The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-21
From. the New York Times.

heachsd at Last and the Captains
Life Saved.
FROM the New York Times.
Moored to a wharf at the Pierpont
stores, Brooklyn, lies one of the biggest
sailing ships afloat. This vessel, which
has been planned on such heroic scale,
is the Roanoke, of Bath. She is
comparatively new, and, despite her
great size and enormous spread of
canvas, has not yet earned particular
distinction as fast sailer.
That fact was remarked upon a few
days ago by one of trio of master
mariners. These sailormen were assem-
bled around a table in South street
resort and their talk had been mostly of
the sort that deals with "reminiscences.
From the Roanoke and her sailing
qualities it naturally drifted to ocean
races. The master of the bark Saigon
had an experience to relate which con
cerned trial of speed, and his neighbor,
grizzly-bearded mariner, told Of how
his clipper had once outstripped a mail
steamship.
The third man, who had been a quiet
listener, reflled his short black pipe, and
said that he knew something about an
ocean race.
1t is one that am not likely to forget
in hurry, either" he added,
reflectively
A reporter for the New York Times,
who was one of the party, instinctively
opened his notebook The man looked
suspiciously at the book and the other
laughed. He said he had no objection to
his yarn being reproduced in print only
that shipowners have a prejudice against
too much canvas. The reporter promised
not 10 use his name, and the man conrin-
ued:
1t was not so very many years ago"
he said, that this race that I'm telling
you of came off. was then on the bark
Ve-well, l m a naming of no names. AS
| was telling you, was on the bark, and,
learning the trade under my old man,
who was master Of her. Wasn't any
thing more than an apprentice then, though
l got ordinary seamans pay, and had
picked up lot about navigation.
Twas in September, l think-yes, il
was in September, that we put out from
Porto Prince, bound to Philadelphia.
We caught a stiff southerly wind soon
after clearing Genaives Island and it
carried us well to the north of Turks
Island before it fell light again.
once, Just like blowing out a candle
There wasn't wind enough to fan the heat
of the deck Well, we lay there and
wellowed in the swell. The wind that
brought US there had left just enough to
heave the bark up and down bit, for two
days and nights. Never a trace of wind
anywhere. Out toward the horizon
there was that yellowish color you see in
the doldrums. looking for all the world
like iaundiced fog, and overhead it was
just blue-not cloud anywhere
well, as | was telling you we lay
there like that for two days and nights
Then one morning, after we had finished
wetting down the decks to keep the pitch
from boiling out of the seams, the
steward came forward, looking scared
When he told US that the second mate
and carpenter were down sick, and that
it looked mighty like Yellow Jack to him,
we were scared too. We all knew what
yellow fever was, and how quick it gets
in its work.
''Well, that's just what it was, and both
of them had it good and hard. The mate
died that night, and the carpenter fol-
lowed him next morning. Two of the men
got sick, and then the first mate was took
One of the men was q Jamaican, and he
didn't seem to mind, but the mate and
the other man died of it.
And still that calm-never a breath
to cool the ship. That night the captain,
my old man, got the fever. He sent for
me, said that he was probably a goner,
gave me all his papers, an turned over
the ship to me. There wasn't nobody
else. aud being the old mans son, you see,
it was natural like, l did my best TO
cheer him up, and then went to the
forecastle and told the men that they
had a new skipper. l divided them into
watches again, and told off one of the
smartest among them to be my first
mate.
well, that night there came weak
wind from the southland, and l tell you
we whiStl9d for more of it. ! knew that
the life of my father depended on my
getting him into cool weather, and | was
determined to hang on to
everything as long as it would
hold We were under every
thing to royals, aud about midnight the
wind freshened up bit. Toward morn
ing it was blowing stiff, and jacobson,
the man thatI had picked out for mate,
took in the royals.
There was a Jumping sea running
when l came on deck to relieve him. l
had spent most of my watch below,
nursing my father, and 1 was well played
out. | calculated that wind would carry
US into cool weather within a couple of
days, and although it was then blowing
half a gale / held on to every stick. All
that day an night we stormed along,
making 10 knots an hour if we made one.
| expected every minute to see the
topgallant sails go, but she was stout
built craft, her rigging was new, and she
had those broad croSstreeS which hold
until the very masts are priced out.
"A shift of wind the next morning
brough the gale over the port quarter.
That was the bark's best point of sailing,
and we danced along at great rate. My
father, meanwhile, was very low and was
clean out of head The steward and two
wanted to shorten sail then | could not
have done it, II left only the mate and
me and the man who was steering, for we
pnt out of port short handed. We three
had to take our turns at the wheel, and if
the sails blew away, why they would just
have to go, that was all.
THAT evening about sunset il breezed
up strong. The main topgallant sail, and
an hour later the fore topgallant sail
went into strips. Somehow the parcel
lashing carried away, and the yard beat
ing about knocked the topgallant out and
the wreckage came down on deck. But
the loss of that part of her gear did not
diminish her speed, and, with full gale
on her quarter, she was shouldering her
way through the foam and heavings with
her topsails and courses swollen stiff as
boiler iron.
Talk about your yacht races Well.
YOU ought TO have seen the gait that we
were going Death was the pacemaker.