New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1892-10-26

sounded the well, but she was dry as
a bone. The sea also became much
smoother, and we seemed to be sim
ply rising and falling on a huge swell,
instead Of going through q heavy sea.
As the night wore on the force of the
wind greatly abated, insomuch that
we were able to get new topsails from
below and make them ready to bend.
It was intensely dark, and as the hur-
ricane went down.. an awful stiffness
prevailed. It seemed as if the contin-
ued shrieking of the storm for the last
three days had affected our sense of
hearing, or else there was something
strange, as no one could hear the
swish Of the sea, and no water came
aboard. We simply rolled about in
absolute silence.
it was q dead calm Welay aloft and
bent the new topsails; and by the
time we were ready to hoist the yards
the morning was beginning to break.
Asdaylight cam e on we were as on
lshed to find that, instead of being in
q clear, open sea, we seemed to bein q
huge green meadow land. AS far as the
eye :could reach there Wasnot hing to be
seen but a heaving mass OF green. We
had been driven into the midst of the
Sargasso Sea. This accounted for the
way she had labored and the death
like.silence that prevailed. The weeds
We're already clinging to the sides and
bow Of the vessel. The sun rose clear.
and bright, and as the day advanced
the heat was excessive. There was
not q breath OF wind anywhere, SO
that we lay utterly helpless amidst
this tanglement of weeds. We could
do nothing now but wait for a breeze
to release us. During the day the
swell went down, and by night we lay
quite motionless, and with a most
appalling stiffness reigning around,
The nisht was beautifully clear, and
the stars shone out brilliantly; SO we
spent our first night among the sea Of
weeds and grass, rather pleased than
otherwise at the quiet, which was a
relief after the three days incsssant
shrieking of the hurricane. At sun
rise the calm still continued, and the
men began to get impatient for a
breeze. The day was occupied
in scraping the weeds from the sides
OF the vessel. The heat was intense;
there was not q breath of air, and
the sky was without a, cloud. AS far
as the eye could see, even from q
royal yard nothing was visible but
one unbroken plain of floating weed.
The frightful stiffness OF everything
was the worst part of it. Hour by
hour it became more oppressive. It
was a silence so intense that one
seemed to hear it, and by shutdown
even the nerves OF the toughest old
seaman had become so unstrung, that
the putting down Of pannikin made
every one start Day after day went
by without even a cats paw OF wind,
and the captain soon saw that the
only thing to keep up the mems spirits
was to give them plenty of work. We
painted the ship, tarred down, scrap
ed, holystoned, and did every other
conceivable kind of work until it be-
came hard to find anything else
to do. Curious kind OF creatures
crawled about on the top ofthe weeds,
gazing at our unfortunate craft with
their meaningless tishy eyes.
When we had been thus becalmed
for three weeks the captain
thought it advisable to put
us on a short allowance Of food and
water, as there seemed no more pros
pect Of g. breeze now than there was on
the day i'll which we had first got en-
tangled. At first we tried to get up
entertainments, but no one seemed to
have heart for anything, and all our
attempts at amusements failed The
one absorbing thought OF the whole
crew-morning, noon and night, wax
ing or sleeping "When shall we
get a breeze?" What preyed on our
minds most was the appalling stiffness.
It hung round us like a funeral pail.
One night, whilst the crew were ly-
ing about the deck. trying to sleep, I
was suddenlyroused by a voice shout
ing: sIet go your royal halyards.
In moment everyone was on the
alert, thinking and hoping that we
were in Tor breeze. 1t was a bright
moonlight night, not a cloud was to
be seen. On the forecastle head stood
a seaman waving his arms and calling
out that a squall was approaching.
where away" shouted the mate.
'Iet go!' he yelled in reply.
We now saw that the poor fellow
was raving, and Immediately a couple
OF hands secured him. He became very
violent, SO much so that it became
necessary to put him in irons. All
that night the poor fellow rayed pite-
ously, chiefly about his wife and child,
who he thought were slowed away in
some place, all alone, and where all
was silence. For three days he re
fused to eat or drink, and appealed in
cessantly to us to let him go and help
his dear ones.
On the fourth morning of his illness
it was my turn to watch him. He
had been lying quiet for some time,
breathing heavily. Presently be
struggled violently, and ] had to call
for the assistance of,another man to
hold him down. Suddenly. with a
supreme effort, he burst the irons
from his wrists; but the strain had
been too much, and he lay backsex
hausted for p few minutes. Then
raising himself on his elbow, helooked
around in dazed way, and putting
/ his hand in mine, said in a quiet voice