Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-06-06

| "esc uOurs III must De borne In mind that We
had had nothing to eat or drink, for the deck:
were full of sea water, the galley was ahost, the
| sea had made its way down the matches and
| spoiled the drinking water in the ships tanks
SO my men found themselves in desperate straits
from hard work, heat, hunger and thirst.
Not man, however. showed the white feather
but every soul, from the machinist, Gibson,
| who stood so faithfully at his post, to the coal
beavers in the bunkers, did his duty
promptly, obeyed every order with alacrity and
intelligence, and showed from the beginning
that disposition 90 obey orders, which kept
them at their posts until ordered them to
leave. after the ship struck. Some Of
the men, especially one or two Of the water
tenders. began to show signs Of giving
out, about $50, it must have been,
though to tell the truth my idea of time during
that forenoon is somewhat hazy, succeeded in
gaining access to the surgeons dispensary,
where got sufficient stimulants to serve out
| about two ounces to each of the men in the fire
room. who seemed in need of 1t, and the effect,
| without exception, was good
THE PASgs OF HUNGER AND THIRST.
And 80 the day wore on, the pangs Of hunger
and thirst beginning to manifest themselves,
| an occasional jerking motion telling that the
anchors were dragging. So it seemed but q
| question Of time when the Nandalia would
| follow the Nipsic, Adler and Eber. The last
| named vessel had entirely disappeared, while
the Adler was high. but not dry, on the reef,
on her beam ends, the sea battering her bottom
| to pieces with every wave.
Several times during these psrilous hours
heard such blood-curdling messages from the
deck as this: For Gods sake, Webster, give
again: open her out; we're on the reef; 60
faster, go faster" From Capt. Schoonmaker
and Lieut. Carlin, however, heard nothing
but once in awhile an inquiry as to the situa-
ton. and once ! remember the captain asked
now long could keep up the speed at which
the engines we're then running, and my reply
that l could keep it up all day seemed
TO afford him much satisfaction. This was
the last time L saw him, for not long
after this the final catastrophe came. During
the morning, and probably not far from $780,
one OF the men shouted down the hatch that
the Calliope was trying to put to sea, and we
all felt relieved for up to this time she and the
olga had been like bulls in a china shop,
smashing everything left anoat in the little
harbor.
As viii be perceived my record 90 far has
been limited to the few events occurring in my
especial domain, the engine room, and to such
nasty gilmpses caught of the scenery as the
rolling Of the ship offered SO my account SO
lar contains no very stirring episodes.
BY these glimpses could see that the air was
thick with binding spray and spoon-drift, and,
as had cause to know later on, the water was
thlckly charged with sand brought up from the
bottom through the violence OF the waves and
the force of the wind.
Ten O'Clock approached, and from various
signs 1t became apparent that the final event
was not far of; but still the engines main tanned
their regular speed. still l was able to report
no water in the bilge, everything working
Well, and still my men chung to theft posts
without murmur or a whmper.
Several OF the marine guard. headed by Ser
geant Coleman, came down during the forenoon
as volunteer hremen and coal heavens and, to
their credit be 1t said they stayed at their posts
TO the very last, only going on deck with the
rest OF the men when ordered to do so.
THE ORDER TO ABANDON SHIP.
And so the minutes flew by, until about $50
o'clock, with a crash which sent everybody
SPRAYING. the yandalia struck bottom and in
an instant il seemed as though pandemonium
was let loose. The roaring of the gale, the
lashinG Of the waves and the loud cries of COM
maDd on deck were almost overpowered by the
creaking and grooming which seemed to come
from every timber in the Inflated ship. The
order to stop the engines was hardly
given and obeyed before u second order
was beloved down the engine room hatch
to abandon ship"-that most terrible
phrase. Here the discipline and steadiness
OF the engineer department showed ITSELF
for as soon as the order to stop the engines was
given everything was done exactly as it would
have been had the ship been coming to anchor
and when l went into the fire room to give the
order TO abandon the ship the men were still
there, and only went in obedience to command.
Passing through the fire room / saw that sew
eral OF the glass water gauges had been broken
by the shock OF going aground, that it was
impossible to live there, but l was able to see
that every man was out Of the department
before tried to make my escape. Before going
on deck saw every part of the engine room
and ire roOm and sent every man on deck /
saw. Subsequent events proved that every body
go: on deck IN safety.
On my way up the engine room ladder from
the fire room l rapidly opened one of the main
safety valves to avoid an explosion-a needless
precaution as ii tnrned out-and then hesitated
for an instant whether to try and save ything
from my room.
Of course. it must be understood that all of
these events occurred in less time than it takes
to write them. for the ship was rapidly filling
with water, and the sea was making a complete
breach over her.
Several times during the morning it had &C.
CURED to me that il might become necessary
to attempt to reach the deck through the engine
room hatch, SO to prepare for the struggle which
must then ensue L had slipped my naked feet
into pair of unlaced shoes SO they could be
kicked of at the proper moment. But as has
been seen resort to sucn an extremity was not
called for.
THE STRAIN UPON THE ENGINES.
Before going further in the narrative portion
of this recital an account of a few incidents
during the hours from to 1880 a. IN. may not
be out of place. Many times during the latter
part of the forenoon the pitching Of the ship
was 50 violent that the screw would be lifted
entirely out of water, and the engines, relic we'd
OF all load except their own friction, would go
tearing around at terrifying velocity until
the stern, settling into q wave as the bow
reached cloudland, the instantaneous increase
Of load on the propeller would cause the
engines to stop quite STILL on one occasion for
more than ten seconds, when they would
resume their normal speed until another ava
lanche of water would come over the stern.
From the manner and frequency with which
the engine room was deluged with sea water /
judged that during most Of the forenoon the
ship must have been drifting broadside to the
wind and sea- Subsequent events confirmed
this In addition to the onset of the volumes
OF water pouring into the engine room, those
who, Ike myself, were compelled to weather
the storm the best We could we're almost suffo
Gated by the quantities Of steam given off BY
the various pipes and portions Of the engines
deluged with water which were hot enough for
the purpose. and 1t seemed once in a while as
| though we must abandon our posts from this
cause alone.
Can one imagine worse combination Of cir.
cumstances than this? A helpless ship drifting
on a reef before ahurricane of wind, the engine
room alternately filed with binding water and
suffocating steam. almost no prospect Of escape
should she fill before striking. and above all al
most total ignorance of the situation on deck
| Fortunately the very inability to know the
| desperate straits to which the ship was speed
| ing was, perhaps, good cause for the courage
and lack of panic exhibited by the engineer
| force under my command. At all events the
| idea that we were like rats in a trap down be-
/ low as we were, never seemed to strike auv ous
/ Of US. And now the last duty having been