who had an indefatie able habit Of
searching out . scientific explanation for every
thing that could be explained by science, resolved
to experiment upon this subject of oil on water.
he had read, and heard and seen that oil was thus
used, either to make voysgiDg more safe and
pleasant or to enable the rays of light to penetrate
the water, and he wished to know. the reason why.
He first tried pond upon common. Selecting
the windwsrd side, he poured little oil on the
water. Quickly it spread further and further over
to leeward, until q considerable area of the pond
had q very thin film, which Gained the water In Q
singular way. We rather suspect that some error
has crept into the original account of this exper.
lis
fnl of oil would render half an acre of watery
face as smooth as Q looking glass, which is the
substance of FraDklin's statement. On another
occasion he made deep harbor the scene of his
experiments. He anchored boat at certain
distance from the shore, and another boat made
several short trips to windward and home again.
In this second boat man had bottle OF oil,
which he poured out in very small and continu.
Gus stream through hole In the cork. Franklin,
seated In the first boat. watched the effect Of the
oil, while others watched on shore. Leeward Of
the anchored boat little or no change was visible
but out windward the oily track spread far and
wide, preventing the waves from breaking into
ripple, foam or surf.
The poor Hibernia was not by any means the
first ship the crew of which had cause to welcome
the effect Of oil upon the waves. About CEN
fury ago Dutch East Indiaman made voyage
TO the East, and Jared pretty well until nearing
the islands of Paul and Amsterdam. storm
then arose, and the seamen poured out few
ounces of olive oil into the sea to prevent the
waves from breaking against and over the ship;
the plan succeeded, and the ship went on her way.
One Of her passengers, IN letter to the Dutch
ambassador ct the court Of st. James, stated that
the persons TO whom he afterward narrated this
incident were so incredulous that the officers and
himself signed o certificate declaratory OF its
trutbfulness, so hard did 1t seem to believe the
effect of very little oil upon a very great sea.
Numerous examples Of q similar character are TO
be found scattered here and there among the re-
cords of voyages. One Of the many trading ships
which ply between mhu1iih ana oloRhpOro n8Q q
singular oil adventure few years ago. While on
q voyage she encountered very rough and IN
pleasant sea. Suddenly there appeared q pecu-
liar smoothness Of the sea, although the wind was
still blowing and the ship advanced favorably for
three days over surface which had evidently oil
upon 1t. Later information brought to light the
fact that brig had started shortly before
with cargo Of cocosnut oil; some Of the casks
having been stove in by accident, the wasted oil
was pumped out of the hold into the sea. The
ships were 200 miles apart, and yet the oily film
reached from the one to the other. About ten or
q dozen years ago q screw steamer, laden with
corn, started from Copenhagen to bend round the
north of Jutland into the German Ocean. Just a.
she was coming near stormy headland the sea
became very bad, the steamer shipped much
water, the engine fires were extinguished, the co.
zine ceased to work, and the poor ship rolled
hopslessly on ths ~AHss- A sahoosss .ae dssesied
aome miles distant, and 1t was resolved that all
hands should take to the boats, and pull from the
steamer to the schooner. The crew poured some
oil on the waves as they went, and we're thus en-
abled 10 meet somewhat less troubled sea than
would otherwise have encountered them.
II now seems TO be pretty well known how and
vhy tie oil acts in this friendly way, although
some parts Of the phenomenon will remain obscure.
"a I'd IN raise Waves uDOu the surface