The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-03-17
Phenomenon of the Sea-

Phenomenon of the Sea-
4On deck therer'
The hail came from the foretop of q
full-rigged ship of the old fashioned
New Bedford type that was blowing
along through the waters of the South
Atlantic; hurting the bright phosphores-
cent waves aliead of the broad bow i'd
loud and boisterous manner.
AYE, aye" was the answer. follow
ed by gruff. What's the matter7"
from the sleepy mate.
Light on the weather bowl" came
from the lookout.
"We're a good 1000 miles from land
in that direction muttered the mate
as he swung himself into the rig
ging,
But when he wiped away the spray
that dashed his face there was the
light, and one SO strange and i'm
familiar that he stood there for several
seconds; buffeted by the waves set
peering at 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 aboutr'
A moment later the ship was tremb-
ling in the wind, the blocks hammer.
ing the yards viciously, the eofdage
grooming, the sails swapping like lire.
arms, while the lungihg and pitching
covered the decks with cleaning
golden spray.
The roar and confusion brought the
skipper on deck, and in explanation OF
his order the mate pointed to the
strange light that was now astern.
The men, too were looking at it, having
made everything snug, and OF all the
crew not one had ever seen anything
like it before.
When first seen it looked like a
luminous buoy floating upon the sur
face but it had gradually heightened
out, grown attenuated, as it were. un-
til now it seemed taller than the MAIN
mast of the ship. of ayellowish tint
most striking object against the jet
black sky:
Some of the men looked at the
strange form with grave apprehension.
To them it boded no good, perhaps
harm; others were not so easily dis
turbed. but everyone on board was
at least astonished at the curious APP
partition that every moment seemed to
grow larger and taller:
keep her away point" said the
captain 10 the helmsman. and the
vessel fell away and slightly increased
her speed. "Whatever 1t is" he con-
tinued, "t's coming after us. 1t
looks to me like waterspout, but l
never saw one that was on fire. and
that one is if anything ever was"
The curious object was rapidly gain
ing on them. and presented an appall-
ing appearance-a huge column of
CHASTITY light hundreds of feet high. of
a dark, golden yellowish Understanding
out in strange contrast against the sky.
or the intense darkness of the night.
1t came on so quickly, evidently be.
fore the breeze, that the vessel was
hauled on the wind. just in time, per-
haps, for the strange column went
Kissing and roaring by, not 1000 yards
astern, its base where it joined the
water surrounded by seemingly h,ass
of fire. while the upper portion bent
gracefully and was lost in the clouds.
In short time it had entirely disap-
peared from view.
When the ship came home after q
long cruise and the wonderful story
was told by the captain and crew, not
Il few listeners laughed slightly and put
the yarn down as belonging to the sea
serpent class.
Fortunately for the veracity of the
crew of the little ship the same curious
observation has been made several
times since. and by scientific men, and
while the phenomenon is robbed of
none of its terrors and is really danger.
GUS, it has lost the supernatural ele-
ment that the fears of the sailors threw
about it, and has taken Its place among
the many other remarkable but well
understood phenomena of the ocean.
The column was not as the skipper
had suspected, a waterspout-a mid
night visitor coursing over the ocean
like some weird phantom.
Since then several have been seen at
at ono time, veritable pillars of fire,
moving rapidly over the surface.
1t finally occurred to scientist to ex-
anime 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 as
pyrocislis-pseudo-noctiluea and P-pisl.
formis, whose nucleus, the little spot
seen in the center, was wildly luminous.
Here, then, was the secret OF the
column of fire-a waterspout had heen
formed and enormous masses of The lit
tie light. givers borne aloft, giving the
entire spout fiery appearance.
These spouts differ in color. depend
ing on the intensity of the light OF the
various animals; some are dull yell
low: others, on the 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 resting in caldron of seething
| flame. Golden Days.
How the Air Brake Works.
| Gil &, ,oiInonH man RI mo TO-DAY.