The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1873-10-22
HAWAIIAN GAZETTE
Di.mnssea in sMId.ocean.
IN, Psril. OF the Atlantic.

was very soon told that his services wasn't
no longer required. So captains run al
sorts of risks, and had to. There was 8
good many lines, and all running opposi
ton to one another; and the line whose
ships made the shortest passages got the
most passengers, and that was what paid
better than freight So they used to drive
right through, fair weather or foul, clear
or foggy; and though the shippers knew
the danger well enough, and knew how to
go safe, they was forced to drive on and
take the risk. Sometimes an accident
would occur, and sometimes ship would
come home missing, and then, there'd be
q row kicked up about it in the newspa-
pers, but the old thing went on just the
same, and the fastest ship would still catch
the passengers Ships will meet with ac-
cidents, no matter how careful a skipper
may be; but there's many that occurs
just through carelessness. 1 heer'd tell OF
one old man, after a ship had gone on TO
Jersey Beach, that said that any man that
run ship ashore 'twixt Fire Island and
Barnegat ought to have deep-sea lead
sung around his neck, and wear it all the
rest of his natral life. Well, that same
skipper, the very next voyage arter he
had made that observation, ruined his
own ship, one of the finest of the New
York liners. right slap onto Squam Beach,
with t'gallant stun-sails set on both sides
His chronometer got ont, he said, but it's
as likely as not she overrun her reckon
ing-as common an occurrence rs any
thing l knows on, specially runnin' in to-
wards the land. A ship will always go
in shore heap faster than she'll go of,
and that's what was the matter with that
there steamer that my old woman was a
readen me about, that run ashore the other
day runniu' for Halifax harbor Every
body is a pitchin' into that there skipper,
cause he didn't know where he was ex-
actly, but bless you, sir, that's as common
as can be for man to wake up in the
mornin' and find his ship miles away from
where his reckoning puts her Where
that skipper missed it, accordin' to me,
was in goin' below just about the time he
ought to have been turnin' out. My
idee is he tried to do too much He cal
culated he'd stop up all night, and along
about eight bells he got bit tired and
just went into his room to rest bit, and
so dropped off to sleep Now, if he'd
had his dinner along about o'clock in
the afternoon, and then took a good
stiff 'ner of brandy and water and turn
ed in till about four bells in the first
watch-and it wasn't possible to be in
with the land afore that time, allowin' for
the biggest error that could occur-why
then he'd turned out at that time as fresh
as four-year old, and could stood the
racket nicely till daylight. But to go be-
low when, accordin' to his own reckonin',
he'd be up with the land in three hours,
without allOwin' anything for overrunnin',
wasn't ship-shape, accordin' to my ex-
perience, not on no account. .Howsum-
ever, it's always easy enough arter an ac-
cident to tell what ought to have been
done. and l never see spar go over the
side but what there was plenty of chaps
ready to say they knew as how the old
man was a carryin' on too hard. What
sot out to tell you this AFTERNOON was
about one passage had from London to
New York, where was just all winter on
the ocean. We sailed from London on
Guy Faux's day, recollect, somewhere
along in 1851 or 1852, and we got in here
some time in March. We had over 500
passengers in the steerage and about eigh-
teen in the cabin. We passed through
the Straits of Dover along about dusk,
with a fine breeze from northeast, and
took our departure from Dungeness light
along about eight o'clock, reckon, and
that was the last sight we had of anything
like land for many long day. The wind
went in to the eastward, and from that
gradually canted to the southwark, with
light drizzling rain and thick weather
All the cargo that was in the Ship was
some 600 or 700 tons of chalk, and she |
was, consequently, as stiff as tree, and |
o1vin' TO this We didn't realize how hard |
the wind did blow. The old man was a |
young chap that hadn't had much ex-
perience, and was, of course, very anxious
to make quick passage, and be just car
ried onto that ship in way 1 never see
equaled. All three royals, lower topmast,
and top-gallan' stun-sails, that is as long
as the lower stun-sail would stand, and
when the wind got so far TO the southland /
that we had TO take that in we set the iy-
ingjib and main-topmast and main-top- /
gallan' stsysails. and so had more canvas
than before, aud the old ship went flynn
down channel at the rate of about twelve
knots an hour. which. for full ship such
IS she was, was tremendous goin'.
A II .b-ar-I H. g. -.-L. II l.. ]