The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-04-07
VAST SHEET OF FLAME.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF
THE CENTURION.
The Vessel In Terrible Electric Storm
Immense Balls of Fire Hung
About the Masthead-Con-
tfnuous Flashes.


tinuous Flashes.
It was story-teller's day at the
Maritime exchange, according to the
New York Sun. A group of storm
bound ship captains gathered there
all day. Stories about the weather
were at premium. The mem bers Of
the group changed constantly, as the
captains came and went, some stop
ping for an hour or two, others for
only few minutes.
Among those who came in late in
the afternoon was Captain Watson,
OF the British freight steamship Cen
turion, 5000 tons
Upon his arrival here Captain
Watson had reported singular cleo
trio storm through which his ship
had passed on her last trip to the
branch photographic Office in the
Maritime exchange. He was asked
to give the details of his experience.
I'm all the thirty years l have
spent On the sea-" he said, Il never
went through such night as that of
Sunday, December Is, when we were
in latitude fifty-two degrees north
and longitude thirty-five degrees
west.
I'VE were eight days out from
Tyne. The weather at first was clear
and mild. On Saturday, December
"a. the wind blew hurricane. The
barometer sunk to 81. so inches. The
aurora lighted up the whole northern
sky. The seamen on deck noticed
several balls of fire at the masthead
and along the stays during the night.
The hurricane, which had been blow
ing from the northwest, shifted to the
southeast, stirring up nasty cross
sea, which threw us on our beam ends
several times
'.On Sunday morning the hurricane
continued. The waves rolled as high
as our mastheads. During the day
the hurricane shifted from the south
east to the northwest. The heavy
rain which had been falling changed
to hail. The hailstones were almost
as big as eggs. The cross sea was
the worst / ever experienced.
cat about 6 o'clock in the evening
began the most wonderful electrical
display / have ever seen or heard of.
The ship seemed to be in the center
of vast sheet of flame, which was as
bright as sunlight.
1.-The appearance of the sea under
the queer. light was awe-inspiring.
The heavy cross sea sent waves over
us at intervals of few minutes.
when the waves broke they
looked like liquid fire. The power
OF vision seemed magnifed. AS far
as we could see, the immense waves
appeared to be crested with flame.
The exhibition sent shivers even
through old sea dogs like myself.
1.-The effect of the heavy hail storm
was magnificent. 1t seemed as
though the air was filled with balls
of fire. The light was bright enough
to read by. 1t penetrated through
out the whole ship and even in the
engine room the light was brilliant
The brilliancy varied from a
bright white light to an incandescent
yellow. The light came in flashes, so
close together as almost to seem con-
tinuous.
This light kept up for about two
hours. After 8 o'clock it gradually
faded, and was all gone at midnight.
By daylight the weather had moder-
ated.
"Some of the men we're badly
frightened by the electrical disturb
ance. | don't blame them. It was
enough to shake the courage of the
strongest man. It took several days
for the bravest of us to get over our
nervousness.
"No one on the ship felt any cleo
trio shock during the storm. The
compasses wavered and behaved as
they usually do under the influence
of an electric disturbance.
The strain on the ships machin-
cry was terrible. and several of the
smaller parts of the engines were
broken. No accident serious enough
to disable the engines altogether
happened, however.
''We gave up the attempt to keep
up our course on Sunday, and merely
let the ship drive before the storm.
We kept up enough steam, however,
to give the vessel steerage way.
1.-The waves washed over the decks
repeatedly. The covers of the life
boats were washed away, and the
port bulwarks smashed in. We were
thankful to escape with no more
serious damage.
''On the next night the men on
deck reported several balls of the
ordinary st. Elmo's fire, and we saw
these on several occasions afterward.
The voyage, which we usually made
in twelve days, was protracted to
ineteen.' -
WnrA <&f 1xt~