The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-01-14
/, COLUMNS OF EiRe.
A Strange Phenomenon which IL somc
times Seen In MI,Iocgan by Sailors.

"On deck therel'
The hail came from the foretop of a
little full-rigged ship of the old -fash-
ioned New Bedford type that was
piowing along the waters Of the
Atlantic. hurting the bright phos-
phoresccnt waves ahead of the broad
bow in loud and boisterous mann er.
"Aye, aye" was the answer. fol-
lowed by gruf "what's the matter"
from the sleepy mate.
Light on the weather bowr' came
from tho lookout.
"We're good two thousand mile s
from land in that direction, muttered
the mate, rs hc swung himself into the
rigging.
But when he wiped away tho spray
that lashed his face there was the
light, and one so strange and unfamil :
lar that le stood there for several Sec
onds. buffeted by tho waves, yet peer
ing Mt the strange visitor. Then
swinging around and dropping from
the shrouds to the quarter deck, he
put up his big hands TO form trumpet
and roared: 'Ready aboutp'
A moment later the ship was trem-
bling in tho wind, the blocks hammer
ing the yards viciously. tho cordage
groaning. the sails swapping like fire.
arms. while the lunging and pitching
covered the docks with q cleaning g
golden spray. The roar and confu-
sion brought tho skipper on deck. and
in explanation of his order the mate
pointed at the strange light that was
now nstern. The men. too, were look
ing Mt 1t, having made every thing
snug, and Of all the crew not one had
ever seen any thing like it before.
When first seen it looked like a lu-
minous buoy floating upon the surface,
but it had gradually longthened out,
grown more attenuatod, as it were.
until now it seemed taller than tho
mainmast of the ship. of q yellowish
tint-a most striking object against
the jct-black sky.
Some of the men looked at the
strange form with grave apprehen-
sion. To them it BODIED no good. per-
haps harm; others were not SO easily
disturbed, but every one on board was
at least astonished at tho curious ap-
partition that every moment seemed to
grow larger and taller.
keep her away point" said the
captain to the helm smen. and the ves-
sci fell away and slightly increased
her speed. "Whatever it is" he con-
tinued. "it's coming after us. 1tlooks
to me like u watcrspout, but l never
saw one that was on fire, and that one
is If any thing over was"
The curious object was rapidly gain
ing on them. and now presented an ap-
palling huge column of
ghastly light, hundreds of feet high,
of dark. golden, yellowish hue
standing out in strange contrast
against the sky. or the intense dark
ness Of the night. 1t came on SO
quickly. evidently before the breeze,
that the vessel was hauled on the
wind, just in time. perhaps. for the
strange column went Kissing and
roaring by not thousand yards
astorn. its base where it joined the
water surrounded by a seeming mass
of fire, while the upper portion bent
gracefully, and was lost in the clouds.
In short time it had entirely disap-
peared from view. The column was.
rs the skipper has suspected. water
spout; q midnight visitor coursing
over the ocean like some weird phan-
tom. Since then several have been
seen at one time. veritable pillars
Of fire. moving rapidly over
the surface. 1t finally oc-
Cured to n scientist to examine
the water in which these fiery columns
were seen, and he found it completely
filled with the forms of two minute
plants. known to science rs pyrocislis-
pseudonoctiluea and P-pisiiormis.
whose nucleus. the little spot seen in
the center. was vividly luminous.
Here. then, was the secret of the
column of tire-a waterspout had been
formed and enormous masses of the
little light-givers borne aloft giving
the entire spout fiery appearance.
These spouts differ in color. depending
on the intensity OF the light of the
various animals; some are dull vel.
low; others. on moonlight nights,
quite pale, while others again, on the
extreme dark nights when the sea is
high. present truly frightful appear
ance, resembling pillar of fire, the
base repres enting caldron of seeth'
ing flame. Golden Days.