Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-03
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4 TALE OF TNE SEA.
The Last Trip Of the Csystal Wave, rs
TaIa Icy CNp,. N..x.N.

A'AH ~: Ntif1. 'T'i
Capt. Davis OF the ro'i>e cruiser Joe
G'aok5':cI WIS at the Arlington last night.
Waterman are always yarners. and Capt.
Davis il waterman from the crest Of his
head 10 the ;ioor. lie IL loom for tie spin
ming Of seq talci that are & yard vida.
In response to the proposition of The Star
l.an that he should tel y story with q tar
m. ofi,un f.ivor to 1t, he took long whiie
and w2ftel 4 cloud Of smoke, In wh >se
DEFY, twirlins curls and etIlying, aeeting
rings We're pictured "iaboging barks and
seas Olympus high"
Talking about smash-urs, cut 9 WINS md
!InoclS-outs. reminds me of tina; raw, t.i,,
morning four years ago, when the Old
2 l!ih.0n liner Cleopatra and the steamboat
Crys tai Wave came together with a splinter
ing crash. louder than the prayer that was
heard for seven miles. and with a thud
whose echoes are still rumbling AID rolling
il sny memory. l was operating on the
Crystal wave. We were bound from New
York to Washington. and the Cleopatra was
running up. Capt L. s Ran hall had bought
the Wave - connect Washington and the
srrnn terraces of River View. No naiad
had better figure than the Wave, and
cyclone couldn't beat her.
In Mnd Sen.
''V'e cleared from New York With hopes
as hi h as the monument and bright as the
eyes Of or capital girls. The sea was rough
Neptune hadn't been creased for some time,
and we had to lay to at Sunday Hook
After stay of enc week there, we o:lce
more put to sea. A side wheel river steam
boat isn't the handiest and hardest craft
in mad sea, but the Wave weathered the
gale. 1t was O'Clock, and the vibrations of
the two taps of the ships bell were dying
away. We were off the capes of Delaware
and the land was under the horizon. II was
a dreary morning and as thick as mush.
Sol had not turned out of his chamber In
the east and NoN continued his. reign.
Capt. Martin was in the pilot house.
was standing a the door OF the engine room
talking with Capt. Randall and Mr.. Thomas
Gray. No thought of disaster troubled us.
We were homeward bound, and visions OF
familiar scenes were before U.S. A volley
of hoarse shouts came to us from the war
ring waters. black hull came out of the
mist. Only a little water interviewed be-
tween us. Then there was crash. All
hands were knocked down. The crashing
continued. The black hull was cutting our
craft in twain. Timbers were being shat
tered; deck beams were being splintered:
stanchons Were being ripped up, and the
decking and upper works were being torn
away. 1t was an awful moment. There
was crushing. grinding noise and the hiss
ing of escaping steam. Rousing seas were
sweeping over our decks and through the
cabins. We had been struck on the star
board side. seventy-fve feet abaft the bow
and just forward of the gangway. There
was a churning and twisting. and the black
hull of the strange ship began to back away
from US. Then the sea pounded US with
increasing fury, and the hoarse shouts from
the crew Of the receding ship grew fainter
Swallowed in the Waves.
I'VE had been cut through to the keel The
cutwater of the stranger had broken our
ridge pole that ran from the pilot house to
the jackstaff. We were making water by
the ton. We sounded whistles for the un-
known craft to stand by u.s. but she stood
away, and just as the day was chasing
away the shadows of the night we saw her
founder bows on. We were sinking steadily,
but slowly
THE boats were swung out from the davits,
and one hour and a half after the collision
we pushed off. and from a safe distance
watched the faithful, pretty Crystal Wave
sink to Davy Jones locker. She lies In thir-
ty fathoms of water. and, If were a diver,
I'd like to visit her in her cradle of the
deep After being in the open boats all day,
we sighted collier from Newport News to
New York, and signaled her. She bore
down. picked us up and a little later landed
it was a close call Then to replace the lost
boat, the Samuel J. Pentz was bought and
brought around. A large photograph of the
Crystal Wave hangs over the main saloon
stairway of the Pentz. In due time we
learned that the steamer which ran us down
was the Cleopatra" Capt Davis pulled
some more nebulae of Havana incense to-
ward the ceiling and sat musing on the
past.