The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-01-20
MET WITH A TYPHOOy
Cruiser Baltimore's Struc.,..
in Japan Seas
TWO MEN WASHED ovERso...
Captain Day Says the vesss,
Her Seaworthiness In ths
Storm he Ever Met.
TWO MEN WASHED ovseso,,

San Francisco. Jan. Ia-TAs
states cruiser Baltimore arrs,-aS Nas'st
day from Honolulu. She encounts- .sss e
weather al the way and had an ,,r =. &c
ful passage. - 91sssil-
on board the Baltimore thew
discussing that tarrible storm eneo',~.s -
OF the Japanese ooaSt, ana 49,, st tsss-
room 10 forecastle the saving ~ 80 az,
crew is credited 10 the exceI,Ant s.'. -
snip OF Capt. b F. Day. Tbsra sN =
qualification 10 the praise the ne. z
him. He was on constant 6utv ts-sAs
IL al, and the slightest error yyon,s ,'SS- -
cost the entire crew their lives $50, Ave
ABOUT the adventures o. re shin. 49,
Day said: ~
II had always had my suspiosOns a..
the seawortBineSs OF the Balt,p,o-. -. -
my opinion was shared by many !, -
navy, but hold 70 different 49, -
She went through the worst Storm
saw, and proved her seaworlhgness
storm burst upon us with surprtsipr -
denness and severity. When wa ~. ~
kohama, ON December 8. va hsa
barometer Of S0.4. which Is very hixh -
weather was fair and the sea srnF.,sA
Two days later we were in a frSt-Sse.
typhooR. To make il more rsmarksss
1t was not thu season Tor thess terri1ss
Asiatic storms.
Il kept the vessel on her courSs a.
twenty hours, but the sea became te-r;ss,
rough and hove to. Then I kept her -.
into the wind and went ahead very sow
y most peculiar effect was produced hy IS.
wind blowing against the course u tha -
pan current and a terrible sea was the !.
sult. The seas swept over the decks ~
even reached the boats in the eya5lse
Was not enough OF The freeing ports put i,
the cruiser, oua l do not suppose her e,.-
sJructors ever imagined she would ~.
such seas. and the decks were nearly $.
ways flooded. \ couple OF ice caests "a,
adrift and carried away one of the whs+.,
at a critical moment, broke the hlansgla
and smashed the TWO ladders LEADING II b,
quarter deck.
You can imagine the force of those Sass
when tell YOU that the breaNwaier on "a.
topgallant f0recastle was bent half To-,
out of place and the rail on the forward
bridge bent and twisted out OF shaps.
Gustavus lesson, the man lost overload
was swept from the topgallant forecasts
at . o'clock on the morning Of Decemerrf
We had been flying storm staysails and 1.
was up there hauling them down Win
some men. lie was carried of by one sss
larger and stronger than any that IA.
struck the bow for some time. lie wa
seen from the port side and two lie huca
and two life preservers were thrown
him. bat he never got near one Of thss
IT was simply impossible TO lower Boa,
or keep the ship of. for II was too stormy
Isaac Cooper. the other man who lost Bis
life. was thrown down on deck by a luna
OF the ship, on the 9th, and sustained
fracture of the skull. He lived until We
reached Honolulu, dying in the hospital
there shortly after his arrivals
The men on deck were IN constant daa.
ger and we had life lines along the decks
as a precautionary measure. In the or
binary rolling her list was 20 degrees but
the heaviest was 80 degrees. However.
the latter was the extreme and as not
occur very often. The statement that We
took the guns out OF the turrets and
took other measures to decrease her top
heaviness is not true. That would have
been impossible at any time during The ten
days we were IN the storm. No bal
them removed before we left Yokohama
We also took our lower and .opsan yards
down to reduce the top weight. This Is a.
ordinary precaution and In this case !
proved very wise.
''I have been going TO sea for many ysan
and have experienced some very rcKs
weather on different oceans. but resri
my experience on the Baltimore as~QMG
the most trying of my life" conlnss
Capt. Day. 81 had seen typhoons befxs
but none so severe as that The iypA~a
itself was circular in motion, and aslel
for five days. There came slight ~
when II was over, and then followed sAas
from the southeast and north northeass
and during the five days that they Ss'si
we had 70 be equally vigilant for the sai'.l
OF our vessel. The gale lasted 90 lons ana
was so terribly severe that 1t was ~
slant strain upon the entire crew rev.
ever. we came ont of it with but the loss q
the two unfortunate men. Jsssen an
CoOper -