The Portland daily press., 1889-09-14
WHERE THE BIG STORM HELD SWAY,
Stories roId by Mariners Who Had
encountered Its Fury.
Suffering Sailors Calamity Rescued
on the massachusetts, Coast.
sim Too Rough to Visit the Prison
ers of Pollock Rip.


NEW YORK, September 1S.-Little by little
the story of the disaster wrought by the cy-
clone at sea is coming in. A small feet of
steamers from foreign ports and along shore
arrived Yesterday, and from their logs can
be CLEANED the first facts received OF loss of
| life and property by the violence of the
| storm as well as important information about
the size and progress of the gigantic whirl-
| wind which has made itself felt with such
| destructive force up and down the coast
| from New York harbor.
| Among the arrivals were the giant racers
the City of New York and the Teutonic, each
! having made little better time than on their
previous race westward, instead of having
been DELAYED by the cyclone. The Citv uf
| Rome also arrived. Their logs and that of
| the Hammonia show that the weather was
| remarkably fine all the way over until they
| had passed the Geoges Banks.n The barome-
| ter was high to the eastward Of the Georges.
This accounts for the fact that the wind
has held steady in the northeast about New
York so long, for it was the high pressure
area off there that held back the whirling
storm from its natural course across the
banks of Newfoundland. In the mighty
conflict between the two meteorological
forces out at sea the fair weather force had
prevailed, and unless it gives way, the
cyclone will simply have to lash itself in
impotent fury over its present location until
1t dies Of exhaustion.
Even so far west as off Montauk Point the
weather. though stormy, was not what might
be called bad according to Pilot Shook, who
left the pilot boat America there to bring in
the City OF New York. But not so very
many miles off to the south OF that point the
pilot boat Washington, according to Pilot
Peterson who brought in the Hammonia,
was 0vertaken by such hurricane on the
10th that, with the wind to the east-north-
east, she had to run before it, to escape its
fury, for several hours.
The steamer Roanoke of the Old Dominion
line still further defines the limits of the
cyclone. She ran into it on Tuesday morn
ing at 4 o'clock, when eight miles north of
Cape Charles. Capt. Hulyhurs had of course
seen that he was getting close to the fear
tions made from the direction of the wind
and the pressure of the barometer, he con-
ciuded that the center of the cyclone was
then 90 miles away to the east-northeast
The Lasselle, Captain Rendle, arrived In
from South American ports, having left Rio
on August 81. She got into the southerly
edge OF the cyclone on September 8, south of
the Bermudas, and from that time on has
been trying to pound down the seas all the
way to Sandy Hook. On the whole the seas
got the best of her. When she reached Quar-
antine yesterday afternoon she was sorry
wreck above decks. 1t all happened on the
9th and 10th. She had travelled faster than
the storm, and crossing not far from its cen
tire got shift of wind from the sOuth-south-
east to east-northeast and cross sea that
was terrible to behold. The seas broke over
her continually. The starboard lifeboats
were smashed, the funnel caved in, the rails
and bulwarks knocked both ways, and the
timber heads. cleats, etc., were broken and
ripped from the deck.
Capt. Parsell of the Teutonic made COM
plant to the Pilot Commissioners yester-
day that he had to wait many hours off San
dy Hook for pilot. Capt. Bauer of the
good boat and nearly lost three men for
like reason. As told yesterday, he got his
pilot OF an outgoing steamer. Capt. Noodle
of the State Of Georgia also makes a like
the complaints. If the Steamships did not
get pilots it was because the pilot boats out
side were blown out of the track Of the
steamers by the hurricane while the boats
inside were unable to get out. If such
steamers as the Arizona aud the new Kaiser
Wilhelm IL. were weather bound, as they
were until Wednesday, it was not reason
able to expect pilot boats to go to sea.
