The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-19
0'SULLIVAN'S TALE
OF THE ARCTIC.
That Took the Cake as n Shippers
Yarn.
By skipper C. Maddrell.

H2nLS OF the GDuItA uG NdS llAElluCu
for the clerical profession. But theo-
logical study was not agreeable
10 OSullivan, and so he gave
It I'D, and took to seafaring
for a livelihood. At the time of
my acquaintance with him. he had
reached the head of the nautical pro-
fession, and was one of the wittiest,
best natured old she'll backs, that
roamed the seas. His forte was spin
ming nautical yarns. He came from
a respectable and highly esteemed
family. though 1 heard him on one
occasion, tell the consul at Amsterdam
that in the mansion in which he was
raised, his mother could put her hand
down the chimney and turn the lock
on the door,"
The tallest yarn that ever 1 heard
O'Sullivan relate. was at Savannah.
will do my best to draw on my MEM
DRY, and tell it as near as I can; and
being O'Sullivan's yarn. l hope my
friends in Savannah whom 1 esteem,
will not hold me responsible for its
truth.
We were enjoying the cool of the
evening on the piazza of the De Soto,
when our conversation turned on cold
weather. A few of the shipmasters
present told OF some hard experience,
one how he came into collision with
an iceberg which damaged his ship
severely. some of the Jumps of ice, that
tumbled off the berg into the sea, COM
ing up again with great force, under
the vessel, and damaging it's bottom.
Another told of his experience in the
steamer Bath City, how all on board
were compelled to take to the boats,
on the banks of Newfoundland in mid
winter. and some of them were frost
bitten. Another told how on one occa-
sion, whilst making for New York,
every sea that rolled on board was
frozen hard before it could run off the
decks, and with the weight of ice on
deck and still increasing, the ship be-
gan TO settle and when the crew at
tempted to break the ice they them
selves were frozen into hard Jumps
and reached New York harbor just in
time to run the ship aground and pre-
vent her from sinking. These stories
OF hardships and cold weather went
on, until everyone felt gloomy At last
l called upon Capt. O'Sullivan for
some of his experience, and after
coughing a little, to clear his throat,
he commenced
Brother shipmasters, all the ex-
periences that you have related this
evening, fall far short of my experiences,
when l was master of the steamer
Austerlitz, and if you Will give me your
attention for a short time, l will tell
you all about tit is a tale that will
make your hair stand on end. like
qullls upon the fretful porcupine; and
should any of you doubt my veracity,
YOU are at liberty to present me with
the cake.
1t was fine morning, May 1, 1896
when my good steamer was ready and
waiting the tide to leave Birkenhead
for voyage to Newfoundland. All
the crew were on board, and, as usual
some were very drunk. and others not
much better. However, when the dock
gates opened, we made a start. and
the wind being fresh, she began to
rock and tumble about. With the roll
ing or the ship, and the rolling from
Delng drunk, our sailors and fremen
had, on the whole, rather a. lively
time. When we got as far as Instra- |
null, north of Ireland. and opened out
on the broad Atlantic our gallant ship |
pegan to bow gracefully to the bill |
lows and those who had forgotten to |
washed without much trouble. Nothing |
very interesting happened to the ship. |
put we had on board four passengers. |
and everything that was possible on
a Sea-Voyage, happened to those IN |
fortunates. They could neither eat.
stand, nor sleep, but lay on the cabin |
1ioor and bemoaned their fate in cross |
ING the Atlantic in a ship in ballast. ]
Gale after gale swept us until we we're |
q nDT0a ching Natxrfo,,nalaaJ
ono mate who was on the bridge, let |
a war-whoop that would have put |
Buffalo Bill to shame: Ice aheadi and |
close, tool" All hands strained their |
eyes, ana wondered at the sight before |
them, for, as far as the eye could |
reach there was nothing but ice.
we steamed slowely up to the edge |
OF the heavy Arctic foe, and away |
from the northwest from the mast |
neao we could see eng and wide |
lane stretching westward. We head |
ed the ship for this opening. While |
skirting the edge we saw a great num- |
Der of seals close to the shin. and. |
ithough our men pelted them with |
coal, old iron. and everything at hand. |
the seals remained on the ice quite |
We got as far as the |
opening, steaming about four miles per
nour' and passing some very heavy |
pergs. When about thirty miles off |
land, thick fog set in and we had to |
stop the engines and trust to luck. In |
the morning, when the weather clear
cd, we found the ship hard and fast
IN the heavy ice, with no opening in
sight, and no chance of going ahead.
intense cold set in, and heavy sleet
ana snow began falling on the deck,
freezing as it fell, and the thermom-
eter-well, the mercury froze.
AT a short distance from the ship
we saw dark object, and a closer in
spection showed it to be a number of
seals huddled together, and, though
allve, were frozen in a solid lump. l
instructed the cook to administer to
them not coffee, and after a little while
we mad the satisfaction of seeing them
slowly separate and take to the water
Inc aged and young ones we took on
BOARD, ana having just put their feet
IN not mustard and water, we wrap-
pea them in warm blankets, and they
were soon restored to health, although
some OF them got their fingers and
noses trostbitten. Perhaps some of Won
VIII be sceptical on this point but I
assure you, had you seen the suffer
ing and felt the cold, you could not
nave done otherwise.
AS night came on the weather got
coIoer ana colder. The ice cracked and
the snow crunched beneath our feet as
we walked the deck Then a most ew-
traordinary thing occurred. The chief
mate having ordered the masthead
llght TO be extinguished, he was rather
surprised to see the man returning.
ana the order seemingly disobeyed.
BENG asked why the light was not
put out, the man replied: Wen. sir.
I proved mighty hard, and so did Bill: