The Savannah morning news., 1903-09-19
AT The SEAS MERCY
CITY OF MACON'S TEMPEsTUOUs
VOYAGE DOWN THE COAST.
PASSENGERS FRIGHTENED
WHILE THE SHIP WAS BEING
TOSSED IN A WILD STORM.


Passengers Didn't Know II Until
All was OVer-FeIt the Full Force
of the storm for Two Hours on
the Jersey COast-WOmen Sought
Refuge in the saloon Where They
Huddled During the Hight of the
Blow.
The fiercest storm that the City of
Macon has ever encountered struck her
off the lower Jersey coast Wednesday
morning and for four hours or more
her passengers, about eighty, chung
desperately in their berths. or
lay rolling about the saloon floor,
waiting for what they thought
must be the inevitable end-either that
the ship would turn turtle or that her
back would be broken in two by the
terrific buffeting that she received.
There were a few passengers who
claimed, after the storm was over, that
they had never lost confidence in the
ship; that she would ride out the blow,
but such optimistic ones were not much
in evidence until the danger had been
passed.
The whole voyage was the rough
est that the Macon has ever
made. She sailed from New York Tues
day afternoon at O'Clock and had not
gotten out of the harbor before she
encountered a dense fog. This lasted
but a short time, but engendered no
uneasiness among the passengers,
though had they known that it was the
forerunner of the terrible experience
that they were afterward called on to
go through they would certainly have
exerted every possible means to have
had the trip postponed.
The storms Onset.
AS it was, the fog lifted or was pass
ed through shortly and the passengers
spent the evening chatting, playing
cards or watching the fast receding
lights of the Jersey coast until bed
time. The first intimation of the trou-
BILE to come was received about mid
night, when the wind began to rise
and the sea, hitherto nothing more
than long undulating swell, began to
assume the form Of a long stretch of
white capped pillows, ominous in their
extent and increasing in size. From
the time that these were first noticed
both wind and sea began to rise rap
idly, so that in a short time it was
found that the ship was in the teeth
of a terrific gale.
For an hour or two the most of
the passengers thought nothing of the
trouble believing-if they thought at
all-that it was nothing more than a
freshening of the wind, nothing to
~ Ia inc hn
would soon be past. But instead of
this the wind increased to a gale, the
sea rose mountain high, and the ship
tossed and rolled In a manner that
soon forced even the most hopeful to
the conclusion that they were In
the midst of gale, and, too, one of
great severity.
Women Sprayed by Sea.
In some of the forward staterooms |
the spray was driven through the |
doors, soaking everything in the |
of these were ladies', several of them |
travelling with children. Many of |
them left their staterooms and, at con-
siderable risk of injury, for the ship |
was pitching and rolling in drunken |
fashion, sought shelter in the saloon.
Soon in that pla ce of refuge there |
were gathered nearly dozen persons, |
sought the sofas. but this was
forbidden by the steward be-
cause of the danger of being
thrown to the floor. They lay fiat on
the floor, either using blankets for cots |
or for covering. for many of them had
been driven by the suddenness of the
storm to make only very hasty toll
cts. In this position they lay while the
storm beat out it's fury.
With every plunge the shin creak- |
ed as though the strain were
more than she could bear, and
as If her timbers would be rent
asunder. At every roll she looked as
ii she would turn completely over and
be engulfed. The wind shrieked a
high falsetto that can be appreciated
only by those who have heard it I'M
der similar circumstances. and the ter
ror of the night was increased by the
mysterious iolts and Jars that were
experienced every minute, while the
hurried tramp of men overhead, en-
deavoring to make fast the skylight
and fixtures, the slap and bang or
roll, of everything that was not ac-
tually part of the ship itself, added
to the din and fear.
Darkness and Terror.
1t was still dark when the storm
reached its hight, a little after 5
o'clock. The wind was then blowing
with velocity of between sixty and
seventy miles an hour. 1t would not
have been safe to attempt to drive the
ship through such a sea and the en-
gines were stopped and the vessel al
lowed to drift. She was too light to
be handled easily and it was found i'm
possible, for some time, to keep her
head to the wind, so that ever once in
awhile she would get into the trough
of the sea.
An effort was made to get up the
spencer sail so as to steady her. but
no sooner had the canvas been loos-
ened than the gale caught it. tore il
from the spars and blew it out to sea.
leaving but short shreds of it along
the spars to show that there had been
such thing as a piece of canvas on
the boat. These bits were later taken
by some of the passengers as souve-
Mrs.
Not only was the sail swept away.
but in going over the side it caught in
some of the railing of the upper deck
and carried this away with it,
Appearance of Dawn.
When daylight came it brought. il
anything, added terror, for now the
passengers could clearly see the huge
waves as they rose and receded. al
one time posing the giant ship on
the top Of "A mountains Of water. al
another leaving her hanging, appar-
emily over an unfa thoma BILE abyss. The
wind continued its terrific velocity and
gave instances of its fearful force nv
scOoping the tops Of the huge waves