The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-03-16
PASSING THE WORD.


ard had jIst got clear of the Limekilns
and out into Lake Eric W ben saw 1t was
going TO blow. 1t was about the time of
year when we pet EN- good, and | knew
that the tow would get n shaking up before
we got under the breakwater at Buffalo.
There werO four barges in tow Of an
old steam barge that could hardly take care
Of herself IN the best of weather. Astern
OF the steam barge was the McDougal. q
big scow That could carry bigger deck
load, stand more sea and steer easier than
anything ever saw. We were next
was on the Buckout; then came the Belts
and last the Norris.
"Well, the gale came, as expected and
right square after u.s. We got clear Of
Point Pelee and well out in the lake by
daylight, ard the steam barge checked
down for fear of breaking the towline.
"Tho cid scow ahead of us swashed about
like II raft, but roll she would not But the
box / was in, tho Buckout began her aero
batic performance early She would sheer
off till u sea caught her under the quarter
and then she would try to roll way over
like horse, and then she'd dive and then
get up and rear. We would go down be-
tween seas, and the tow posts would creak
and groan from the strain of the weight of
the barges behind the sea astern. Then
we would come up with slack line and
see the tow diving and sheering below u.s.
Then we would go down again, and the
slack of the line would come up with q
swish and snap, which told us that the
captain of the steam barge knew what he
was doing when he checked for fear of
parting the tow.
"Well, we dove and plowed and sheered
and rolled and jumped till afternoon be-
fore anything of interest happened. 1t
was about 9 O'Clock, when heard some one
astern shouting, 'Buckout, ahoy-y-yP l
called tho captain, a little dried up, fan
mel mouthed lrishman, to answer the hail.
"'Phot do thot crazy Frenchman wantP'
he asked
81 told him l had 10 idea, and he came
on deck and STOOD with one hand on the
tow post to hold himself from going over
board, till he learned.
Again came the hail from astern.
Hellor shouted the Irishman in an
swer.
"'PGss lie " ord came from the Belts.
"'All roight.
"Then came a lot OF sounds in broken
Canadian French, which made the Irish
man say: Would yez listen to thot nowp
Pilot the divil is he troin to sayg Then
he howled: Pilot do yez sayP Talk United
States
"Then we heard it: The Belts, she's
waterlog Pass de word to dc CAPT tan to
pull hunder Long Point
"The Irishman went forward and hailed
the McDougal. the captain of that craft
happened to be Swede
"'Wot-a you want9 he called in answer
to the hail.
g Pass the woordv
"'Ole alright. Wot-a you sayp'
''Then the Irishman mixed his brogue
and the French Canadian dialect and the
information that Belts was waterlogged
and the wish of the crew that the steam
barge would pull under Long Point into
one mass of noise and cast it forth upon
the water.
"There was short silence, and then
came back the maddening refrain, 'A-wot
a-you say2'
"The Irishman walked the deck and
cursed SO that every syllable could have
been heard TO the steam barge, but when
he at last tried to convey the information
concerning the misfortune of the Belts lie
was answered by, Il hear you a-swear,
but wot-a you sayp'
"Then the Irishman cut it short.
"'Ye ould Sowegian, OF said thot the
Belts was watherlogged. Can yez under
stand thot?'
"'Yaas.'
"And they want the ould man to pull
under Long Point.
"'Ole Alright, came back the answer,
and the fair haired descendant of the Morse
men went forward to pass the word to the
steam barge.
In little while the Swede again hailed
us, and the Irishman went forward. The
Swede's voice was good, and could hear
every syllable distinctly.
The ole-a man says to tell the captain
of the Belts to ago to h-p'
The freshman came aft and passed the
comforting message to the Belts 'Thot
Frenchman is crazy, said the Irishman by
way of comment. Sure, he should know
thot to troi to pull this tow off into the
troughs of the sea would break it up in a
second.
1.-The Belts dove more deeply and sheered
worse as the hours went by. Twice the
Frenchman induced the Irishman to pass
the word that the Belts was sinking, and
the same stereotyped reply came back re-
garding where the captain of the Belts
could go If he didn't like the way the steam
barge was towing him.
1T was about o'clock, and everybody
was aft watching for the line to part, when
the Belts took long, rolling, lazy sheer,
and cloud Of mist half way between us
told us the Belts was adrift. The crew,
hnddled together on the house. made run |
for the rigging, and she preached to In the |
troughs of the sea- When she came out of |
the first sea, the deckload was gone, but |
the crew WAS safe half way between rail |
and trucks. The Norris, astern, had cut |
adrift from her at once, the line had parted |
and little mutton leg sail was run up.
Under this she came on, passed the tow
and beat 1t to Buffalo by three hours.
1--WE got there in the morning and at
about noon the Belts was sighted wallow-
ing along in the troughs. No tug would
go out and we watched her drift toward
the breakwater Every third sea would
cover her decks, and she rolled
like drifting log. Everybody, including
the woman cook, was dashed to the rig
ging, and when she eventually got within
reach of the tugs there was not one of them
had strength enough to take line. The