The Progress., 1889-03-09
COLUMNS or FIRE.
A Stranga Phanomenon Which, IL Some
tilnss Seen IN Miti0ce1n by Sailors.

A Strange Phanomenon Which, IL Some o
tianss Seen In Midocean by Sailors.
.On deck tller..!''
The hail came from thu foretop Of 4
little ful,-riggcd slip of the old fash.
ioned Nnw Bedford typo that was
! plowing along the waters Of the
Atlantic. hurting the bright. phos-
phorcscent waves ahead Of tho broad
bow in loud and bOistrrous ,nannc II.
Aye, aye. was the answer. fol-
lowed by gruR what the matter?''
from the sleepy mate.
Light on the weather bowr' came
from the lockout
I'VE re good two thousand miles
from land in that direction.'', q ,,lnttarcd
the mate, rs heswung himself into the
rigging.
But when he wiped away the spray
that lashed his face there was the
light, and one so strange and unfamil- :
lar that he stood there for several Sec
onds. buffeted by the waves, yet peer
ing at the strange visitor. Then
swim nging around and dropping from
the shrouds to the quarter deck, he
put up his big hands to form 4 trumpet
and roared: Ready about?''
A moment later the ship was trem.
bling in the wind, the blocks hammer-
ing the yards vlciously, the cord dase
groaning. the sails swapping like fire.
arms, while the lunging and pitching
covered the decks with gleaming z
golden spray. The roar and conf,,.
sion brought the skipper on deck. and
in explanation Of his order the mate
pointed at the strange light that was
now astern. The men. too, were look.
ing at 1t. having made every thing
snug. and Of all the crow not one had
ever seen any thing like it before.
When first seen it looked like lu.
minous buoy floating upon the surface,
but it had gradually heightened out,
grown more attenuatcd, rs it were
until now It seemed taller than tho
mainmast of the shif. of yellowlsl,
tint--a most striking object against
the jet-black sky.
| Some of the men looked at the
strange form with grave apprchen-
sion. To them it BODIED no good. per-
haps harm; others wero not so easily
disturbed, but every one on board was
at least astonished at the curious a,,-
partition that every moment seemed to
grow larg or aud taller.
Keep her away point" snid the
captain to the helm smen. and the yes
sel fell away and slightly increased
her speed. whatever it is" he con-
tinued. its coming after u.s. ltlooks
to me like waterspout, but I never
saw one that was on fire. and that one
is If any thing ever was.''
The curious object WAS rapidly gain.
ing on them, and now presented an ap-
palling appearance-a huge column OF
CHASTITY light, hundreds of feet high,
OF dark, golden, yellowish hue
standing out In strange contrast
against the sky, or the intense dark
noss Of the night It came on 50
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
astern. Its base where It Joined the
water surrounded by seeming mass
d fire. while the upper portion ben,
gracefully, and was lost in the clouds.
In short time it had entirely disap.
peared from view. The column was,
as the skipper has suspected, water.
spout; midnight visitor. coursing
over the ocean like some weird phan.
tom. Since then several have been
seen at one time, veritable pillars
IT fire. moving rapidly owe,
the surface. 1t finally &C.
Cured to q scientist to examine
the water in which these fiery column.
were seen. and he found it completely
filled with the forms of two minute
plants, known to science AS pyrocisliS.
pseudonoctiIuea and P-pisiformis.
whose nucleus, the little spot seen in
| the center, was wildly luminous.
Here, then, WAS the secret Of the
column of fre--a waterspout hal beer
formed and enormous masses of tht
! little light-givers borne aloft, giving
the entire spout a fiery appearance.
These spouts differ in color, depending
on the intensity Of the light of the
various animals; some are dull yel.
| low; Others, on moonlight nigh s,
| quite pale, while others again, on til,
extreme dark nights when the sea is
high, present a truly frightful appear.
ance. resembling pillar Of fire. lht
base representing a caldron Of seeth
4 ing fame. - Golden Days
The Test Of Z Good Clerk.