The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-05-05
IsnccIal Correspondence I

SPECIAL Correspondence
CHARLESTON. May 2.-OG Cape Hat
teras and "choppy"--if YOU have been
thcre YOU don't need TO read any furts
but if You have not. all the trvsatiantic
experiences Of your past will not enlisht-
On YOU You might. indeed. cross from
New York to Liverpool a dozen times
and still bc in a condition of lniantilc Il
norance concerning the pains and pleas
ures Of voyage from New York 10
Charleston. let it toe understood at the
outset that there are pains rs well a.
pleasures 10 be encountered ON this trip.
for the Yemassec or Cherokee are not
the City Of Rome or the Etruria. II they
were the highest tide would never carry
them over the sand bar TO within gun
shot Of Charleston. They are tidy vc--
sells. neat as a pin from stem 10 stern.
but about the time they are cantcring
/ b,ithclv over the waves that assault Cape
I Hatteras from one years end to another
Won are apt To wish that few hundred
feet were added to their length or few
/ hundred thousand tons to their ballast
Some misgivings on this account find
expression at 4:30 p. m. as the Nemassee
outbound. steams past the Goddess OF
| Liberty The cabin passengers snili the
/ frcshening sea breeze from the upper
deck. There is a ship shape young wo-
man with a fOre-and-aft cap on her
head. and a beautiful bunch of Jacque-
minots pinned to the breast Of her tight
fitting ulster who clings coniidingly TO
the arm of tho fortunate father of such
girl. Already there is a slight oscilla-
ton from bow to stern. The girl presses
her fathers arm.
Papa. doesn't il seem 10 you that this
vessel ia Just tnAe short for an ocean
voyage
"Why so. my dear"
Don't you see. she has begun to pitch
already and we arc not out of the lower
bay
Papa is a well seasoned traveicr-who
has not rounded Cape Iiatteras. r.
smiles indulgently and says there isn't
particle OF danger. This is only coast
VOYAGE anyhow. Whercat the anxious
mothcrof two small children looks much
relieved. and motherly appearing old
lady. who remarks that she has crossed
the ocean nine times. smiles protcciinGiy
npon everybody. Even the nautically
.quippcd youth. slim Of leg and narrow
chesied. but rugged out with al the par
lphernalia of the Old Man Of the Sea.
suffers rleam Of secret satisfaction 10
cross his sall0w face This youth has
excited the envy Of superficial observers
who are willing 10 admit that they are
entering upon their first ocean voyage
How comforting it would be- TO be able
TO contemplate the watery horizon with
such complacency az his, Presently
Sandy Hook Is passed and the LAND
swell has grown insinuating. Tho nau
iical yoing man turns ON his heel and de
sends haughtily to the lonesome lower
deck. For lack Of anything better to DO
YOU f0uOw him shortly and are surprised
10 note the ashy pallor of his face as he
stands with head dropped over the taiirail
There are adequate reasons why, for
moment or two. he Is not conscious OF
your presence. IF you were white Gle
phaut or a Zulu costumed in the native
war paint. this nautical young man
would have 40 idea of your approach
The fact is. he is otherwise engaged But
before You have time TO retire there is
rift in the cloud Of his misery. and with
the last vcstige Of assumed superiority
iisiodged from his system he explains:
II was-ah-yOu rec / was suffering
from an attack of-cr--Of Indigestion
when came on board"
There has been a considerable thinning
out of passengers on the upper deck. The
anxious mother Of two small children
together with one of Tie latter. has dis
appeared. and the remaining olive branch
is being carried below, limp and white.
IN tie arms Of the plying stewardess
it is the land swell.
Transatlantic steamers are too biz and
heavy to be affected by the land swell,
but the Yemassee and her human cargo
get the full benefit Of il. IL is not an UNI
pleasant motion if your stomach happens
To he firmly anchored in It's natural posi-
ton But if that useful organ is accus-
toned to exhibit migratory tendencies
upon slight provocation the land swell /
will set il in motion right speedily 1t is |
an insidious heaving Of the mighty deep /
that il most potent in its effects on the I
system when least perceptble to the Wis /
ion To the mind that is yoked to an
ambitious stomach it IS the essence Of in /
stability. But, bless you. the father Of /
.he ship shape young woman is not both T
ering his mind with the logic Of the stu /
alton as he makes suspicious haste to gain /
the door OF his state rooml And the T
charming wearer Of the Jacqueminots
ana the foreand-aft cap-where, OIL /
where, Is she?
This melting away Of the invincible
before an enemy that can hardly be felt /
and Is not seen at all, fills YOU with an
extraordinary estimation Of yourself, see
my that 1t is the first voyage Of your life
time. You pace the deck with firm, en-
ergetic strides. fill your lungs with the
salt sea breeze, smite your chest and
conclude that you are one of the elect
whom it il useless to attempt to make
seasick.
As you pass the kitchen door the smell
Of the cooking supper reminds you that
you are ravenously hungry. and having
discovered that you are one of the elect
YOU think no more of your previous rcso-
luton to 90 TO bed supperlcss. The gong
sounds Besides yourself there are only
the officers OF the ship and the motherly
old lady to respond The latter YOU en-
counter en- route to the dining saloon
You remark pleasantly though si.nih-
cantiy on the sudden disappearance OF
The other passengers. To which she re-
spends that II IS all nonsense
lit is the ~ ~ utter nonsense sir, this
giving away TO sensations that ale purely
imaginary
you believe then that seasickness i
nothing more nor less than disease Of
The mind,"
That's exactly what 10 "a. sir--a dis