The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-14
THREATENED By wATEas9oUrs
The Steamer Castilian Prince Passes
Three TwirIcrs Within Two Hours.

Three Twirlcrs Within Two Hours.
From the New York Tribune.
Capt David Coull, of the steamer Cas-
,iliau Prince is an old sea-dog and has
seen many curious things at sea. but he
says that ne witnessed a sight, or, 10 be
more accurate. several sights on the last
trip here Of the Castihan Prince from
Havana that made his hair stand on end.
The steamer arrived here yesterday, and
Capt. COull told the marine reporters all
about 1T. On March To, while the steamer
was about thirty miles of Cape Eatteras.
and travelling along the inner edge of the
Gulf Stream. the captain sighted, about
two miles off, a great WaterspOut, bearing
TO westward. II shot out from the
sky and moved downward. 10 seemed
like a long white ribbon, and it reached
like a feathery stairway from sea 10 sky.
At the base the water churued and foam
ed about with considerable force. In a
short time the formation of the straight
column seemed to change, and IL assumed
the shape of an inverted cone, or to quote
the captain, "a huge top" The top
seemed to be about One-half a mile in
diameter aud q mile and a half high
What is most curious about the water
spout is thai it was pure in color, where
as the waterspOuts Capt. COuu has seen
in the Bay Of BisCay and in the Indian
ocean were of a dark green or olackish
hue. There was danger for q time that
the waterspOut would burst upon the yes
sci. The Watery column moved to the
southwark, after being visible for half an
hour, and then, owing probably to the
denseness Of the atmosphere, was lost to
sight. The variability Of the wind
caused the spout to travel around the
ship
Later in the afternoon there were
sighted, about threC-Q uarJers Of q mile
away, pair of snow-white waterspouts
Great black masses of clouds hid the
heavens from view and the wind shifted
about to the northwest on the port
bow. Whirliug about in "a sinIOus fashion,
as if to initiate the motions of Il serpen-
tine dancer, was volume Of cloudy mat
ter Round and round. like "a tOc-tO -tlm.
whisked the snaky mass, making pretty
as well as an Omlnous spectacle. 1t came
nearer aud nearer, until within about 300
yards of the steamer, and it circled about
the vessel as if to hurl the tons of water
of which it was composed upon the decks.
On the starb0ard bow doomed its mate,
similar in appearance but without the
varying qualities of that formation. It
seemed like a marble column. The twin
waJerspOuts We're each about three
quarters Of a mile wide at the base.
They moved on to the south, and after
they had been lost To view a fierce gale
sprany up. The rain came down in tor
rents and the thunder and lightning
made the scene an impressive one.
The three spouts had formed and dis
appeared inside of two hours The
course of the ship was not changed. All
the time the marine spectacle was visible
a 3-masted steamer was seen dead ahead
Of the Castillian Prince, about three or
four miles away. The name of the vessel
could not be learned.
1t is unusual for srolts to form in
groups in the Atlantic ocean. Another
peculiar feature of the spouts was their
exquisite white color, which is not char
acteristic of similar demonstrations in
southern seas.