The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-07-15


berths with boards, plllows. etc, hold
lng tight to any firm object within
reach. and contrlvlng to sleep in spite OF
everything.
II was bediellow with the filter one
night" says the lieutenant 1T car
rled away and came bouncing down on
me, making ME think for a moment
that It was the funnel at least. The
difficulty was what to do with 1t, for
everything In the little cabin was on
the move. So concluded It had better
stay where It was and, clasping 1t In
my arms. / slept comfortably enough
until was routed out for my watch on
deck.
washing, too, was a tremendous
business, for though We had small
bath slowed on deck nndee the chart
table-the hatchways were much too
narrow TO admit Of Its coming below
and a wash-hand basin rugged in the
cabin, the boat rolled 60 that the water
was flung out as soon as It was poured
IN. Consequently, am afraid we were
grlmy with coal dust and crusted with
salt most OF the time.
"Our food, too, was a difficulty Az
q rule we lived on ham, sardines, and
timed soups, for most OF the time the
weather was so rough that It was as
much as we could do, to get little wa
ter boiled. We had a table about eiGh-
teen inches wide in the cabin, but II
was no good having 1t laid, for nothing
would stay on it. The usual plan was
for one man to hold the sardine-tln
while the other picked out sardines by
their tails and transferred them to his
mouth. Ham always required two men,
one to hold II, and the other to cut It;
but the soups were capital. do not
know what we should have done with
out those timed soups. They were our
standby. We heated the tin, then care.
fully opened a corner; each man held
his plate, had a little poured in, and
drank It before he got any more.
''Of course we could not carry coal
enough for such protracted voyage,
and two or three times, when the wea-
ther cleared a little, we took the oppor-
tunlty and coaled from the convoy
but It was always q work Of
difficulty, II not OF danger"
Presently the always bad weather
worked into a true gale. THE wind
came up with surprising quickness, and
the sea rose with It literally mountains
high. Up up, up we climbed, TIL we
were on the brink OF a preelpice, looking
down into bottomless abyss, and then
we zig-zagged slowly down that preci'
nice, like man who fears to come toe
straight down a steep hillside. we
steered slowly head to sea, following
closely in the wake Of the Tyne, which
poured oil on the water when the storm
was at its worst. That was the only
thing that saved US; otherwise We
should have been broadside on In nc
time, and then 1t would all have been
up. Most OF the stanchlons were car
ried away. and we had life limos rove on
deck and canvas screens Figged amid
ships to break the force of the waves
and to save the officer OF the watch and
the man at the wheel from being wash
ed overheard. Mine was the
middle watch, and pulled the oig
hood OF my dufile cult over my head
and wondered n we should ever see
daylight again. Candldly l did not
think we had much Of chance.
The noise was terrible. The little shil
raised her bows high in the air and
came down with a dun thud on The
WIVES. which swept right over her
NOW q StHHCnlon WeHt'Ho" a iOpS ptA' =
ed, now bag OF coal got adrlft. Every
thing that could possibly be smashed
was smashed; even the swinging table
in the cabin dashed Itself to pieces
against the deck abovei but the steer
Ing-gear held, and that was the main
thing. II the steering-gear had gone
wrong we should have broached to, and
must have been lost, for the Tyne could
do nothing to help us"
"Then a sailor came crawling aft.
Please. sir. will you look at the
lower deck, sIr?'
"tTotdInp on like grim. death, / gradu.