Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-11

| tive power, the latter
being merely auxiliary to the former and
1oc use In entering and leaving port as the
Old ships did not have the immense coal
capacity Of those of The present day. The
| writer some years ago made a cruise on the
Asiatc staten on one of the old type of
sailing vessels with steam propeller. and
as our return voS age to the United States
was over a course very rarely followed by
warship. as nearly all vessels of thar
| CLASS go through the Straits of Magellan
las was recently the case with the Oregon
when bound from the Pacific to the At
| lantic, or vice versa, an account of the trip
may prove of interest at the present time
Inc crew had for some time been expect
ing orders for home, the ship having been
| In commission for nearly three years ohe
! usual term, and finally the anxiously
| awaited letter with the stamp of the Navy
department was delivered on board al
Yokohama, directing the ship to proceed
\ TO New York via Cape of Good Hope All
hands were jubilant at the prospect of be-
| ing at home in three four months and A
| icw days later the mud hook came I'D in
! less time than was ever known before
| wren we took our departure for Kobe
| 'Eomeward bound"
Delayed by an Accident.
| After short stay at Kobe we started
| through the inland sea for Nagasaki
| whence it was the intention to take our
final departure from Japan. We should
| have arrived at Nagasaki about noon on
the following Sunday. but on Sunday morn
| ing about O'clock when We were all busv
| poHsnlng our kits" for inspection several
| tEuds in the engine room were heard 50
d1Herent from the usual steady thumps of
Tie engine that general rush to the en-
glne room hatch was made to ascertain the
4 RxY
the machinery had stopped entirely and it
was soon made Known that the after crank
| sfaIt had brok' n, very serious injury
and one which rendered the ship absolute
| ly helpless there vas not a breath of
wind stirring to fill her sails She was
| lying dangerously near to the shore toward
Whlch the current was steadily drawing
ber, SO all tie beats ere lowered to take
! hef IN tow and KEEP her from drifting
closer. This was pretty hard work for the
Jackies, as 1t was extremely hot, and all
| Eahds We're therefore much relieved when
| ABOUT ) O'Clock in the afternoon smoke was
| discovered on the horizon, which steadily
| APPROACHED until 1t was found to proceed
| from Russian man-of-war. Her captain.
| uFcn being informed Of our predicament
| kindly took US in tow for Nagasaki whence
/ ne mad come, and where we arrived about
I'D O'Clock that light.
Under Sails Only,
| Alter our mishap We fully expected our
orders would be changed SO as to permit us
| to proceed to San Francisco instead of tn
| New York, and were much disappointed
| when an order came from the department
TO take out the propeller, wall I'D the pro-
peiief wei Uhe space In which the propel-
| Ter IeEolVeS) and proceed to New York
| ieaVinS the route to the discretion of the
Captain The ship was accordingly placed
IN The dry dock. and The alterations ordered
| were Completed, which made her exclusive
| ~ sailing vessel or "windiammer'' in IN.
| language of the forecastle and then. the
| captain having decided on the Cane Horn
| route. she Sailed for Honolulu. Before leav-
| ing the coast OF Japan behind u.s. and when
| only Twelve hours out from Nasasaki a
| tSphoon was encountered that came near
WINDING up our career. The navigator did
| moi nave sight of the sun for two DAYS
| ana was therefore compelled TO ascertain
| the position of the ship by dead reckon
ing. Through an error. insufficient allow
| ance was made for the current and n noint
| OF land that had to be passed was bavad
| py SO close 4 margin that a biscuit could
nave been tossed ashore without ,lifficuItv
III laSt, LOT lew minutes it was a question
| Whether We would go on the rocks or not
ana IL we had not many would have sur,
| NiVed on account of the nature of the
coast, but, fortunately, by jamming the
| sails up in the wind as far as possible the
Old ship finally gIided by at a safe distance
much to our relief. We arrived at Homo,
lulu without further incident of note. for
| after getting in five months Drovisions
| hitting some new sails, etc, We Started on
| our long voyage around the Horn
Tedious Existence,
| rms portion of the voyage constituted
| the most tedious and monotonous exist
ence that can be imagined outside of a
| prison. We were III days (nearly five
months) making the passage from Homo
| lulu to st. Thomas, W. l., and during that
time were entirely without news from the
| rest OF the world, nor did We see the face
of
| Land was not sighted during the VOYAGE
| and not more than half dozen ships
were seen. Under such circumstances see
ing the same faces day after day, know
| ing SO thoroughly each others character
1sticS, and having nothing new to talk
about, men become thoroughly disguised
with each other, ard the best-natured men
are irritable and disagreeable. AS an in
stance OF our lack of news, it may be
stated that we did not ascertain who had
been elected president at the election early
IN November until the end of March of the
next year. nearly a month after he had
been inaugurated.
During the last three months of the vow
age potatoes were eliminated from the bill
of fare, and a month later soft bread was
! unobtainable owing to the supply of -four
having been issued to the last barrel. The
hard bread was in an animated condition
due to the presence of weevils, and the
bacon was similarly infested The men
Knew, however, that complaints would do
I
was no possible means of remedying the
conditions without putting into port and
every one was too anxious to reach New
York TO desire any stops to be made short
of our destination.
Crossing the Line.
While crossing 1.-The line In the Pacific
sharks were plentiful. the ship being at all
times surrounded by them: their position
being easily located by the dorsaI fin pro-
jecting above the surface OF the water, and
when anything fell or was thrown over
board they rushed from all directions to-
ward the point where the splash occurred,
indicating what the fate Of any one unfor-
tunate enough to fall overheard would be-
The officers amused themselves by shooting
them with rife. while the men forward
fshed for them with a hook and line, the
hook having about a fathom of chain at
tachcd to prevent the shark from seyering
the line with his saw-lfke teeth and thus
freeing himself. wiiiles piece of salt pork
weighing five or six pounds was affixed for
bait. As many as seven or eight sharks
were hauled on board daily for a week
and were Immediately dissected to ascer-
tain tho contents Of their stomachs. as
Jack" has considerable curiosity as to a