The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-06-08
On THE OCEAN WAVE.
steamer "Suevia," of the Hamburg American
LIne.--Harbor of Cherbourg, France.

MAY lGth, 1915.
For an hour before the "Suevia" left the
pier at New York her broad deck and splen-
did main saloon were filled with the hundreds
that had come to see their friends and relatives
Off There were congratulations and tender
partings, laughter and tears. At p. N. the
whistle blew the signal for departure, and
those who wished to remain in the western
hemisphere went ashore. The immense steam
er began to move, almost imperceptably at
first, but with increasing speed at every turn
of the screw, and we left the wharf amid accla-
nations, waving handkcrchiefs and a shower
of bouquets and oranges.
For two days the weather was delightful.
The ancient amateur mariners, of whom we
had many on board-those who had crossed
six or ten tlmcs-said they had never seen
anything like it, But the next evening we
were in the gulf stream. While we were at
dinner the whistle blew the signal for down
brakes, and those who had travelled much on
southern railroads thought for an instant that
q COW was on the truck uut tho ,trrviont mari
ner said fog" When we went on deck we
saw the fog, and for two days we saw nothing
else. The fog whistle blew necessarily; the
deck was wet and disagrccablc the sea Of IN
oily, inlly color, and only two degrees of the
freezing point. We were Off the banks of
Newfoundland. On the second evening a
breeze sprung up and lifted the fog. The sea
was rolling, and the ancient mariner SAID we
were passing through the vcstIges Of an old
storm. Before morning the old storm was re-
iniorced by young one. We had anticipated
something of the kind, for the sailors had been
gong about quietly lashing chairs to the deck
and securing things generally; the steward had
also fixed n walnut frame to the table, which
divided it into small fenced sections that after
wards proved a curb to the dishes in their &C.
centric antics, as the vessel was tossed like an
eggshell by the waves,
The fine weather Of the first two days had
spoiled the passengers of the "Sucvia;' the
fog put them out Of humor; and the storm
made them sick Scasckncss is Il most mel.
anCholy condition of the human stomach-a
visceral Instruction, for which no alaying
specific has been found. It's premontory symp.
toms are disgust of food, yellow complexion
and a woe-begone visagc and these are fol
lowed by vile and violent cructations, without
respect to age, sex, condition or refined
society. But the recovery from scasickness, rs
the convalcsccnt catches glimuses of new hori
IONS of health and physical validity, is deli
clous Like Colonel Sellers, the Hamburg
line never economies on its nOurishmcnt, and
fresh Strawberries asparagus, green peas-ev
crything that the market of New York or the
vintagcs of Europe afford, reeled on the rest
less table, or was sent TO the cabin of every
passenger that imagined himself indsposcd
No dainty that the scasck soul conceived was
the steward unable TO furnish.
Rusllin says that a ship should never be
painted majestic and defiant but only as war
like and enduring; and no one can have been
ut sea in Il storm without realizing the truth OF
his dictunt and feeling low entirely at the mcr
cy of the waves is even the best of ships. For
sixty hours the "Sucvia" struggled with the
tremendous energy of the sea, anu when she
came into port the top of her smokestack,
twenty feet above her deck, was white from
the salt with which the yaulting, snowy crest
ed waves had wreathed it, Imagine an i'm.
mense ship ascending cubic acres of cone
shaped, unstable wave; she reaches the apex,
begins TO descend, and pitches stem foremost
to the base. with terrific splash and splurge; a
tremor like shudder passes through her en-.
tire bulk, but she does not creak as tholgh she
would go TO pieces; there is too much endur.
ance OF iron, steel and oak in her for com
plant. She simply rcnews the engagement
every minrte for three days, until the most
timid woman has faith that the ship is war
like and enduring-able TO hold her own
against the majestic and demoniacal ocean.
c. 4. 5.
In some DOrtions OF ,wecaen there has been