The New York herald., 1872-12-30

IN O4elA
bells rang out ten o'e,oek, nasll. lpatriarchal
looking man, with grayfsh beard, bald head and
very cold gray eyes, giided quietly through the
saloon and, without the slightest warning or ex-
ExrNaUIsHED THE LAMPS ,.,~s
one after another, to the astonishment and dismay
4 OF the passengers. The old fellow recalled vividly
the remembrance OF the mysterious persons In the
fairy tales, and II j am not very greatly mistaken
he il some relation 10 the Old Man OF the Sea; be
that as It may he certainly established mute kind
OF terrorism over the passengers and as soon as
ne appeared they seemed 70 melt out Of the saloon
Driven from my converse with Dickens took
refuge on deck, where walked about In the
bright moonlight until nearly eleven O'Clock.
All the passengers had retired, and was
left alone to contemplate the beauties Of the
night. Above. the clear sky, with Its millions OF
twinkling stars; below, the phosphorescent sea-
bathed in moonlight and necked with the foam Of
our gallant seahorse, that ploughed on
ward painting and straining every nerve,
overcoming every obstacle and carrying us
gallantly on our moonlit way. At last was forced
to turn into my little state room, where coiled
myself mp on narrow shelf, that appeared TO me
not more than five feet long. II was covered BY
Q faultlessly white connterpane, on which
stood out in bold relief, in red letters,
the words "City OF Havana" The horribly
menotonous motion Of the screw prevented my
going to sleep for some time but at hast tired ma
ture gave in and dozed on. Not to sleep only,
but, alnsi TO dream. The image Of Secretary De-
lano arose to my mind. Thought he was In league
with the Spaniards to reeetablish the inqusition.
and that on our arrival in Havana he had me ar.
rested and condemned to have the nesh twisted on
my bones for having dared TO interview him on the
voyage. / could feel the horrible motion OF the
screw twisting my nesh into small twine, but In the
midst ofmy torture derived diabolical satisfac-
tion from the thought that the managing editor
had been pitched into Purgatory for having
ATTEAPTED TO INTERVIEW THE POPE
At length morning dawned, but let me draw
veil over the occurrences Of this day. Sunice It to
say that Scotch ale, brandy and water and other
resources were relied upon In vain. The decks
were deserted, except by q few Of those men who
seem to have been intended by nature for sea gulls
or porp0ises. They look into your state room
with provoking GOODNESS to assure You that 1t ID
splendid weather, only q little fresh, and advise
you to get up and walk about . little. The third
day out sees most of on deck; no one inclined to
admit that ne has been sick, but only little
squeamish, You know. The weather is delightfully."-
fine and the sea calm, and we are about to settle
down to enjoy it, when
THE ALARM OF FIRE IS SOUNDED,
and there is an immediate rush OF alarmed passen-
gers to the deck Walters suddenly drop towels,
plates and glasses, and rush up stairs In frantic
manner, looking IN some cases awfully heightened;
others seize upon Babcock's fire extinguisher and
rush to the rescue. As move out meet SUBJ
stantial, mlddle-aged lady, who mistakes me for
sympathetic person and proposes to faint. try to
appear preternaturally cool, and assure her that
10 No wh M
can't really make out whether there is or not.
Some OF the men look so frightened that feel my
courage sink several degrees at the prospect Of be-
ing roasted. In order to assure myself Of the
exact state OF affairs walked out. Some sailors
were working ut the pump, SO give hand and
spoil my gloves In few minutes, to my infinite
disgust, ind that It Is a false alarm, with the
INTENTION OF TRAINING THE MEN
in case q fire should really break out. I move
round to watch the experiment with the hose,
and to my horror nnd that they are all in Q
wretched condition. Had nre really broken out
nothing short of Divine interposition could have
saved US from the fate Of the Bienve or Missouri.
The hose leaked all over the deck, and owing to
the want OF force In the pumps and the smallness
Of the nozzles they were unable to shrow stream
OF water to greater distance than few feet and
even then 1t fell like spray. Can nothing be
done by the authorities In New York to
prevent selfish corporations exposing the lives
OF passengers to such terrible risks in order TO
avoid mourning the expense necessary to make
the equipment Of their vessels thoroughly and
effectively completes This was the last unpleasant
incident OF the voyage. We had left already be.
hind the bleak northern climes, and the day was
warm as in our Summer time We seemed to glide
through palpitating sea Of molten glass. The air
was balmy, ana that exquisite, sensuous feeling
which is only felt in the neighborheod Of the
tropics enabled us to bear the monotony or the
sea voyage with equanimty, for here the sense
OF life 10 itself pleasure enough. On Thursday
morning
TIE COAST OF CUBA
looms up In the distance, seen vaguely through the
msrning mist. over the dark, shadowy purple
tinted outline OF the coast rise immense piles OF
cumuus clouds, grand and impressive. Looking
at them, almost fear that we should encounter .
storm before we reach the port, but as the sun
shines out, dissipating the mists and bathes the
aerial regions in vaporous hues the cloud masses
san along the sky and reveal the deep, clear azure
OF the armament, my confidence returns and 60
into my stateroom to make my final prepara-
tions for dsembarklng We were nearer to
Havana than i imagined, and long before
the last strap Of my trunk had been buckled the
| grim mass OF the Morro Castle had come clearly
into view. 1t is an imposing looking structure,
and evidently very strong. II Is mounted with
heavy Dahlgren guns, and ts from situation and
solidity OF construction very formidable work.
Situated on the left OF the harbor, we enter the
Batteria de la Reina semicircular fort on the op-
posite side Of the harbor mouth affords it
efficicnt support Both works are DOM
mated by an important fort behind the Bat
terra de Ia Reina The lighthouse is on the
left OF the port and bears it in large letters the
inscription, "o'Donnell, ls44." As we pass 1t the
harbor opens to our view 1t lie narrow at the en-
trance, but as we proceed 1t widens with semi
circular form OF considerable extent. On all sides
Low ra nUea M hills nrotect ,t from the volenco ~