The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1873-02-07
BREAKING A wATER-SPOUT.

BREAKING A WATER-SPOUT.
/ The Rhine, sailing vessel of l..
600 tons, which has Just aIrived from
London, encountered an immense
water-spout about 200 miles out
John Richardson, one of the sea.
men, describes the phenomenon
thus:
i / followed the direction of his
eyes, and there, sure enough, not
more than half q mile fiom US, was
the largest water-spout that 1 had
ever seen in all my life. 1t lowered
above the ship at least two hundred
/ feet, and seemed to be the breadth
of half the ocean. 1t was coming
/ Towards US like q steam engine, the
Iwater for hundreds of yards ahead
of it was boiling like water in a
kettle. We braced the yards around,
put the wheels hard a-port, and did
everything that lay in our power to
get oueef the way of the terrible
destruction that was rushing upon
us. There wasn't breath of wind
stirring, and there we lay i'll the
path of the water-spout, unable to
do the least thing TO save ourselves
from the death that we felt sure
must come in few moments. There
were about 20 Storage passengers
with us, the most of whom were
women and children, and they cried
and went on enough to take the
heart out of any man. One old wo-
man caught me around the legs and
begged me for Gods sake to save
her, while every one was rushing
'roung trying to find some shield
from the approaching crash. The
captain swore and went on terribly
because we couldn't move an inch,
and seemed to be going out of his
mind; for l saw him deliberately
knock a man down who was stand
ing near him. Some of the men
ran down the forecastle ladder that
they might not
SEE THEMSELVES DIE.
What / have been telling you now
all occurred in a moment, but the
water-spout had come much nearer
to us, and we could hear the fearful
hiss and splash of the water as it
came whIrling on. Just then l
heard young gentleman in the
cabin ask the captain whether he had
a gun on board. The captain said
"No," and the young mans face
turned as white as snow, and l saw
him shake all over. He put his hand
to his head and staggered toward
the main hatch, and in another mo-
ment he would have fallen down
tween" decks, when suddenly
there was a cry from above that
sounded like the roar of mailman.
It was heard above the roar of the
surging water, and every eye was
turned in the direction that it came
from. 1t came from a shipmate we
called "Jack." He was smart fell
low on his feet, and was a regular
monkey among the ropes when he
got
ALoFT IN A STORM.
There he was with a heavy block
of wood in the hands that he held
above his head, and was shouting
for us to "stand from under!" He
was on the main-yard- arm, the arm
that carries the storm-sail," you
know. We all ran forward, and
when the coast was clear, "Jacks
gave the block a swing and sent it
down on deck as quick as flash.
1t struck piece of sheet-iron that
lay near the main hatch, and made
terrific report, that sounded like
lannon's. We kept our eyes on
him, for he seemed about TO fall, but
he caught hold of the "port bow
lines" and regained his balance.
Just then the ship careenei over on
her beam ends, lurched back again,
and then stood steady as before.
Nearly every one was thrown down,
and some of the passengers were
badly hurt. AS soon as we got
upon our feet we saw no more of
the water-spout, but III. its stead the
whole sea was just as white as
though it was composed of soap
suds.
SAVED.
We felt that it was oyer, and the
noble "Jack" had saved us by his
cool-headedness but it was some
time before we could recover from
the paralysis that seemed to have
stricken us all.
When we did recover, we felt as
only men can feel snatched from the
Jaws of death. Work seemed a
pleasure after that, for it reminded
us that we had life in us. There
were on board, counting the officers
and crew, about $50 persons, and if
that spout had struck us it would
have sent US, ship and all, to the bot
tom of the sea. Ever since that day
l have become convinced that the
City of Boston was lost in this man
ner.
I suppose that the water that was
in the air would have weighed TO-
600 tons 1t could not have been
less; and as there was brig sailing
ten miles from US in the direction
of the water-spout's course, and no
one saw it, it must have formed be-
tween us two, and reached its i'm
mense proportions in about half an
hour.-AfsSouri Democrat.
| AN AccIDENT or TRAVEI