, 1903-01-06
STORM
ovERTAkES BATTLESHiP IN
WHICH ENSIGN LAND SAILED
TO JAPANESE COAST.
Thrilling Narrative Of One of the Worst
Storms Old Seamen Ever Saw Sent
His Mother BY the Naval Officer
Strenuous Times On That Boat
and No Mistake.

Ensign Emory Scott Land, who /.
with the battleship Oregon, Captain
Grant. en- route from San Francisco t.
Manila, went through a severe storm
after leaving Honolulu, and his de
scriptive letter to his mother, Mrs. S
E. Land of this city, mailed at Yoke
hama, Japan, IN the 18th of December
is a glowing account of what old sailors
on the %battleship pronounce one of the
%severest storms they ever encountered
Mr.. Land wrote a long letter to his
mother, from which The Republican
is permitted to make the following ex
tracts:
I'VE have passed through a hurri,
cane, typhone, tornado, cyclone or any
thing you like. Thanksgiving even
ing we had a huge dinner and general
good time, with singing and doing
stunts. The morning of the 2Sth We
were all up early, for the ship rolled
SO much that sleep was impossible.
The wind was blowing right fresh from
the southwest and quite a sea was run.
ming, with the barometer falling slowly
Things looked a bit wild, but no one ex.
pected a blow as it was warn and not
much overcast. l remarked to the jun
Tor officer of the deck that I'd like to
see a storm. He said Yes, I'm in fol-
one, too
AT 70 a strong wind was blowing
from the south and the barometer was
still falling. At 4 p. m. there was q
moderate gale from the south-south'
west and at 6 there was a hurricane
from the west-southwest to west, haul.
ing rapidly to the northwest. Marquardt
and l stayed on deck watching some
seas mountain high fall all about the
ship. Twas great; no hats had we
and II hair and face caked with salt
We hung on, too, for a full due, for we
were rolling thirty to thirty-fve de.
grees each way, and everything was a
wash fore and aft.
AT s o'clock a lull came and we
steamed ahead, shipping a sea and
smashing the pilot house. Then we
heaved to, running slow with the wind
aft or nearly SO. At 1920 we shipped
a sea that did the business for is
flooding all decks, fire rooms engine
rooms, and all but putting our fires out.
Then the excitement commenced. All
hands were turned out and for a spell
we were busy"
Mr.. Land then proceeds with a tech
nical description of the action Of the
waves upon his ship. He told about
the flooding Of the quarters of the war
rant officers; how the captain, the
navigator and executive officer spent
every moment Of their time on the
bridge while it was possible to remain
there; how the steering gear went
wrong and the ship had to be steered
by hand from the steering room; how
many of the men lost much Of their
clothing by having it washed overheard
and how many Of his own things were
almost ruined.
"As l first got on the main deck q
wave from the deck caught me, wash.
ing me thoroughly and almost knocking
me down. A bottle and a meat pan
smashed me a%midships. Oh. l tell you
things were moving"
The ship went through the night. the
men aboard having all sorts of expert
ences. Mr.. Land detailing them in we'll
rounded sentences and beautiful pen
pictures.
breakfast we took standing hanging
to a stanchion or brace of any kind.
Lunch the same and dinner more the
same-mostly crackers and jam, with
coffee on the side. Breakfast on Sun
day the same and lunch likewise, while
for dinner we could sit down and eat.
trusting to luck and the agility of the
Japanese servants not to get your din
lei on the back Of your neck.
Monday all was lovely, and at 8 a. m
we crossed the line at 1870 degrees west
longitude, and 8 o'clock Monday was
no more, but it was 8 o'clock Tuesday
morning We had lost a day. Now we
are steaming along serenely and my
moustache grows again.
All the officers aboard say the storm
was the worst aver known to them. and
some have had thirty years experience.
Anyhow, it was a storm. and I'll never
again doubt the truth Of the widest
paintings of ships in a storm"
The secret Of Long Life.
C0pofoto IN Eoopfpo oil tho main or,