Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-14
ENJOYED THE STORM

L
"a certain hereditary dread OF lightning
| which once possessed was shamed out Of
| me. to express II In that way. by wom-
| an" said George 8. Hoskins. civil engt-
neer OF Chicago who spent q number Of
years In Australia experimenting the build.
| ing OF steel bridges for antipodean rail.
/ roads.
| II didn't have the fear OF lightning n
| any exaggerated form. and did not often
| allow It to be known that I held such a
fear at all. But the flashes OF prankist
/ lightning and peals Of thunder quickly fol.
| Lowing that denoted the near presence Of
/ the electrical disturbance wrought upon
my nerves and often put me out Of form
| for a day or 50 after. That this fear Of
! lightning Is q thing that Is Inherited car
/ well believe from my own case, as well az
from the verifying statements OF many
| other persons with whom | have conversed
! on the subject and compared notes. Ie
| put 1t in the plaineSt terms as to my own
| case my mother was severely stunned by
| q stroke of lightning several months pc
| fore came into the world, and from my
! earliest childhood lightning was the chiel
/ OF all my breads. l fought the feeling as
| came to manhood. and arrived at the
| point where I could contain myself and
/ not exhibit my fear of the flashes p.nen
| in mixed company; but until the tnlne
|
| had never been able to master the strong
| est kind of an inclination, when an cleo
| trical storm began. to get to the cover OF
| the darkest kind OF a room, SO that the
| flashes would be shut out from my vision
/ and to stuff my ears with lotion IN oroei
! that l might not have to hear the e.
suing peais Of thunder.
| 81 came up to San Francisco in the fall
| of 1892, from Melbourne. Australia, On the
| steamer Warimoo. Among the passengers
| was a brilliant French woman. who looked
| to be about thirty-five years of age. Win
1 paIid skin. mop of bronze hair. sim
! uous, almost girlish figure, and an amazing
| flow of clever and witty conversation tEa'
| kept all of those fortunate enough 20 come
| into contact with her. on the steamer In
| state of constant enthusiasm over her
| 1--WE touched at Apia. Samoa. to coal and
| to take on some additional cargo, and q
| few hours after we left Apia l noticed
| when l went up on the bridge for a cha'
| with the captain. that he looked preoccu-
| pied and worried and that he kept his gaze
| glued pretty steadily upon the barometer
| / had known this skipper for long time,
| having made several voyages with MIN, 30
| that l felt privileged to ask him wna'
| seemed to be the trouble.
| well he replied, after some hesitation
| you needn't say anything about 1t Deiow
l but think were going TO run INTO
! typhoon presently. and. as you know, there
| are more entertaining things than typhoons
| in these waters.
| II knew it full we'll. having been through
| one typhoon. and having prayed at ina'
| time that I'd never have to go through an
| other one.
| II went below not particularly caring to
| be on the bridge when the typhoon came
| along and found q knot of the passengers
| around the French woman In the music
/ room listening to her splendid piano play
| ing. There was no need for my saying
| anything about the shippers typhoon pIe,
! dfction, though. even had l been disposed
| to mention It, / had hardly settled mysell
| in a seat to listen to the French woman
| music before the sun was suddenly Cd
| scured, though there had seemed scarcely
| cloud in the sky only few minutes pc,
| fore and the heavy boom or the iUtia
| peal of thunder brought all of the folks
| in the music room, including the performer,
| to their feet. They all ran on deck 10 note
| which direction the storm-most OF them
regarded it as probably mere STORM
| was coming from. and the majority or the
| women, when they saw the rolling placR
| clouds coming out of the west ana rlven
! every minute by flashes OF zenitn-hasn
| forked lightning. ran to their cabins 70
| screen themselves as much as possible froip
| the approaching. tumult of sound
| Not so the French woman. however;
| She raced up the ladder for the bridge ano
| burst upon the skipper in the wheelhouse
| "'Oh Monsieur lie Capitaine, she ex-
claimed enthusiastically. we are to hal
ze gr-r-rande soonder storm. mott?
worse than that. rnadanl-far worse,
frankly replied. the skipper. We're going
we were well out OF it,
| sTyphoonr rapturously exclaimed the
| French woman. elasnsng her HANDS leg se as
/ HIGHT 'Gr-r-r-randei Loahy! sublime!
All my life hat 1 longed for re typhoon'
| and now I hat one-glorlous.
1.-The skinner ga zedsat the French woman
| In a puzzled sort Of way. BY this time
| the lightning was literally rending the
skies Immediately above the ship, and the
| booms of thunder were all but continuous
| and tremendously terrifying.
| Madam said the skipper, you are
unstrung Your nerves are going back
/ upon you. l will have to ask you to go
| below to your cabin. The typhoon VIII
| break Immediately after this electrical dis
| turbance and no part of the deck will be
| any place for a woman when that hap
pens
| The French woman. with the greatest
| and most convincing calmness, told the
| skipper that he was wholly wrong ABOUT
! her nerves-that she had never possessed a
| feminine nerve In her life that she knew or,
| and that she was really in earnest about
| her innate love for storms. And she added
| that she had been longing all her life to
| see what typhoon in the south seas could
| be like and now that her opportunity TO
| see one had come along she begged to be
| allowed to remain on the bridge
| Now. l ought to say that had followed
| the French woman to the bridge, probably
with the idea of picking some talk out OF
| the skipper as to how long he thought the
4
| tate to add that her EXPLANATIONS of pas
| sionate admiration over the terribly beau
| tiful pictures the fanctfui lightning was
| painting in the black sky shamed me. /
| didn't think OF averting my eyes from the
spectacle when / saw that she was raining
| her gaze to catch every arabesque picture
| limned by the lightning. 1t was up to
| me to profit by her example and forget,
| once and forever. the fear Of lightning
| that had followed me through life.
! Five minutes later the typhoon struck
| the ship broadside from the west and the
/ Warimoo reeled and staggered under the
/ shock. Then the skipper got her nose
| around to the terrific seas that seemed
| to pile up all in a minute. and the French
| woman stood TRANSPORTED with delight over
| the spectacle. The skipper begged her III
| go below. and then all but ordered her to
| seek her cabin. but she tmplored INN TO
| be allowed to remain on the bridge with
| him.
| but, madam said the skipper to her
| wen be swept fore and aft by green seas
presently, and some of the combers will
| be bridge-high All Of the matches are be-
| ing battened down. and you'd better be
getting below before you are shut out
| still the fearless French woman beseech-
| ed the skipper to permit her to see the ty-
| phoon out on the bridge with him. and the
| skipper. rather than waste any more talk
1 about IT, told her that she'd have to take