The Washington times., 1904-01-17
HARDSHIPS AND PERILS OF
A WINTER OCEAN VOYAGE

with line line then with n heavy line
and then hauled aboard by the windlass.
This caught many times in the Jagged
ice about the ship and in the strain to
lift IL clear several men crawled out
on 1t at the risk Of their necks and
wrenched it clear. A second four-inch
hawser was made fast in similar man
ner and with the screws OF the steamer
making slow revolutions to keep herself
level with the dock and force the cur
rent and the outgoing ice and with the
engines on the forward deck hauling on
the two giant ropes fast to the dock to
pull her inshore and four tugs putting
away at the stern to turn her round.
the whole crew OF ships folk and dock
hands and tugboat people worked two
hours to turn her n hundred feet The
steamer is over 600 feet long and to cross
her great length against an ebb tide
is task I'm calm wnter. When the
river is full OF ice and tho current flow
ing like mill race the effort Is one
only to be understood by personally
Witnessing it.
Victory Over Elements.
At 4:S0 a quarter length had been
gained and the nose Of the ship was
part way in the slip. Then the lines
We're cast loose and carried up to the
end of the slip and the capstans made
fast TO them and she was hauled inch
by inch through the two-foot ice by
TINS means until she lay alongside the
dock. The bursting and cracking of
the ice by the knife-like PROV OF the
snip was a most magnificent spectacle,
as almost imperceptibly the towering
steel Prov split cake after cake of il.
and crushed up like snow il parted TO
make way for the hull of the vessel
BY miscalculation the davits of the
forward hfeboat got mixed with an arc
light swinging out from the pier shed
and II came down with a crash that
made the passengers rush out of the
CABIN TO see what was the matter. II
took three-quarters of an hour more
after she was turned round to shove
her into the slip. and then with the
upper deck forward cleared of ice with
axes and hatchets. and with the hand
rams removed the derrick gangway was
lowered and the famous ..hrst-man-
ashore rush began. Ordinary cond!-
tions would have meant an hours work.
but Sundays blizzard and ice and snow
meant the best part OF a day. and an
this time those aboard and those ashore
were within conversing distance.
SSSHeS amusing and Pathetic.
The situations thus created were
/ amusing and pathetic one man was in
formed that his wife was III below
deck and his frantic efforts to reach
her were very trying to the ships
people Another man made everyone
about most happy by his tender
messages In French to his sweetheart
aboard. who. with her mother had come
a A m r-fr
man on the dock went from first one
anxious waiter there to another ana
pointed out her husband to them. See
see she would cry, ''the tall. handsome
man with the blonde hair" Their
meeting was most amusing and absurd.
The Sailorman's Hardships.
Now. there is a picturesque side to this
iaoor on the water front whenever a
snip docks from abroad during the win
Ter season in old New York town. but
there Is side that the initiated eve
never sees and which perhaps is far
more interesting when one knows about
It. This side is that Of the sailorman
VINO makes it all a possibility Down In
the engine room with only the electric
/ dial for guide the trained men at the
throttle levers know only by guesswork
where they are. Only for hours after
everyone save the crew is ashore do
they fully know for a fact that the shin
IS at rest in her berth and are they re-
lieved Of duty.
Feats Of the Men Above Decks.
| To those whose lot falls on the upper
deck it is even more trying Skin or
! even wooded gloves are impossible at
times, for II the spray is flying they
freeze to the hands and between this
evil and bare hands the sailor prefers
numb fingers TO torn flesh and goes
! barehanded- The feats OF some OF these
hardy men are beyond belief. For in
stance. one OF them will at the shrilI
call Of the boatswain's whistle and his
order scale up to the crows nest with
the mast half over the side OF the ship
and relieve the silent watcher up in the
snow who does his trick OF sentinel duty
coming over.
All night long the watches stand in a
/ temperature below zero, and with
wind that Is indescribably swift in their
faces and look out into the gloom over
the dashing waters for any chance of
/ danger. In fog or a sudden darkness
\ by day the engines are shut down of the
Grand Banks for fear OF the fishing YES
sells. Five and six days OF this IS the
/ ordinary portion Of the man before the
mast, and then comes. in winter time at
least, this titanic struggle TO win the
! fight with the sea and make fast the
ocean greyhound to her dock after the
voyage is over.
When Romance Fades.
! There is a picturesque side to II all II
one Is out for the picturesque. but when
! a sea takes sailorman of his feet and
the cry goes up man overheard" and
the snow IS coming down and the only
light is the Hight from the cabin win
dcws and the masthead, and land is a
thousand miles either way, the pic
turesque side fades into insignificance
and the power Of the sea- the changing.
restless. masterful sea is felt in the
heart Of every soul aboardship.
! EOR CK ATTNC