Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-12

louSly landWard as III they were not yet
certain that land was safe at hand, and
that the Gascogne had weathered phenom-
email hurricanes In a most skillful man
ner. in spite of her disabilities.
The full story of the long voyage could not
he learned last night, owing to the lateness
of the hour at which the French steamer
reached the bar. and it was not until this
morning that the Associated Press boat
was able to run alongside the steamship
and get the details OF this latest battle
with the elements far from favorable to
the Gascogne.
OF course as in all similar cases. there
are various versions of the long delay OF
the steamer. The companyS officers, nat
uralIy reticent, make little as possible
of the matter and the passengers, nat
urally, magnify the whole affair as LANDS
men are prone to do when they discuss
ocean dangers. Therefore it is perhaps
best to let all concerned tell their own
stories in as nearly their own words as pos
sib!e. and let the public judge of the re-
suit.
The morning was getting old before the
Associated Press representative was able to
see Capt. Bdudelon. commander of La Gas
cogne, and when an interview was pos
sible it had to be cut down to skin ana
bone" for the captain was busy supervis-
irg the work of getting the steamer under
way for her final lap in the long journey.
He said. brushing the dew of cup OF
coffee from his mustache:
You astonish me. Alarmed about our
safety? Why should that be? We We're all
right Never was moments danger. just
mishap to one of our cylinders ana Al
caused us to make a long trip instead
Here's the log; look over il. You'll see
there was nothing much the matter with
u.s." and then the gallant sea dog lit
cigar and climbed up the bridge;
The los of the GaScogne, translated from
the French. is as follows:
January 26 and 2I-Northwest winds,
rough weather, snow flakes, heavy sea.
January Is and 23-Winds hauled to
southwest by south, nasty weather, snow
flakes, heavy sea.
January 3o-Northwest to southeast
winds. light. heavy sea, rainy.
January 3l-Winds southeast to north
east, ther northwest. very heavy sea.
wind and squalls, heavy snow.
February 1 to 2-Northwest winds, Veer-
ing to north. snow, heavy sea.
February Wind squall from southeast
to northwest. snow. heavy sea.
February Hurricane from the east to
south and from south to southwest and to
the westward Monstrous sea, heavy snow
wind, hauling.
west northwest: blowing a tempest wind
hauls to the east. with violent wind squat.
February winds west to west-north-
west, sea still very heavy, snow.
February s and 9-Winds west southwest
to west northwest. Tempest of snow; mon
StrOuS sea.
February lO-Winds west northwest. very
cold Sea very heavy: Snow
February ll-N mas from the northwest,
good breeze, fine weather. calm sea.
On the morning of January % at 40.
exchanged coiors with La Normandle,
steaming east.
February 1O-At IL a. M. exchanged sig
nails and salute with an English steamer of
the Inman line, steaming west southwest.
February 11-At 1870 pm, gave our
number and salute to a German steamer
going west
February Is pm. In latitude 45.24 north
and longitude AIS west. saw a large ice
berg five miles to the north.
February 1910 pm, in latitude 1922
N, and longitude 11.32 w. passed near
large four masted schooner at anchor and
abandoned
Superintendent Vests Statement.
Not a word. 1t will be noticed. of any
accident to La Gascogne.
Superintendent West of the French Line.
who went board the Gascogne last
night and remained there. made the fol
lowing statement in substance to the press
when La Gascogne was three days out
the double cylinder piston gave way. and
neceSsitated a delay while attempts We're
made to repair it, In fact. it gave way
more than once. causing delay each time.
and during part of this time La Gascosne
only steamed four knots an hour.
''Of Georges Banks. on February TO-
La Gascogne passed a large four-masted
abandoned. She had the United States
flag flying. ensign down. and it was made
out that she was the George A. McFad-
den. from Bath Maine La Gascogne was
passed by British freight steamer short
ly afterward. bound for Philadelphia. She
offered assistance, but it was refused, as it
wasS not needed
lone of the stops caused nv the dam
aged piston caused delay of about forty
eight hours. but the steamer is all right
and she steamed slowly over the remain
drifted when repairs We're being made. but
at no time was she in danger. Captain
Baudelon. however. says the weather was
the worst he ever experienced"
Making Light of 1t.
Chief Officer MascelIet of the Gascogne
contented himself with remarking: Dan
ger! danger! oh. no; nothing of the kind.
We're all right. You people got scared
about nothing
Purser Gaffette found time to say to the
Associated Press: I'VE had splendid trip
There was little delay, of course, but
everybody enjoyed themselves"
The following statement from the cap
tain of La GaScogne was given to Agent
Forget by the captain this morning when
MIR. Forget reached the steamer at quar-
antine:
February lion the Sd of February we
broke the piston rod. We then soldered one
of the three cylinders in order to renew
our voyage We then continued the voy-
age at a speed of eleven knots, but the
crank shaft got heated and We came down
to nine knots. On the 4th and 5th we had
to change the bearings OF the crank shaft,
during which time the hurricane struck
us, the barometer falling to &c, with very
heavy seas and westerly winds, and we
must have slowed down to about eight
knots, the crank shaft being then all right.
We never met steamer going either way
until yesterday only, when We met
steamer bound for Philadelphia. We had
bad weather all through, but came by
means of our own steam.
(SigneO G. BAUDELON, Captain.