The Burke County news. [volume] (Morganton, N.C.) 1899-1901, 1899-03-03

passes the word a4d the bo's'n,s mate
gives q prolonged blast on his pipe
and biaWl1 that lonr-dtaWn-out, rather
moving call, All hat nds abandon
ship, there is surely d whole lot Of
movement n an American man-of-wa.
Tor 1t IS the most exactlng dali on the
program, not even excepting the drill,
clear ship for action Every man
IL a ships company has got number,
and Ill the abandon-ship drill his num-
Der calls upon do certain things.
and the hurrylng and scurryinG for
tive minutes after the call goes Is
something lively to look at. The deck
crew handles the boats, load them up
with provisions and all useful appli-
ances for a prolonged season in the
open sea, and every man III the ''black
gang down below in the engineers
del artment has also a good deal of
business on hand. If the ship Is under
steam the fires are banked, the valves
are set, the engines all locked fast,
Water-tIght compartments closed, and
everything below arranged 80 that in
case the ship really doesn't go down
She shall be found in decent, ship
shape order III case she rides through
aud is picked up later on with a haw-
ser. Thus every man has got to be GU
the jump to do bis little act, other
wise, when the skipper, who is the
last ma to leave the ship, makes his
tour OF inspection of the snip he is
about to abandon to see that every
thing is right and tant, the bluejacket
who has neglected. his little part is
likely to get into trouble and q heap
of it.
couple of miles from the anchorage
road in the harbor Of San Diego the
call ''All hands sbandon ship Sudden
" went, and the usual rush ensued.
Within Just four and a half minutes
from the time the call went
all hands were in the boats,
and the captains gig wa.
alongside waiting for the old gentle
man TO finish his rapid inspection and
shake The ship hinlself. After he had
seen that everything was made tight,
the skipper stepped into his gig, which
sheered OF instantly, and there was
the fine white cruiser standing utterly
deserted III the swell, with every
o ficer and man Of the crew IN boats
two or three hundred yards of. The
drlll was a flrSt-rate success, and the
skipper vas getting ready to pour out
his expression Of approval as he stood
III the stern sheets of his gig, when a
queer thing happened. The water
x,~l{ Dll,> <1, <" 1898. -
churn, and the ship slowly got into
motion. The wheel, before the ship
was abandoned, Lad been dashed hard
aport, and the cruiser, under q pretty
fair healway of steam, to Judge from
the churning of the propellers, began
to turn around rapidly in circles. You
eve saw such a sensation on land or
sea as that job created. 1t was utterly
ineXplicable. The engineer officers
knocked their foreheads like crazy
men. There was absolutely no theory
unc which the movement Of the ship
could be explained. The steam had
been shut of the main s%tealnpipe be-
fore the ship was abandoned, and it is
quite an operation to get q ships
steam into her cylinders and to make
everything ready to turn the engines.
But there circled the ship, apparently
turning on a pivot, and obviously
under as much steam as there was left
IN the boilers.
.'She's a bloomin' witch some Of
the old-time fat-feet of the crew
shouted. and the men looked at the
crazy acting ship with a bit Of fear in
their ewes. She was clrcllng about
still wnen the chief engineer, who was