The Washington weekly post., 1900-10-02
FREAK OF the WINDS.
ship Suddenly Caught In Typhssn On the
California Coast.

FREAK OF ThE WINDS.
ship Suddenly Caught In Typhssn 0a the
California Coast.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer
Those who go down 10 the sea in ships
are beset with many perils, but none ex-
eeeds in horror and dramatic intensity the
effect produced by the wreeking Of a ship
In dead calm. This unique experience
fell TO the lot OF the good ship T. c. Pfiu-
ger, under Capt. Hoover. who. with a
crew OF sixteen men and cargo Of 100
bags of flour, and bound for Queenstown.
was overtaken in a typhoon at sea of the
coast OF California on the 18th day OF July
last. Although captain. cargo. and crew
dncluding pet Pig came out OF the
tangie alive, the wreck Of the bark as she
lay out in Mission Bay, gave eloquent tes-
detailing the wonderful escape from dlsas-
ter and death. Capt. Hoover said:
'We' were going along finely az ten
knots an hour. II was about o'clock in
the morning and the second mate was
on watch. The sky was light, with few
feecy clouds. and there was a steady
breeze that sent us along In great shape.
There was no suspicion of danger from
any quarter. We were steering south by
west half west with the yards braeed up.
All at once. while the second mate, Null
either. was standing on the quarterback,
there was an awful crash and noise,
which sounded louder than a ten-pound
cannon.
"The mate looked aloft and saw the
mainmast was dropping toward him, and
everything above twisting and turning
and flying in all directions with terrible
clatter. On the deck there was no indl-
cation OF trouble OF any kind, but a most
horrible rumble and roar In the midst
of this hubbub and confusion out ran the
ships pig. Up and down the deck the pig
ran ircessantly, and all the time squeal-
ing at a great rate. He was as badly
scared as we were, for all of US thought
that our time had come. The masts were
falling and spiinters were flying all
around the deck. Finally l gave orders
TO man the lifebOats. as ] was certain
the bark would go 20 the bottom In a
very short time, The mainmast had fall
en- into the water and was humping
against the bark. AMI it looked as though
1t would not be long before she'd bump
u hole In the hull. Pretty soon the miz-
zenmast camo down with bump, roar,
and a crash, breaking In two pieces. The
lower part was left standing. The main
mast below the deck was also splintered,
Ii was twisted so hard. and II was made
of iron. Next the two topsail yards came
down, and the royal yards were parted
and hanging aloft. The breeze on deck
had not increased a bit from what 1t
was when the trouble began-not enough
wind TO blow the hat OF your head. We
all just stood there and wondered. But
In the rigging there was hurricane that
twisted and pulled and yanked every
thing. The twist began at the gallant
mast and swept the whole length OF the
bark. Well I thought the old Phuger
had met her match at last.
''The destruction, as / tell you. took no
longer than a moment OF two-no longer
than you can think-not longer than two
seconds. / am sure. In four minutes
everything was as quiet as a lamb. But.
great heavens. what chsnge for the
worse had been made in that short timel
The Pfiuger looked like she had been In
sea fight and had received a ar-plexuS
blow from a man-of-War bfoadside We
had but one weak. wobby sail left with
which to get back to san Francisco, Ihe
worst danger We feared was from the
mainmast ffoating alongside. We knew
we must all work for our lives In cutting
the wires and ropes that held the mast
and yards to the bark. And II was the
DEVILS own work, sure. The sea was run
ning very high. and the mast, knocking
against the ships side, rendered II diff
cult for US to keep our feet Our axes
soon became blunt, and We made little
headway In the mean time We expected
every minute TO have n hole Knocked in
cur side. and all go to the bottom; Should
she begin 10 leak we would be helpless, 8
all the pumps had been knocked TO pieces.
Two OF the lifeboats had been smashed by
he 70 ~ nd ltTfT
on the afterdeck. The two lifebOats that
were left were standing on the fOrecastle,
and il was hard work 10 swing them be-
yond the broken ropes and twisted wires
so they would be In position 10 De
manned at moments notice. II took
nine hours of the most dlligent work 10
get US free from the masts and spars with
their broken sails. The sea was still rough
and dangerous. The deck was under
water all the time. and We were In tight
fix all round. Finally, when she quieted
down bit, we set about the work Of get
ting back to port, but 1t was awful slow.
We could not go to San FranciscO-it was
too great distance, We would give out.
1T was very strange. but the good old
ship was still az sound as a nut, and there
was no leakage. At first. when I saw the
helmsman knocked over the wheel. /
fought the ,rrudder was broken. but it
bara, and on July II We made Port Con-
ceptioD. Al l o'clock In the morning OF
July IS we encountered the steam schoon-
er Greenwood, which towed us into port
at Santa Barbara, Telegraphlng to Frisco
for a tug, the Relief came and took US 10
San Francisco So here we are and here
we shall remain at least three months 10
get In good repair. You can put Ii down
az strongly as you can that we do rot ike
typhoons,"
How do you account for the singular
mishap. captainT
hNo one Will ever know, but In my opin-
ion ID was a whirlwind that took our
masts away The wind was In the upper
sails and not felt on deck al all. There
was no sign Of wind or weather before or
afterward 1t was one Of the most curl
Gus sea experiences on record, and give
It up