The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-01-20

main deck. Up on the topgallant fore
castle there is breakwater-a wall of steel,
running thwartships, fve-eighths of an
inch thick and about three feet high. Stu
ated low down on the deck and strongly
braced, it does not present much surface
to an incoming sea. yet wave hurled
across the bows drove that plate of metal
in as though it had been piece of tin.
1t was on the topgallant forecastle that
Boatswain's Mate Gustavus lessen was
standing when huge sea carried him
overheard. He and several others were
securing the storm staysail, which had
been hauled down, when the cruiser plowed
into big wave and torrent of water was
rushing aft along the main deck. A
searchllght standing well forward and an
instrument for finding distances in gum
lire were swept clean from their supports
and hurled into the sea. The broken rail-
ing of the forward bridge, situated high
above the deck, still shows the mighty force
of that wave.
lessen was lifted bodily over the long
barrel of an 8-inch rife on the port side
OF the deck and into the foamiug waters.
He was seen as he foated astern, close to
the ship, freeing himself from his oilskins
and rubber boots, proving that he was I'M
injured.
1t was about o'clock in the morning
and two iife-buoys, provided with port
fires, were instantly let go, as well as sew
eral fe-belts, but the luckless man I'M
doubleday failed to reach them. The
buoys were lost also, as no boat-not even
the ship-could have lived to maneuyer in
that furious sea.
Another wave came over the side amid
ships, smashed the securing -chocks and
timber under the boats, and plunging aft
wrecked the hand-steering wheel on the
main deck. Carpenter Isaac Cooper, who
died IN the hospital at Honolulu, was
thrown on deck and his skull fractured
Two days out from Yokohama" said
Captaln Day IN an interview, 1--WE noticed
tue barometer falling gradually, but as
Decem Der is not cyclone month in the
Asiatlc waters we thought it was only
still blow. But we were soon given to
know that We were in for some interesting
weather. A wicked. heavy sea was pres
entity plunglng all around us. The gale
was blowing against the strong Japanese
current, which made the waves all the
more ugly. We held on our course for
over twenty hours, when the ship began
TO take water freely over the side and was
move TO under storm staysails. Before we
left Yokohama we sent down our wards
ana lowered the topmasts, and also took
the machine guns out of the fighting-tops.
w did not take the guns out of the
turrets, as the Honolulu papers reported,
as we have no turrets and no big gun could
have been moved with the ship jun ping in
those terrible seas.
Inc ship rolled heavily, often as much
as thirty nine degrees in sudden lurches to
ieeward, but she would come splendidlv
pack. Her buoyancy is perfect, and l con-
slder That those two gales were an excellent
test as to the seaworthiness of the ship.
Ii she had more open free-ports so the
water could run quickly from the deck it
would be better. Three feet of water
washing along the upper deck, and rush
ing from side TO side with the heave of the
nun, making her all the more cranky, is
not convenient in furious gale of wind.
everything around the decks was
dashed here and there in the flood that
was every few minutes increased by the
sea seas that came over the hammock nettings.
Inc matches were tightly closed for ten
Gays and life-lines were stretched along
the decks for safety. We lay-to under
blow BY
u can report that the Baltimore never
once failed us, and all through the storms
she behaved herself like a good staunch
ship as she ISL
Alter the storm, Coxswain O'Callahan,
the laureate OF the ship, grasped his sea-
eagle plume and indited an epic to the
OCCASION. entitled "In Latitude Thirty
three" beginning "Come all you jolly