The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-02-06
From the Philadelphia Press

From the Philadelphia Press
No, I've never seen a sea serpent, but
I've seen things more curious" said an
old sea captain.
What was the curiousest thing ever
see? Wal, that's hard 10 say. bat there's
the cruise | made from san Diego to Mon
terey with the yacht FOam-Tn never for
get il, though it was years ago.
Il was in San Diego az the time, wait
in for a job, when d man came to me
and asked if 1 would take yacht W 10
Monterey. deliver her there, and take
twenty men who wanted 10 20 up.
Il said l would. the terms bein' good.
and l found l could charge the laborers
a decent price and make something out
OF it; SO off we started one bright morn
ing.
The labOrers were railroad men. goin'
Up to work on a new road. and the sec
ond day out were all SO sick that they
swore they would run the yacht in shore
anythin' to get out of it.
Il finally put in at san Pedro and let
those go that wanted to, and put out
again with about six.
Il had never been up the coast, and so
left matters in the hands of my mate,
whom I had shipped for the purpose
bright Norwegian.
I'VE reached Ventura the second day,
and then il began to blow and increased.
but We kept at il, passed AnacaDa, and
right in the Santa Barbara channel caught
it for all it was worth. 1t blew so that
we got all sail off the schooner but enough
to keep her TO the wind, and the men-the
landlubbers-were beside themselves with
fear.
"All this seemed to set the mate crazy,
and he drove them to the ropes and made
every man stand and take IT. / felt that
there was no danger. but the wind sud
denly picked up and blew inshOre, and
the sea rose so that / finally made up my
mind that the yacht couldn't stand it.;
she took so many seas that she nearly
turned over.
Smooth Water Ahead.
II had a talk with the mate, who said
he could put us in smooth water in a
half hour only he was afraid she'd swamp
if ne put her before it. | told him I'd
take the chance. Then he shouted, Rig
on the extra hawser 10 the chain down
below"
Il saw that It was done, and then we
gradually got before the wind.
1T was awful, and l thought we'd go
down a dozen times, but she seemed TO
get over it. yet We headed directly in
shore, the mate in the riggin givin' direc-
tons To me at the wheel.
Suddenly ne cried, Luffi bring her up
and UP she came into the wind, and If it
hadn't been that my man was dashed to
the riggin' we'd have all gone, as a big
green wave swept clean over, three feet
deep.
THE moment she got ahead to the sea
he let go the anchOr-the Lord knows
how deep it was-out went the chain, then
the howser. and we began to drift astern,
beaten back by the sea and wind.
Il began 10 think we'd have TO cut away
when what was next 10 a miracle happen
ed. The sea went down like magic. We
were still in heavy sea, but the surface
for 100 feet about us was as smooth as
glass, and there We lay as comfortable
and dry as you please, while on each side
were terrific waves.
WAL" said the old captain, pausing a
moment at the recollection, at scared
the men half to death: they all thought
there was something uneanny about il;
but finally when everything had been
made snug, the mate came down below,
EarbO- out TO sea.
Were all right if the anchor holds
he said, and it's pretty sure TO, as it's
rocky bottom.
I've known this for a long time he
continued. You see, this is a great oil
country, and right here, two miles of
shore, is an oil spring that would be a
fortune to some one ashore. 1t is proba-
oily fresh-water stream that rushes up
ward, bringing oil with IL, which spreads
out over the surface at times covering
four or five hundred feet. OF course, the
oil keeps the sea down-simple enough
when you know it,
Oil Covered the Water.
"And so 1t was" said the skipper. Tive
visited the place several times, and some
days you see the water rising up so hard
that The surface looked higher than the
rest, and the oil would cover the water
for two or three hundred feet around,
changin' with the days and seasons SEEM
ingly; sometimes bein' very small, again
large. but always maxim a perfectly
smooth spot in which a boat could lie in a
storm if she could be kept in it.
IT'S about two miles off shore, as near
as l can judge. and on line with the