Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-01-19
III you, Diaz. and see what you maize

viii you. Diaz. and see what yoa make
it,
Isl, senior" Diaz disappeared III the
wheelhouse, but came out again pres
emily. exclaiminp: ..Por Dios. eapitano.
we are within three lniies at TINS no
ment!"
That's what I thought. Get your
leadsman out there right away.
moreno. lou q Detter Try a8pssy
line at first, and see if you can strike
anything at a hundred fathom. Re
all ready when ] give the word"
In less than five minutes the leads
man was on his grating. outside the
sfarboard rail, with 75-pound leadand
300 fathoms of line. Halstead stood BIZ
the engIne-room telephone, watch in
hand, and Diaz was Ierched in the fore
rigging. where he could watch the
sounding. In about ten minutes the
captain showed the lever over 10 tie
signals. "Stop'-Half speed astern'-
stop" And when the foam from the
screw was abreast Of as. he sang out:
Let her so"
There was big splash, and he lead
disappeared whipping coil after coil
Of the line after it from the reel on the
taffrail. Fifty fathoms. 100. 200. 300
and 70 bottom. Slowly the two men at
the reel hauled in the line, and the cap
tain signaled: 'IIalf speed ahead"
About a mile further he stopped and
tried 1t again, but with the same result.
Then Il = z4rorrT erroCoe.r-.,-aI,. -. -...41
for three miles, and north, six. taking
soundings at each limit. At eight bells
Padre Sebastiano came on deck and be-
came so absorbed in the proceedings
that he actually forgot his breakfast.
Each time the lead was hauled up he
would examine the tallow at the lower
end to make sure that no sand or coral
fragments were embedded in it, and as
sounding after sounding proved unsuc-
cessful at the full 300-fathom depth, he
couldn't keep the disappointment from
showing in his face. Finally the cap
tain told him that further search was
useless, and when the steamer was
headed for Guajan he went below
Halstead treated the matter as if it
possessed but little interest for him.
yet when he glanced at me / could see
that he was thoroughly discouraged
The engines had just started at full
speed ahead, and we were preparing to
go below for breakfast. when l noticed
a little bunch of cumulus cloud a few
miles to the southeastward. and called
his attention to them.
'.Ayell. what about theme" he said.
They're just ordinary clouds. aren't
they?"
That's all, but I was thinking Of |
what Maury says about atmospheric
condensation in the neighborhood of |
atoll having a tendency TO collect va
por over it at times. Now, whether a
few fathoms Of water over a reef would /
IA bsolutely prevent such condensation I
nr not, ] don't know. / should say
the chances were that it would; but
well, the atmosphere does queer things |
What do you think?'
Halstead watched the bunch of cloud |
for a second or two, noticed that there |
was nothing else of the kind in that |
direction, and then ordered the man
at he wheel to head southeast. / |
saw that he considered the search
hopeless. but he was determined to
cave nocbanct un:ricd. Diaz had gone |
Town into the fore-hold with some of |
his men. to overhaul the last cases for |
Agana and Moreno was below at I
breakfast: so that no one but the helms |
man noticed our again heading about, I
and be was dreaming OF Nisaya girls in |
Manila TOO deeply to do more than obey |
orders in a purely mechanical way.
Ittook less than half an hour 10 reach |
the position. Then Halstead himself !
climbed out upon the sounding perch
with hand lead and 30 fathoms of line.
He had stationed me at the telephones
on the bridge. hastily arranging
series of signals. and. after watching
The waters surface closely for awhile,
waved his hand for half speed"
In about two minutes / saw him
swing the lead forward, paying out
The line rapidly as it tautened under
his feet Five times more he east it,
hauling in the entire length after each
one. them signaled: Full speed.
ahead" After which. mounting the
bridge, lie ordered the helmSman to
put her about and steer north by east