That the pilots are men who do not hesi-
tate an instant In the discharge of their duty,
no matter what the circumstances, was testi-
fed to by the passengerstof the City of New
York. When Pilot Shook was taken
on OF board he was invited to come
81 g shp shi po1s fma bS Of an rope with bs s the
OF the captain to stop the ship. but no cap
tain does this. The pilot took the ropes end
and sprang for the ship, and the next instant
was buried in the sea by the rolling of the
steamer. But he hung on literally for dear
life, and was dragged ON board. Without
moments stop he walked to his post on the
bridge, and stayed there when he arrived.
Such experiences are common in the lives of
pilots in winter as we'll as summer.
From this time on the reports of disasters
at sea are likely to be numerous for two
weeks The coal, cotton, lumber and wood
carrying coasters load down until their decks
are awash amidships. While the weather
holds moderate they drift along well enough,
but when caught in gale like this they are
bound to suffer. Many of them go down. A
like tale may be told Of the sugar boats from
the West Indies.
At Chatham Last Night.
CHATHAM. Mass, September 13-Strong
easterly winds continue tonight. 1t is ex-
pected the schooner Nellie V. Roakes will
go to pieces tonight at high tide. The sea is
too rough to board the Pollock Rip lightship
to bring ashore the crew of the unknown
schooner sunk off there.
The Atlanta In the Gale.
NEWPORT, R. l., September 13-United
States cruiser Atlanta arrived at ten o'clock
this morning. Since Monday she has been
standing Off shore, lying off and on, in order
to weather the gale which was very severe
and nasty. She kept good distance from
land, preferring the gale to the rocks along
tne shore. Inc cruiser for the most of the
time was Off M0ntauk light. The weather
was thick and foggy, the storm severe and
the gale was sharp, but the cruiser weathered
1t without damage and behaved admirably,
surprising the officers and men themselves.
Inc Wlnd was SO strong and the sea so high
Sometlmes 1or several hours that not an inch
OF progress was made with six boilers going.
Yesterday Coxswain John Sanders of Bar
uarbor, died suddenly of heart disease and
was buried at sea 90 miles off shore, the ves-
sci not expecting to be able to reach land to-
day.
A German Ship Wrecked.
ATLANTIC Cry, N. j., September 13-The
German snip Gesternude is aground on Abb
sec0n beach. She left Stettin July IA for
Philadelphia, loaded with cement and empty
OIL barrels and struck last night. Captain
Gaskill of the Absecon life saving station
quickly responded, but his crew were driven
back three times by the force, Of the waves
that the crew of Is men were in a panicky
condition. Towards midnight the sea threw
the Gensternude around nearer in shore, and
this morning she was less than forty yards
from the beach. The crew abandoned the
vessel and she will probably be total loss.
Long Suffering coney Island.
CoNEY ISLAND, N. Y, September 49,
Shortly after midnight, c0ud burst directly
over the island, the water doing almost as
much damage to the lawns in the rear of the
big hotels as the waves had done in the
front. This morning many houses and all
the small hotels were completely surrounded
with from three to five feet OF water. The
cloud burst did considerable damage to the
Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and ORR
entail hotels. Sheepshead bay was greatly
swollen and completely surrounded many
houses. Everybody is living in the upper
stories.
All Night in the Rigging.
CHATHAM, Mass, September 13-Schooner
| Nellie V. Stokes of Deer Isle, Me-, from Mt
| Desert for New York with. granite, struck
| on Pollock Rip Shoal last night during the
| gale and is a total wreck. At daybreak this
morning the vessel was sighted on the outer
| bar with the seas breaking over her and the
men in the rigging; The Chatham life saw
| ing crew succeeded in bringing all the crew
ashore safely. They clung to the rigging all
| night expecting every moment to be washed
from their perlous position.
picked UP Adrift.
New YORK, September 13.-Captain Nc
| Kee of the steamer Germassee, which ar
rived today, reported that during the storm
| yesterday, NNE. of Sandy Hook lghtship,
he picked up Capt. P. A. Bull, wife. two chill
dren and fourteen of the crew of the bark
| Aloyloss. oil laden, bound to Copenhagen.