The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1906-05-31

heavy rains and rough seas; nights
when towlines parted or had to be let
go and hauled in, while the rain and
wind and darkness made the task of
handling the large and unwieldy
hawsers arduous. Yet not one of the Of
ficers or crew of the towing feet or dry
dock doubts that they will bring the dock
safely to her destination.
The most trying experience came
when the dock broke from her tows and
for three days drifted to the northwest,
going 10S miles out of her course. Dur
ing this time the wireless telegraph in
struments enabled them to keep track
of each other, and served to keep the
crew on the helpless huge steel trough
hopeful and cheerful In the early part
of the trip after leaving Chesapeake bay
there had been gales that had made
progress slow. Then pleasant weather,
followed and a speed of five knots an
hour was made during most of the time,
a record of 110 miles being made on one
day. But just when Commander Hosley
and the captains of the Brutus and
Caesar were congratulating themselves
on the favorable progress, a violent
storm blew up on the night of the gath.
The towing machine of the Caesar be-
came disabled, and she was obliged to
cast off her line. The Glacier, the flag
ship of the towing fiotilla, attempted TO
take her place but she steered very badly
in the heavy seas, going as she was at
scow speed, and the tow line was cast
OFF. This left the Brutus with heavy
task and she soon was Obliged to flash
the signal: "Hawser carried away"
Followed few miutes later by the mes
sage: Towing machine a total wreck
Wire hawser went by board and carried
away. leaving about 40 feet on drum of
towing machine"
Just how the men on board the dry
dock must have felt as they realized
that they were drifting helplessly on the
raging pillows of the Atlantic it would
be hard to imagine. For three days
there was nothing to do but listen to the
pounding of the waves and wait until
weather conditions were such that new
line could be connected up. This was
accomplished with the aid of the Po-
tomac, another of the boats of the fotil-
la, and lifeboat from the Glacier, and
the Brutus swung to the cast again with
her charge. All went well until mid
might of the following day, when the
line parted again, and the dock began to
drift to the southeast, the wind having
shifted.
Our map shows by the broken lines the
wide detour which was made in the two
drifts. One of the singular things in
connection with the experience was that
the dock when she was finally taken in
tow for the second time was only 30
miles from the point where she had first
started adrift.
One of the interesting features of the
expedition was the successful use OF
wireless telegraphy. Communication by
this method was sustained with the
United States for distance of more
than 1,400 miles, a distance seldom il
ever equaled where no extra installment
was made for a special trial.
The last messages received on board
the Glacier direct from the United
.otdtCo tdiiC iiOlu inC IdD6
Hatteras on January is, when the
Glacier was over 1400 miles distant.
The message came clear and distinct TO
the operator. Mr.. Merritt. and was as
follows: you came in very loud to-
night. Has been cold with alternate
rain and snow all day. New York is
lcold and clear to-day. How long are
we going to keep you? Good night
Hatteras."
On January 20, having long since lost
touch with the shore stations, the oper-
ator on watch was surprised at IL 80 at
night to get call from the United States
steamer Markland. He was soon In
communication. and we learned that
a imiral Evans had established line Of
wireless communication from San Juan,
lorto Rico. to within 120 miles of our
position. the Maryland being the near
est vessel to us. BY this method we re-
ceiyed official messages from the navy
department, secretary OF the navy and
Admiral Evans, the ships of the wire-
less chain being the Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, Colorado and Maryland.