The Osceola times., 1880-03-06
THE STORMY OCEAN.
Perils of the Deep-Winter Voyages of
Atlantic steamers.


Harper's Weekly.
Quiet as the winter has seemed, so
far, TO those of us who have passed our
time in this metropolis or its neighbOr-
hood, rarely has there been 80 much and
such continuation of bad weather off
our coasts at sea. The reports of passen-
gers and crews as they arrive 90 10 show
that the stormy deep has behaved with
boisterousness for which there are few
parallels in the records Of late years.
century or two ago when adventurers
from Europe first began to make Their
way to our shores, the violence Of our
winters, and the fury OF the gale that
opposed their passage, made the voyage
somewhat to be dreaded; but of late the
increasing mildness -four climate both on
land and sea, has diyested such journeys
of nearly all terror. Only in rare in
stances Is an ocean steamer endangered
by storms, provided her machinery re-
mains in order, and the crew know how
to handle the vessel. The experience of
the last few weeks will, however, strike
terror to those who have learned to
place too much confidence in the gradual
pacification of old NEPTUNE.
When the steamer Batavia arrived at
this port on the morning of Sunday,
January 12, it was after one of the storm
lest passages within the recollection of
any of the ships officers. When the
ship left Liverpool, on the 9th of De-
cember, there was strong breeze blow
ing. but not such as to occasion any spe-
cial alarm. In the afternoon, the wird
increased to gale, with confused seas,
and the weather was very rough all the
way down the Channel, with strong head
winds and fogs. Queenstown was not
reached until late in the evening, seven
or eight hours behind time. When the
vessel left that port, at five o'clock ON
the afternoon of the following day (Sun-
day., there was strong westerly wind,
so that Fastnet was passed at 1880. On
Monday the storm began, and during
the night there were furious squalls, rain,
hail, thunder and lightning. From this
time till January 4 there was little ceS-
sation in the grim succession. Then
the weather moderated, but only for a
new, though somewhat milder edition Of
the storm, On January Z, when the YES
sci stood off the Fog Banks, there were
light head winds; and finally, as she
sighted Fire Island Light, the sky cleared
and she came in, the storms lett behind
her and the weather fair. During the
entire voyage the wind kept yeering
from southwest to west-northwest. The
barometer ranged from 2S.S0 to 1920,
and the temperature ran down to 220
Fahrenheit.
The experiences of the passengers and
crew during this voyage were of the
most unpleasant character There was
l,t 70, lttt .liegy,,,-
fort of every kind to endure; Nothing
in the way ef amusement could be un-
dertaken, and, confined below matches,
the unhappy voyagers gazed at one an
other day in and day out IN a. sort Of
hopeless misery.
The experiences Of the Britannia, a
vessel of the White Star Line, which ar
rived some hours later on the same day,
were similar if not quite as severe as
those of the Batavia. There were
strong westerly gales. but the vessel
made her usual time, and the officers
were disposed to make light of the
storm. The Purser, in describing the
passage TO q reporter of one of our daily
Journals, said: at was tempestuous
weather all the time, but we took no
special count of it, and were not delayed
by il. What is very severe passage
for other vessels is not Il serious obstacle
to the Brittanic. We came right along,
but we did not have single clear day
until Yesterday. You can say we had
strong westerly gales, and that is all
there is to be said" A gentleman who
was present spoke of the splendid sailing
qualities of the ship, and gave, rs an in
stance a gale during q passage he had
made recently: "Ahl but this was much
more severe" said the Purser, than
when you crossed with us. 1t was one
continual blow all the way to the Banks,
and We did not have single clear day
The steamer City of New York, Of the
Inman Line, occupied nineteen days on
her voyage from Liverpool by way of
Queenstown. The officers say that for
eleven days they ran through series Of
very heavy gales, during one of which q
tremendous sea broke over the bows,
carried away the port cathead, and split
the breakwater. Two seamen on the
forward bridge were dashed to the deck
and severely injured.
The experiences of the passengers and
crew of the Aragon present a most ap-
palling picture of ocean travel. This
NcsStl Sdllttl iIOll bIlSlDI bll Allt lSNii Vi
December. Twenty-four days she was
tossed about on the ocean by the storm,
and several tunes it was reported that
she had gone down with all on board.
Capt. Brown, her commander, i'll telling
the story of her voyage, said;
1--WE had fourteen passengers-eight
of them women-in the stceragc, and a
full cargo of freight. The first day out
we struck the storm coming from the
northwest, and varying at times to
southwest. Day after day for fifteen
DAYS we had hard weather, Such seas
as we had you never saw. For a time
we'd have the gale from the northwest.
and then it would change to the south
west, cutting up cross-seas that swept
the deck. The men had a rough time
on deck, tell you. Early New Years
morning cyclone struck us, with most
terrific squalls, the wind varying all
the time. Tremendous seas were Gre
ated almost instantaneouslv. On the
next day heavy sea struck us, carrying
away some of the bridge stanchions, the
wheel-house, the ventiIators and one Of
the boats, and smashing another boat.
The men in the wheel-house were
knocked about like toys, but no bones
were broken. In fact, during all the
voyage, the men had only few bruises,
although they were roughly handled.
On the last day of the year the Aragon
sighted vessel of the lnmln Line.
With some difficulty, and by going out
of his course, Capt. Brown exchanged
signals, in the hope that the larger YES
sci, arriving sooner, might report him.
This, unfortunately, was not done, or
much anxiety would have been spared
those who had either property or friends