The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-20

Vineyard and. Nantucket. There Is
 fleet of the nimble schooners in Long
 Island sound. and a half score of suc- cessful sweepers make their homes in
 the Nutmeg state. The prospect of a heavy undertaking never disheartens
 them. These anchor sweepers go on
 long voyages. and If the quest is with in the scene of mans power they re- turn full handed.
 To begin with. Vineyard sound is one of the most frequented water ways on the entire coast. It is. in general appearance, wide river twenty miles long. At the west end is Gay
 Head and the boundless ocean, and on the east the interminable sand bars of Nantucket. North lies Cape Cod. and south, that Eden, Marthas Vineyard. The sound is midway between New York and Boston. Vineyard Haven harbor Is a noted refuge in heavy wea- ther, though it is not especially secure from the influences of northeast winds. In this locality the anchor sweepers make their homes, and in the harbor stanch little schooners, made use of in the business. are moored.
 The sands of Vineyard sound are stuck full of derelict anchors. These lost mudhooks bristle out at the bot tom or rest buried in the sand. An old shellback said yesterday that there Is enough unclaimed iron between Gay Head and Cape Pogue to reconstruct a navy. Off the town of Falmouth, where the beach sweeps southwest to Nobska light, is one of the best hold ing grounds in the sound. But the anchors that persist in holding to bot tom are lost almost as frequently as those left on bottom by the parting of a cable. The currents of Vineyard Sound rush like a sluice of sawmill and with momentum that has the weight of torrent. This condition prepares an annual harvest for the anchor sweep CTS.
 Imagine a heavy northeast gale that came along the coast with all the fury of cyclone. A sublime symposium of fog, spray and shrieking wind, torn pillows and yeasty spray. This combi- nation looks swell in type. but to sea- farers it is little more than a three days misery. There Is constant dan ger of being blown ashore by the part ing of the cable and the strictest watch on the chain and position of the vessel is maintained. When winters gale is sweeping in from the ocean the cup of bitterness is presented to many sea- dogs lips. In an easterly wind vessels bound to Boston are stormbound, so to speak, for they cannot sail closely. to windward, and, therefore the shoals are given a wide berth till more moderate weather and favorable slant of wind. Vessels on the way to New York and ports south rarely make a passage during the prevalence of stiff easterly gale. because the strength of wind and sea and condt- tions of atmosphere outside, cannot readily be forecasted.
 So the sound fills gradually with coasters, while storm is raging, and if someone does not have to slip his an- chor, then 1t can be set down by the landsman that the wind was not very brisk.
 An anchor chain or cable is laid up in sections. Ten fathoms, or sixty feet from the eye of the anchor, where the cable is bent on, is a shackle of iron, shaped somewhat like capital U, with a bolt through the open end. The shackle replaces a link. The next shackle is twenty fathoms, and so on, at equal distances, to the end of the cable. The idea is to have a cable that can readily be dislocated in case of trouble. To slip a cable the shackle bolt is knock ed out, and the chain runs out of the hawse pipe, while that portion on the inboard end remains in the chain pen under the forecastle deck. Sometimes the cable is buoyed and secured, later on, but it requires time and skill to do it.
 Vineyard Haven harbor has been the scene of terrible destruction of proper ty. One adventure is worth noticing. Some years ago vessel from foreign port, with very valuable cargo for Boston, worked into the harbor in the teeth of gale. Her master sought an anchorage, but, owing to some unavoid- able delay the anchor was dropped quite near shore. That night the har- bor was quite luminous with spray, and the large number of coasters anchored there were laboring and saving at their cables. This particular craft was in a bad position. She had dragged we'll up to the lee side of the harbor. Her cables snapped, one Immediately after the other. The vessel was ap- parently at the mercy of the storm demon. The instant the iron chains broke the captain felt the quick back ward lurch of his ship. A glance at the lead lines showed an inclination of it toward the bows The. fold man." as the captain is generally called Cbehind his back), sprang to the wheel and threw it over. all the while as cool as a cu- cumebr It was difficult in the waist of the vessel. The sailors divided their 1 danger. It was to them a case of 1 snuffing out lives with as little barley as the anchor cables had yielded to the crushing weight of wind and pillows.
 The vessel slowly gathered stern way, rose and fell as the big seas hurtled l under the dripping fabric. The mate had made ready to go overheard when the vessel should bring up on the beach,; and the crew climbed the rigging like l rats terrified by rising tide. But the 1 vessel did not touch the beach. Neither | did she collide with other nearby craft. Despite the gale that forced her back ward the gallant ship began to swing stern foremost in a long circle toward |