The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1894-10-05
SHE ALMOST FOUNDERED.
Stormy Experiences Of Passenger on
Clipper thip In the
Indian Ocean,

Stormy Experiences Of a Passenger on
Clipper thip In the
Indian Ocean.
speaking of exciting experiences one
sometimes has while travelling" said the
colonel, reminds ne Of Il voyage | once
made from New York to Singapore in a
fine clipper ship. the most delightful craft
i'll the world to cross the ocean in.
ut was smooth and comfortable sail
ing until we rounded the Cape Of Good
Hope. There we ran into rough weather
and experienced change of temperature
that was like running from July weather
into milwinter.
THE sensation of climbing over those
mountains of water was something like
riding an exceedingly long gated horse
at Il gallop. only intensified about hun
dred times. The ship would climb the
side Of one. foot by foot, seemingly at an
angle OF ~ degrees. twist uneasily for
a moment Oh the top. and then sink,
sink, down. down. until it seemed as
though we were about TO be engulfed in
fafhOm1ess abySs-a feeling that made
US catch our breath
THE waist Of the ship was continually
flooded with water which came over the
weather rail in masses Of green fOamil,y
wave, and escaped slowly through the
lee scuppers. 50 that it was for a time
impossible to move about without holding
Oh TO the life lines-We had even to rig
up a line on blocks from the gallery aft to
the cabin and haul the meals across in Il
basket. because it WAS impossible for the
steward to carry them over the deck
Once. just for the excitement Of the
thing. my fellow passenger and / tried to
make our way to the forward part Of
the ship. not realizing what dangerous
thing it WAS for landsmen 10 attempt un-
til we saw one Of the foremost hands
Il Portuguese poor fellow-aught by an
enormous wave that came in over the
side before he had time to grasp line,
and swept overheard. The mate threw IL
coil of halliards across his shoulder as he
was struggling i'll the water but the mo
ton of the ship was too violent for him
to hold on. and the sailor was drowned.
'After twelve days of rough sailing. we
worked around into the Indian ocean and
calmer weather. The Indian ocean i.
celebrated for sudden and treacherrus
squalls. and the hot. still weather made
the captain uneasy.
'One day. when Their" was scarcely
breath Of wind stirring. and we were try
ing to keep cool under all awning Oh the
quarterback. the mate came down from
aloft and called Capt. Young's attention.
to what seemed to be tiny bit Of whit.
vapor away off on the horizon. He
jumped down the companion way. looked
h
again in an instant. Darcy" he shout
ed. Get the canvas in: Let 20 every
thing-iont lose d second. Anlt> turn
ing to mel. shove those chairs down into
the cabin and help me cut the lashng- Of
this awning. Hurry now
Il had been DOING in biz: l,anlt"
chair and couldn't for the life of me sag
There wasn't Il cloud i'll the sky-thr
sails were gently Tapping against the rig:
ging. and | couldn't sec the tinie>t ripple
Oh the water. In fact. ] wa> quite an
cry when he grabbed my r"at collar
and jprkpd me roughly to MY feet with
the command: Wake up Ir,w. man. aud
make yourself useful We haven't a mo-
| mcnt to lose. ! mechanically "beyed his
orders, more from the fact that all the
men seemed to be running about doing
the same thing than because ] SAW any
reason for it: hut presently | noticed that
Il valnr like Il cloud Of steam had GOV
cred the entire horizon. and that under it
WAS /, line as black as ink. A. watched
it ! saw it grow larger-lar=rr. higher
higher. The air. which had steined so
sultry. now felt as if it We're charged
with electricity and strange heavine>>.
1t was difficult to breathe. Then / heard
Il tiny r,lstliny. like Il loose sheet of paper
stirring gently. In Il moment it became
louder. like the kissing of steam from an
escape valve: it changed I" cracking
sound such rs flames make at great
fret grew louler-louder yet. like the
roar of Il cataract-and still louder. until
we were almost crushed hy III" volume
of sound. For one instant | saw the
fiery bali of the sun blazing on the edge
of an inky curtain. with white clouds
flying across it, and being torn, to Shrt=i>
by the wind. thel,-like the lowering of
lights i'll IL thpater-it grew dark. | was
crouching the steps leading. down into
the cabin. and could barely make out the
figures Of tn" hclmsmen standing like
shadows carved out Of the solid rock
then. for what seemed Il year OF tine.
everything was chaos-hitng cold wind
chilled through my summer cloths and
made me gasp for breath-a leluge of
rain followed it. drem.hing me t" the skin
side so far that l thought she had cap
sized. | was standing on one side IF the
cabin door frame and almost hang ing
from the hand rail on the other.
Il heard il crash as of swapping tim
bers. but l couldn't have moved t" save
my life. Then. slowly. trembling in
every timber. the ship riehted little.
sort of smoky twilight enabled US to dis
tinguish ii CURES dimly. l made out thu
form of the captain crawling aft with
the help of two life lines. When within
three feet of me he shouted: Got through
it pretty we'll. Only lost the forrtoI,lna>1.
But his voice sounded miles away aud
very weak. While he was yet speaking
his eyes grew fixed in an anxious way
on something aStern of us. and he shout
ed to the men at the wheel: Lash her
down tight and hold on.
II looked beyond them. and there. half
a mile behind MS. coming with the Sl'ee1l
of a locomotive, WAS terrible wall IF
water. like the line of breakers one >,,Ine
times sees on the south shore OF \antuck-
ct i'll 4 storm. OH: So; raj times h;uE.:.
1t was the tidal wave which often. if n,t
always. follows the squall.
Part of our cargo was Kerosene "il i'll
tins. but there was no time 10 get at il.
1t WAS an even chance that we would he
il"pelessly wrecked. if not completely an
initiated. Have you ever. while bath
ing in the surf. awaited the approach of
an enormous breaker. intending to dive
through the base of it. breathleS>lv
watched it come closer. closer. and curry.
up over your head. higher. higher. until
you became terror-$tricken and tried IL
run. but found it too late:
We'll. that was something of the Sen>a-
ton with which W. watched that awful
wall. The sea was only beginning to rise
from the effects of the squat. the noise
of the wind and rain was subsidin.-it
rolled on. nearer and nearer. as re>i>,leS>-
ly and silently as fate itself. The men
ut the wheel. working us men will when
their lives depend upon their actions,
had dashed the wheel Stanchions to iron
rings in the deck. and stood like statues
of bronze looking death in the face.
For one instance it lowered over us
as high as the mizzen top. while the stern
of the ship rose on the curve at its base
then it broke. l ducked under the Intel
beam of the cabin door to save my head
and saw the skylight of the poop deck
crash in-then felt us though l had
lived in thirty feet IF water and got
caught at the bottom 50 that ! couldn't
strike out for the surface. held my
breath until my lungs seemed bursting.
There was Il roaring in my head and ears
With hast conscious instinct held OIL
to the iron hand rail of the companion
way and presently. inst as I was almost
gone. felt the air strike my face. 1t
must have been two or three minutes that
l held on to the rail. gaspins and trying to
collect my wits. When l could see around
there was but one man clingiRS to the
wheel, which had been wrenched loose
from the stanchions. and that man had
Il broken ley. The captain and mate had