The Republican journal., 1883-03-08
In the BaY of BiscaY.

rugged bark passed through the Narrows.
Her appearance attracted attention.
Lines OF snow hung on every rope, melt
ing lclces hanging from the yards and
ratllnes gave her the appearance Of a
crystal ship and splintered jury top
mast rugged on the foremast betokened
that She had had a rough encounter
with the sea She was the Norwegian
bark Woye, from Bilbao, in Spain, for
New \ ork, With iron ore. Her captain,
Christensen, dropped anchor in the quar-
autine quarter. Then tug went to her
assistance and, amid the peltiug rain, she
was towed slowly down to the Delaware
and Iackawanna Railway pier, in Ho-
bOken.
You look as if YOU had had bad
time Of it somewhere" said a Herald re-
porter to Captain Christensen.
Come into my cabin" said he, ''and
will tell You all about it, TO be sure, we
have had very severe voyage, and am
thankful not only that have been able
to bring this stanch little bark to port III
safety but that | haven't lost man on
the voyage After leaving Santander,
Nhere we had been unloading a cargo of
the northwest corner Of Spain. There
we took in a cargo of iron ore, and start
ed for America Oh the 21th Of December
We were in first class order when we left.
that is to say, we We're taut and ship
shape all over. | had with me crew OF
ten men, all Norsemen. On Monday, the
Sth III January, when we were in the
trough of the sea in the Bay of Biscay.
we ran right into the middle of a storm
OF snow and hail The snow covered the
ship like d sheet. and We couldn't see
through it ships length ahead The
wind was blowing hard from WeSt-nOrtl-
west and the sea was running high, fire.
quently making clean breaches over the
deck. The Woye bore it so we'll that
thought we would get through all right
was afraid Of the cargo a bit, because.
You see. if it had shifted and remained on
one side ot the hold, down we would have
gone to the bottom Of the Bay Of Biscay.
The storm lasted till Wednesday, the
10Th, when suddenly the wind began TO
yeer few points toward northwest and
to increase to a hurricane
TIVE LOWER ToRETOPsAILs SPLIT
''ln the middle OF the hurricane there
blew suddenly one terrific blast If the
steersman hadn't been lashed to the
wheel he would have gone overheard,
and as for the other mel who happened
10 be On deck, they grabbed at whatever
solid thing they could reach and held on
with all their strength Above the noise
Of the whistling winds heard sharp
report like a cannon discharged in the
air ! looked up, and there | saw my
lower toretopsails whipping the air in
ribbons, and making reports like the
crack Of pistol every time they Tapped.
| sent up nine men to take down the rags.
The job was terrible one, as sometimes
the ribbons would twist around a man
iust like a big serpent and try to haul
him of the rigging. However. the lob
was accomplished and the rags were
dropped into the sea. The men came
down very much exhausted.
HANGING OVER THE BOILING WAVES.
"On the morning of the lth a hurricane
was still blowing, and the Woye shipped
tons and tons Of water. She was begin
ming to have enough Of the Bay of Bis
cay. o.. did the best could to prepare
fresh lower toretopsails, and when they
We're ready ! sent the second mate, Hen
drick Hansen, and two ablebodied sea
men, Andleas Hansen and Lars Thomm-
ssen, up alOtt to set them again. This
would be about four o'clock in the after
noon. They We're in the act Of replacing
one Of the top gallant backstays, which
had parted through the straining of the
vessel, when a tierceT blast Of the hurri-
cane than we had before experienced
struck the topgallant mast, which broke
of with a loud crack and fell, dragging
with 1t a quantity OF rigging and the top
gallant yard Then the gallant mast
went by the board. In the confusion of
tapping ropes and sails could not see
any Of the men, and imagined they had
been knocked overheard. The vessel
then heeled over, and there saw Hen
bricks and Andreas Hansen cInging to
the broken rigging and hanging right
over the boiling waves, which seemed to
leap up for them like wild beasts.
grew sick at heart saw no means of
helping them. They We're hanging there,
while the wind was bowling ana the
waves We're roaring, fully twelve feet out
from the ships side. They could not
hang there long. They must drop le-
tore the lapse Of many seconds, and then
-. well, in such a sea | should never
have seen them again on earth While
was gazing at them saw coming rolling
along one gigantic wave. As It came
nearer and nearer it grew in bulk At
last it reached them. shut my ewes and
thought all was over with them Good
by, Hendricks, said Good by Andreas
God have mercy on YOU, for YOU were
both good sailors.
WASHED BACK on BOARD.
"When the great wave had passed
over the Woyc found that it had thrown
the ship on her other side. looked up
to the toretopmast and there | saw Hen
bricks and Andreas clinging to the
shrouds. They We're safe. That be
wave had saved them that thought was
going to wash them into eternity. You
see, when the vessel began to heel over,
they were gradually lifted up, and as
they swung over near the toremast they
made a leap for the lower forerigging.
just like trapeze man in Il circus spring
ing from bar to bar Poor Hendricks
caught hold of an iron block. and his
right thumb, by some means, was grip
ped between the tackle and the pulley
and Wlenched right of. How he kept
himself from falling to the deck after
such an accident is a mystery to me but
both he and Andreas came down all right,
and | was never more glad to see two
men in my life. While Hendricks and
Andreas were swinging over the waves
Lars Ihommssen was making his way
down the rigging with all his might He
had not been swung off with the topgal-
liant and gallant mast, but the moment
he set foot on deck he was just as nearly
getting his goose cooked as Hendricks
and Andreas. The big wave that saved
them caught him in the back, lifted him
up like child, and then dashed him in
to the lee scuppers. Then it rolled him
over and over and finally left him nearly
dead with heap of heavy spars piled on
top OF him. Two or three men seized
crowhars and pried the spars off him.
Then they picked him up and carried
him to the fo'cstle, where be lay speech
less for several days. Now he complains
of an acute pain somewhere in his chest
Hendricks is getting along first rate with
out his thumb Like a sensible man he