New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1901-10-04
GRANDE DUCHESSE ADRIFT.
WITH FIFTY PILOTS ABOARD SHE is
THE PLAYTHING OF THE TIDE
RETURNS AFTER A SMALL
BREAK is MENDED.

The passengers who went to the race yes
terday the Crande Duchesse had a rare
chance to play at adventures and perls of the
sea. There were about thousand of them. in
Guiding many members of the Newark Bay,
Brooklyn and Larchmont Yacht clubs. and other
yacht clubs. and many pleasure seekers unat-
tached Most notable OF all. she had on board
about fifty pilots and their families. the guests
of Captain George L. Norton. the manager of
the boat for the yacht race excursions.
Everything went we'll long as the race
lasted The ship got into good positions for
sight seeing. and showed her passengers all that
there to see. Everybody was comfortable
and happy. and the passengers were all settling
themselves for the last scene of the days spec
tacle. when the ship came to dead stop. 1t
was quickly reported that she was going to have
a race of her own back to the city against some
OF the other steamers and that she was waiting
for them to come up. that they could have
fair start But all the other boats OF the fleet dis
courteousy passed her by and there was no
sign of race. The Grande Duchesse simply
seemed To have taken root in the ocean, and as
the last slow tub of the excursion fleet left her
behind and disappeared. her passengers became
convinced that something was wrong.
1t may well be said at once that when all
the false statements and theories were sifted
out it proved that a feed pump had burst. and
had filed the little iron room in which IL was
confined with steam and hot water 1t was
necessary to pump the water out. to let the
steam go down and then to repair the damage
This took a good while. and the passengers did
not know at any particular point of that time
just how much more it was going to take.
1t only few minutes after the end of
the that the accident took place. and the
Crande Duchesse was not far from the Sandy
Hook Lghtship. She began gently to drift down
the Jersey coast, and in a few minutes she had
drifted clean over two buoys and the passen-
gers were not little diverted by watching these
bob along the side. disappear under the ship
and then come IN on the other side. But time
went on the passengers began to turn their at
tention to what ought to he done in case the
stay outside the Hook should be indefinitely
prolonged.
THE FIRST THOUGHT OF FOOD.
The first thought of course was of food The
boat had left the city with no expectation of
being gone till dinner time and she had been
supplied with only meal. Moreover, the
most of this had been eaten. There seemed to
he fair supply of sandwiches and candy left.
and the wise ones bought supplies of these to
keep, lest worse thing should happen. There
a flock of pigeons board, brought to
carry messages of the yacht race 1t was cal
these, but not enough to go around. The men
began to take stock of their shoes. gloves and
other leather goods. A few of the women had
furs. and it was calculated that the skins. If the
hair shaved off. would last for awhile
Two or three tugs came along seeing that
there trouble Tugs always looking for
trouble. They willing to try to pull the
Grande Duchesse out of her trouble. for a con-
siderable sum. but the captain thought that it
o,,rI he cha Of
was some bargaining between the tugs and the
passengers and one of the latter offered so a
passenger for a tow back to the city Whether
the captain of the tug did not think the price
large enough or feared that the passenger would
not be responsible for its payment no towing
done
All this while the ship had been drifting but
now the captain. feeling that there was no oc-
casion for going further from New-York
dropped his anchor. Then the ship stopped and
the ebb tide ripping by gave her the appear
ance of slow motion. which greatly cheered
some of the more tmd assengers Certain
long, low. black, raksh coal barges glided by
and those who were learned in stories shud-
dered with delightful thrills as they whispered
'.Pirates!" and chung closer to another.
PILOTS ENJOY THE JOKE
There also came pilot boats. The New-York
the steam pilot boat, came. making two sepa-
rate calls of coincidence and dersion, and sew
era of the old-fashioned schooner pilot boats
lowered around and seemed to enjoy the Joke
For there huge steamer. threatening to
annihilate the Scotland lghtship by drifting
straight over her. beautiful great ship with
dfty able pilots board, and unable to get
mast Sandy Hook. The pilots on the boats
shouted messages of encouragement and condo
lence and fippant scorn at their friends on the
ship. who had nothing to do but to sit and
take them.
The passengers were holding consultations or