Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-19
II 4 WILD STORM At BEA.
Expsfisnes q . WashinstoAtAn Who Wa
AboarA the Dubblsdsm.

Expsflsncs q WashtnstohiAn Who Wa
| Aboard the Dubbisdam.
AMIDST xsrx4Anous WAVES WITHOUT 4 nrp
rEnl1yro sTonA-TMB HonAoas OF rRl
mo FoR DISTRACTIONS.
| A PRIVATE LETTER FROM MR. e. q
"A Smith, one Of the passenger on the new
steamer Dubblsdam from Amsterdam to New
York, gives the experience Of the vessel in the
pale Of August Is. The Dubbledam was built
In Rotterdam, the newest Of the Netherlands
American line and supposed to be the best, thii
being her frst trip. Al will b seen, she Ios,
her steering gear in the gale and put back to
Plymouth, England, for repairs, from which
port She again sailed for New York on the 10th
instant Under date Of September Mr.. Smith
sayss
AL wrote you. on landing At Bouioens, VI
Ars now aboard the 'Dubblsdam." rightly %
called. When " left Amsterdam the SEQ Wal
pretty high and sailing rather rough. After
leaving Boulosne Thursday morning II Wal
worse. was sick and everybody on board.
Saturday morning had about recovered. All
the time the sea had been getting rougher.
Sunday the weather was awful and rain all day.
Sunday night the rain cleared up and the stars
came out, but the wind set In to blow a gale,
increasing In violencs every minute. We went
to bed and / slept most OF the night, but not
comfortably. About Q o'clock In the morning
the weather was something that one who has
not gone through 1t can hardly imagine. Al
o'clock, though the waves had been breaking
over the ship all the time. monster came over
tho bow just at the bridge and tore things up
considerably, among other things smashing
m hntra and linz he amin ,nl
therein contained. beating hor to jelly. but
doing the almost irrepArable damage Of break
ing our steering apparatus. The captain and
crew at oncs started to rig up some sort OF
steering gear. but to no purpose, a. every thing
snapped rs fast rs they fixed 1t up.
ALL PASSENGERS ruRS our.
About $3.50 o clock Q. m We all got up and
came up into the upper saloon and there the
ladies stayed for the next two days and nights.
You can try and imagine tho situation, the wind
blowing gale. whistling and moaning through
the masts, the sea 10 high that do not think
you could guess how It looked unless you had
seen it. know had NO idea the waves could
be 30 high-ths steering gear broken and the
ship drifting Ut the mercy OF the winds aud
waves and tossing about so that 1t was i,upos-
sible Tor even the sailors to stand upright 1t
was bad enough during the day. but when the
next night came 1t was awful. Or course every
body hoped for safcty. bnt 1t seemed hardly
possible that the ship could live through the
night, ana: the rolling and pitching continued
10 badly that the sick were frequently thrown
out OF their berths, despite oil effort 10 hold on.
ne ladies' in the upper saloon b@rricaded
themselves on the lounge, with tables and did
tneir best TO hold on, but were also frequently
thrown to the floor. No one slept for two days
and three nights except by snatches.
A HOLE IN TIRE BOAT.
About o'clock that nigh. we had hole
at~ ts&A ~ a n. tse
smashed and, breaking loose from their davits.
they pounded the deck and aft cabin so that
had the sailors not been able to secure them
within tive minutes longer We should have had
the upper deck swept OF everything. Our captain
has the greatest admiration for everybody on
board. But for bis skill and perseverance we
shoHid never have reached the next morning.
although every pulley he rugged for the first
tive aty-t0ar hours Vas snapped. He still con-
tinued to work unit! lie arranged an attach
mont which was no Use for ordinary steering.
but which managed TO keep up Ia the trough
OF the soa And saved the vessel. He said our
whole chance of riding out the gale was to keep
Just where We were until the sea went down,
and there We stayed foc two DAYS and two
nights. all the time. as said, pitching about SO
that IL WAS dangerous to Iiove from u position
where one could hold on. Eating or cooking
was, OF course. gu! Of the question. except that
bread and little cold men, was passed around
a little bouillon, but in. the danger We were in
few thought OF eating much.
HORRORS OF THE srEgRAor.
The Storage passengers (450 of them) we're
in the worst AZ. They were locked down in the
hold between decks all the time and
&new nothing Of what was going on ex-
cept that constantly they could hear
the waves breaking over their heads and
humping as IL the ship must 60 to pieces every
minute. During that time 1t was only possible
to reach tham once. and then they were pro-
vided with a little bread and drink called cof-
fee. Several of the steerage passengers have
become idiots from the strain upon them at
that time. and it Is sai,l one Of them wash ed
overheard. The captain considers it almost
miraculous that none of the sailors were lost or
manned. To add to the other horrors the hole
IN the bow let in so much water that the low
rooms in which the steerage passengers were
confined were filled with water, in some places
to the depth OF foot. and in the furching Of
the vessel they were almost drowned. When
| We came on board Katie and l were disap-
pointed III having an inside room. but since We
have been very thankful. as every outside state
room in the boat was filed with water varying
from one to five inches deep, and their clothes
were nearly ruined by soaking in sal. water for
so long a time.
think that every inside room. except ours,
also Was wet slightly. bIt Ours being exactly la
tue ceiter VA Tue Dual. ANU just ~ tue loot Oh
the saloon stairs, was perfectly dry the whole
| time. Things are ut this time in such a con-
fused state and so much going on that cannot
tell the story correctly and am afraid this let
ter is somewhat incoherent, but it will give You
the main points and will tell You the details
later.
STEERING UNDER D1rF1cuLTrE3.
The sea gradually Gained and the captain
arranged the most ingenious continuance for
steering ever saw. He has pulley arranged
for each side of the rudder, the ropes of which
are fastened to two donkey engines (the ones
usually used for lifting out the heavy caroo}
close bv the bridge. When he gives an order
the sailor on one side lets his rope slip and the
sailor running the other rope puts on steam
and pulls his end Of the rudder round. and
when they wnnt to 60 in the op-
posi.e direction the operation is reversed
OF course. 1t IL very primitive way of
steering; very troublesome, as it takes SO MANY
hands night and day to run 1t; rather Q Expensive
~ it uses up the ropes (wire, of course J pretty
rapidly, no ropes they have being able to stand
the strain more than few hours. and moro or
less dangerous, as each time the rope breaks
we are again at tho mercy Of the waves until a
new pulley IL rugged, which is doing the BUSH
ness Tor as; and if we have good weather now
for few days we shall reach England.
September al forgot to say that rs soon az
the weather moderated. A. the English coast
wns found to be only $50 miles away, the cap
tain decided to put in for an English port-Fai-
mouth or Plymouth--or possibly 20 to Queens.
town, whichever the weather would best allow
him to make.
rNA IL l. A.. n