The sun., 1895-03-01
WONDERS THE DEEP SEA
YARNS sPUN BY SKIPPER TAYLOR,
MAgINER, OF THE LONG roYAGE.
wnd Ducks 5000 Miles Ont In the Pnc,ae
"A streak OF Ink sixty Feet wide from
uorizon 60 Horizon-A Hurricane Aioft
and . Four-knot Brceze on Deck

and . Four-Enot Brceze on Deck
GALES from Three Quarters at Once.
Such q yarn nc is spun by Skipper William
Tayler and the crew Of the ship Reaper which
arrived at this port on Wednesday from Port
land, Or, after being out 80 days, knocks eea
serp ents and waterspouts. What with having
calls from wild ducks 1000 miles out at sea,
having the wind blow from three directions at
once encountering streak Of water OF inky
blnckncss where IL should be clear and green,
and having u gallo blowing a few feet above the
deck sufficient to carry all the sails away and
yet be able to sit on the deck in ordinary attire
and enjoy the balmy zephyrs that were blowing
there, the Officers, crew, and passenger-there
wns passenger on board, who will vouch for
the truth OF anything Capt. Taylor says-had n
trip which takes the cake, all the cake in sight.
Capt Taylor has been making trips around
the Horn for SO many years that the number Of
them has grown beyond his recollection. About
two months of his time each year ia spent on
land; the rest of tho time he Is ploughing the
briny deep with the Reaper, but he says and he
looks right In your eye when he says 1t, too, that
he never had such trip in all his life as this
last one has been, and doesn't want another like
it, either. The Reaper had one narrow escape,
that is the crew believe II was q narrow escape,
and all seamen will agree with them that II was,
although poor landsman, ignorant of the
superstitions of the sea, might laugh and say
that he really couldn't see anything 80 dreadful
about It.. II gave tho crew of tho Reaper u
dreadful start, and for five minutes their condi-
ton was most dcplorablc. Then relief camo in
q most unexpected way.
1t was on q Friday night and when the ship
had been out about thirty days that the awful
event occurred. The Reaper was in the Pacific
Ocean, two thousand miles from land. Suddenly
a group Of black specks appeared on the horizon.
Tho Captain thought that they were gulls, but
the mate said there something strange
about the way they flew. Ho looked intently
through his glass for about two minutes, and
then. suddenly shutting It, exclaimed:
"By lingo! they're ducks"
"what!" gasped the Captain, ducksf I'm
possible"
But they were ducks. and they were coming
straight for the ship
~ was never so surprised in my life as when
saw those birds" said the Captain to group of
friends to whom he was narrating the events Of
his trip yesterday. They were wild ducks. sure
enough. and the poor things were completely
tired out They lighted in our rigging and [
didn't want any mistake to be madc. But there
was no doubt about it. They were, wild ducks
though how they eyer got 1000 miles out at sea
Shortly after the ducks came aboard one Of the
sailors made the terrible discovery that there
were exactly thirteen OF them. This created con-
sternation among the crew, and even the passsen-
ger shook his head and looked mournful. Then
somebody remarked that IL was Friday, too.
and the gloom almost obscured the latitude and
longitude. when the ducks in the rigging set up
a great squawking. which was answered by
The quatorzieme or fourteenth duck few into
The rigging and Joined his comrades. and the
~ svs Tspsrter who hear sfI,4 tma, selIoes
tale IL Wild ducks 1000 mite. eas at sen made
eum na IN toRn yessrday but na
none who had ever heard Of such q thing before,
althoagh they chs AL agreed that II Capt william
so. The ducks stayed with the Reaper all day
Saturday. and on sunday morning they flew
ternoon that the black streak Of water was en-
countered. Capt. Taylor. the mate. and the
the second offieer thrust his head through the
door and yelled: Come up here quick"
the bcw
streak OF black water some distance ahead.
The strangely colored water crossed the REAP
through It or veer Oft. To do tho latter would
have been foolish for while tho 81, streak Nv was
%
Itwasn't exactly black" said the Captain
yesterday, but it was ofdeep brown mud color.
1t ran In q straight line from the northwest to
the southeast. and was uniform in width AZ far
as the eye gould see. 1t was the most remarka:
there Seemed to be no explanation for it. The
water on either side was as clear as crystal. It
took only couple Of minutes, of course to cross
It, and that prevented me from casting the lead,
as should have liked to do. racked my brain
for some explanation Of II, and finally made up
the bottom OF the ocean. never saw such
thing before in all the years have followed the
no doubt it viii be reported before long by some
one else, and hope II will; because otherwise 1t
will be bard to make sesos
1880 west, when the black streak was sighted,
and as this is a region passed through by many
ships further reports OF the phenomenon may be
expected at almost any time.
II was seventeen days later when y. she y, Heaper %
sha, % Il The % next curious thing Occurred. The ship
was going under full sail, and the sky had been
remarkably clear, when Capt. Taylor spled a
come up from the west and for some hours i
hung there. Capt. Taylor, thu, passenger, and
thing was quiet, when suddenly, there, arose
IRENE trs%sndons don racket IN the rigginEg NJ
strain. the ship had increased her speed tire
mIendopsly; and 2 perfect gale was whistiing
gun. and the sails were carried away: Tho
deck there was only a light four Knot breeze
blowing, and Capt TAYLOR was able TO light
match and keep y III long enough TO ignite the
end OF his sigar without any Inconvenience.
and cyclones, and nave dodgcd wsterspOuts."
hhlu lhVt lhylOT tho IcpoitSts uhl ucNcr
struck a wind storm OF that sort before. Ex-
cept the ducks and the INK streak ~ the water.
1t was tho most wonderful thing / ever saw.
We tried to calculate Just how far above the
deck the wind was blowing. and reckoned II TO
be about Atty feet. 1t was lucky for us that
such was the case. because We would have stoOd
a fair chance of being wrecked had such gale
struck US q little lower. We weathered IL. how
ever. and when things became calrner we got
up new shils."
1t was OF Cape Horn that the Reaper encoun.
tered what Capt. Taylor rofers to as eccentric
Winds" The head sails we're lied by westerly
breeze. an easterly wind toyed with the canvas
above the mainmast, while soatherly winds at
tackled the spanker and the sails on the mizzen-
mast. None OF tho winds was violent, and Cant.
Taylor says that he had no difficulty in han
ding the ship. He dldn't explain how he man
aged Il, however. and when the reporter asked
what he Thought might havo happened with such
mixture of winds, he encountered so whitening
a look from the Captain that he lid not pursue
the subject any further, Except the ducks and
the ink and the second story gale OF wind, this
was probably the most curious experience Capt.
Taylor ever had.
The rest of the ReaDers trip was marked by
nothing unusual. She made 5000 miles In 80
days once, and again she made only 30 miles In
10 days. The Reaper Is now discharging her
cargo Of $4,000 bushels of grain at Dow's stores