The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-17

one lAS Myers lDNdTu. ltlIlu44IA tillttEtll
ladies' and. considering the experience
they had been through, all looked remark
ably Well
capt. Daggctt's story of the Voyage.
Cant Daggett was found in his cabin,
making ready TO go ashore. After he and
Vice President Egan had exchanged notes
and the latter had complimented the cap
tain upon his splendid handling of the
ship Capt. Daegett gave brief and ex-
pncit statement Of his experience 10 a
Morning News reporter.
we left New York at . O'Clock satur-
day afternoon" he said, and had beau
uful weather until Monday morning at
o'clock when the first indications of the
storm began to appear just north of Will
mington. supt. lie Fevre had warned me
in New York that there was a West In
dia storm approaching the Florida coast
and told me to use my judgment My
judgment would have been 10 remain in
port but l knew the storm might take
a week 10 reach there, and ! did not care
to lie up that long. From Wilmington /
continued on down the coast, thinking to
run inside the storm. At 5;l5 p m, one
hour this side OF Charleston, we struck
the storm. We kept coming until 6;3l
being then only Jew hours from SaVan-
nah when / concluded it was dangerous
to continue any further. The storm had
become very heavy and the sea TO the
east looked like a wall. This looked as
If a trap had been laid for me, just like
the one Savage got caught in with the Sa-
vannah in 1893, so | thought ! had better
get out to sea while I had the opportun-
ity. II was my only alternative, so we
headed out to sea and s,aid there. The
storm increased in violence hour by hour.
I have faced q good many storms but 1
think this is the severest yet If there
had been any way of taking a record l
am satisfied the wind velocity would have
shown 100 miles an hour. The seas We're
tremendous. sweeping over the ship every
moment 1t was just like climbing noun
tarns The ship behaved beautifully and
rode the sea like a duck. There was con-
siderable rain, but most of the time there
was a dense mist, the hurricane mist, we
call It, The wind came in sharp, heavy
gusts, like the shot out of gun. The
storm lasted forty-eight hours. 1t broke
to the northwest at y o'clock Tuesday,
but continued stormy until this morning
When the storm ceased l found myself
a good distance out at sea, can't say ex-
acty how far. 1t took us until 9 o'clock
to reach Tybee.
As to the conduct of crew and passen-
gers Capt. Daggett said. The entire
crew, both officers and men, behaved
splendidly. Not a soul of the crew got
any rest from the time the storm began
until after il had passed. When 1 ordered
the engines stopped at sea the men in the
engine room would not go to their hunks,
but they were so tired they slept right on
the gJatngs. The passengers behaved adj
mirably and showed less excitement than
was to be expected under the crcumstan-
ces. They were frightened. of course but
the ladies' did not go into Mysteries. 1t
was pretty rough, and few of the passen-
gers received bruises, but none were seri-
ously hurt Most of them stad in their
hunks during the storm. but many of
the men stuck TO the saloon"
After telling his story Capt. Daggett left
the ship in company with his friend, Mr..
James Sullivan, cashier of the Southern
Bank, and his son, Mr. James H. Sulll-
van, who were passengers on the vessel
The storm IA Terrific One.
Il have had considerable experience with
storms" said Mr.. sullivan, "but this was
the worst experience l have had yet. The
severity of the storm was simply indie
scribable 1t was as severe as it
could be. I knew that we were in good
hands, and that Capt. Daggett would
bring US through if il were possible to
do so. Many of passengers were
frightened, OF course"
II stuck to my bunk most of the time, =
said Mr. Sullivan, Jr. They didn't have
any prayer meeting on board, but some
of The passengers put up some tall pray
ers"
quite a delegation of the passengers
came up to the Pulaski, where they were
seen by a Morning News reporter. Al;
expressed their admiration Of Capt. Dag
gett and his crew.
Mr., Gwynne Yerger of Memphis, who
presented the testimonial from the pas
sengers to Capt. Daggett, said; 1T was
a very serious state Of affairs, l can tell
you. The storm couldn't have been any
worse. At times 1 hardly thought
ii possible that we could ride
1t out. The behavior of the captain ami
all the officers and crew was splendid. 1t
couldn't have been better. All our wants
were attended to. The courage and calm
ness of the captain and the officers in-
spired us an with confidence and led us
to hope that we would pull through safe
~. We had a nice crowd of passengers
aboard, and they stood together splendid
ly 1t was a thoroughly American crowd
and they faced the danger just Ike Ameri-
cans always do whether on the firing line
or anywhere else. There was little ex-
element and the ladies showed splendid
courage Their conduct was worthy OF
admira ton"
Mr.. ID. T. Bacon Of Indianapolis said
that he had merely come down for the
Grip with his wife, intending 20 so back
on the return trip. I'VE shah so back
or no A ,ttitb