The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-25
TALE OF a TERRIBLE VOYAGE.
CAPT. o'sULLIVAN's STORY OF HIS
EXPERIENCES AT SEA.

The steamship AusterIitz's Voyage
From BirLenhead to NewfOund-
land Through seas of IceberGs.
PerIIs That Few Mariners Can.
Overcome ana capt. O'suIIivan's
Remarkable Escapes From Them.
Capt. O'Sullivan of the British steamship
Duchess of Roxburghe, now loading cot
ton for Europe, has a series of stories of
his adventures during his experience on
the brlny deep. He is one Of the most pop
ular masters of British steamships that
travels on the sea. He is a native of Cork,
Ireland, and is at home on his ship to all
corners.
Capt. O'Sulnvan, on his arrival at Sa-
vannah, was surprised to find that his
stevedore was an old school mate. MIR. VIII
liam Welsh, Mr.. NJ. A o. Brien, principal
Of the Cathedral public school, is also an
acquaintance of Capt. O'suliYan's, and
particular friend of his father. Capt. O'Sul-
Ivan is the brother of the Rev. Richard A.
OSullivan, Of Cork, who is a pastor of
note in his country.
Capt. O'SulIivan relates a story of his
ish steamship Austerlitz of which he was
master.
1T was a fine morning on May !, 1896
he said when by good steamer was ready
waiting tide to leave Birkenhead for
voyage to Newfoundland. All the crew
being on board, and as the usual luck
some were very drunk and others not
much better. However. when the dock
gates opened we made a start, and the
wind being fresh, she began to rock and
tumble about. What with the rolling OF
the ship and the rolling from being drunk
our sailors and firemen had on the whole
a rather lively time When we got as far as
lnstrahull. north of Ireland and opened
out the broad Atlantic, then our gallant
ship began to bow gracefully to the bill
lows of the ocean, and those who had for
gotten to wash themselves when ashore,
got washed then without much trouble.
Nothing, very interesting happened to
the ship, but we had on board four pas,
seugers, and everything that was posi-
BILE on sea voyage happened to those I'M
fortunates. They could neither eat, stand
nor sleep, but lay on the cabin floor anc
bemoaned their sad fate in crossing the
Atlantic in ship in ballast. Gale after
gale contiDued, until we We're approach
ing Newfoundland, on Sunday May %,
when our second mate, being on the
bridge, let a war-hoop that would have
put buHdtO Bill TO shame, Ice dIIedus
and close, too"-And then the excitement
began; all hands straining their eyes, ana
wondering al the sight before them for
as far as the eye could reach there was
nothing to be seen but ice, ice, ice. W.
steamed slowly up to the edge of this
heavy Arctic ice, and away to the north
west from the masthead we could see
long and wide lane stretching westward,
and headed the ship for this opening.
While skirting the edge we saw a great
number of seals close to the vessel. Our
men were frightened at them, and though
we pelted them with coal, old iron and
everything that came to hand, the seals
remain on the ice floats quite unconcerned.
1--WE got as far as the opening and made
very good progress, steaming about four
miles per hour, and passing some very
heavy bergs When about thirty miles off
the land a thick fog set in, and we had
to stop the engines and trust to luck. In
| the morning when the weather cleared we
found the ship hard and fast in the heavy
ice, with no opening in sight and no
chance of going ahead. / shudder to think
of the experiences. Intense cold set in,
and heavy sleet and snow began TO fall on
the deck, freezing as it fell, and the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the mercury froZe. At
a short distance from the ship we saw a
dark object, and a closer inspection show
ed it to be number of seals huddled to-
gether, and though alive, were frozen in
a solid lump. / Immediately instructed
the cook to administer to them hot coffee,
| and after a little while we had the sat-
isfaction of seeing them slowly separate
and take to the water. The aged and
young ones we took on board, and having
put their feet in hot mustard and water
we wrapped them in warm blankets and
they We're soon restored to health, al
though some Of them goI their fingers
and noses frost-bitten. Perhaps some of
| your readers will be inclined to be skepti-
cal on this point, but l assure had
you seen the suffering, and felt the celd,
you could not have done otherwise.
Gas night came on the weather got
| colder and colder The ice cracked and
the snow crunched beneath our feet as we
walked the deck. 50 cold did it become
| at last, that most extraordinary thing
occurred. The chief officer having order
ed the masthead light to be eXtinguished,
he was rather surprised and annoyed to
see the man returning and the order
seemingly disobeyed. Being asked why
the light was not put out
| the man replied, ""Wel sir,
blowed mighty hard, and so did Bill but
the darn thing won't go out" The mate
went forward, and found that although
burning, 1.-The flame had been frozen In a
solid lump" The only means we could
find to extingush ii was to turn up the
sent the fame thus frozen to the Antwerp
exhibition, but unfortunately on its way
thither it was destroyed by the wrecking
of the train in mid-ocean, which is much
to be regretted, seeing that such relic
would have been much esteemed by all
! lovers of curios.
But, to return to our sad position; the
state of affairs grew more alarming day
by day; the ship remained immovable in
the midst of this vast sea of field ice
which covered a vast expanse of the
ocean. The weather became colder and yet
colder. Among the little annoyances, our
cups and saucers got frost bitten, and the
hens which we had on board became inca
pable of laying. They had to be taken to
the stoke-hUle, and put on a fire shovel be-
fore the furnace fire, until they gradually
thawed, layed their eggs and cackled as
all hens do after such a performance. Per-
haps you know that fresh eggs are lux
ury on board ship; our steward thought of
giving the captain a few Of these nicely
boiled but alas, his hopes were dashed to
the ground; for marvellous to relate, it act
molly took two DAVIS 70 boil fOur the