The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-19

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mast went by the foretop, with a report
like a. cannon shot, two of the men
went overheard with it. while the third
/ fell to the deck
! 1t is hard to say whether the fore
mast went over first or whether the
foremost, mainmast and mizzenmast
went all together.
| There were only a few seconds be-
tween the time of their going, at the
most. Captain Gibbs says that all three
masts Went at once. The first officer,
Morse, is under the impression that the
foremost went first and was followed
by the mainmast, which snapped off
at the maintopmast-head, and the mir
zenmast, which went by the topmast-
head.
! The vessel was hove to on the star
board tack when the blow came. After
the masts went huge waves broke over
!, the decks, knocking the men around
until they had to cling to the rigging
for dear life.
! The names of the men at work on
the foremost at the time were Behlan-
der, Anderson and Olsen When the
foremost went, Olsen fell to the deck
and Behlander and Anderson were hurl-
ed into the water with the wreckage.
Behlander must have been killed by the
falling spars and rigging or else stun
ned before he struck the water, for
nothing was seen of him after he fell.
Anderson was thrown clear of the
wreckage when the foremost went and.
after coming to the surface of the wa
er, managed to get hold of the rigging
n boil 1,ie
him line.
! Anderson was rescued at the risk of
the lives of his comrades and the men
showed great pluck and nerve in get
ting him on board. The wreck of the
foremost was floating alongside of the
vessel, held only by the braces, but the
wreck of the mainmast lowered above
/ the heads of the men as they worked
to save the man clinging to the wreck
age in the water. The maintopmast
was still attached to the mainmast,
hanging over like broken reed and
threatening every moment to come
down on the heads of the lifesaverS.
Bits of wreckage were flying about the
heads of the men as they finally sue
ceeded in getting Anderson aboard
from his perilous position. Anderson
was badly cut and bruised by his fall
from the foremost and was almost ex-
hausted when he was pulled on deck.
| Immediately after the swapping of the
masts the pumps were sounded in, or
der to ascertain if the vessel was Leak
ing, for it was not known at the time
whether the wreckage of the fallen
masts had knocked a hole in the side.
The vessel was found to be sound. how
ever, and great was the relief of her
captain and crew when 1t was seen that
she was not leaking.
That the hull of the vessel was not
smashed was a wonder. AS 1T was, all
the damage that was done to the side
of the Olympic did not amount to more
than few scratches.
First officer Morse of the Olympic,
in describing the vessels experience,
said that the foremost was the first to
go. 1t snapped clean off at the foretop
and was carried clear of the side of the
bark by the force of the wind. Morse
was standing amidships, on the star
board side directing the work of the
three men aloft when the whirlwind hit
the vessel. He saw the foremost go and
the men with 1t. Before he could re-
alize what was happening another loud
report was heard and he looked up in
thine to see the mainmast fall. Then
the mizzentopmast went.
Little if anything could be done in
the darkness to get rid of the wreckage
and 1t was decided to wait until day
light before the men should begin to
cut it away.
CAPTAIN Gibbs changed his course and
ran before the wind and on the morn
ing of the 23rd the work of getting rid
of the wreckage was started. AS much
of the spars and rigging as possible was
saved. The first thing to be done was
to cut away the maintopmast, which
was still hanging to the mainmast by
few splinters. This was dangerous
task and meant that whoever attempted
Iit would risk his life, for it was hard
70 tell how the maintopmast would fall
when it was free. Mate Morse under
took the Job and went aloft, armed
with a hammer and chiSel. He went
up the starboard rigging and worked
laway for over half an hour, cutting
the splinters which held the topmast
to the main stack. 1t required a great
deal of care. One false cut might have
meant death to the plucky mate. He
kept at it, however, until the maintop-
mast fell clear of the stump. Lines had
been made fast to the wreckage of the
lmainmast and most of it was saved and
slowed away on deck. The wreckage OF
the foremost and mizzenmast was cut
away. most of it being saved.
BY the time the wreckage had been
cleared away a strong wind from the
north was encountered and the vessel
under improvised sails, resumed her
course and sailed along slowly for Ho-
nolulu, the captain deciding not to put
back to San Francisco.
Besides the loss above described II
was found that 'he main upper topsaii-