Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-08-28

the Red sea and enter the IndiaI
ocean by the fifteenth of this month
The monsoons are apt to strike us an,
time the latter part of May or th'
first Of June, and we want to get a!
far from land as possible before tina
occurs. With good luck we should
reach Colombo about June 18th, ant
Singapore by July 10th. can't tel
lust what the captain will decide te
do in Singapore. That will probably
depend a great deal on the time We
make getting there. I won't have
chance to mail another letter until we
get to Colombo, so you will have
wait of five or six weeks.
"That account in The Enquirer about
the dock getting away off Malta was
all wrong. We were in bad blow
that lasted four or five days, but the
Brooklyn had nothing TO do with get
ting lines to the dock. At one time II
looked as IL the dock would be blown
ashore, but we caught her before the
Brooklyn arrived. Hereafter until fur
ther notice, address my mail care OF
the postmaster at San Francisco and
have The Enquirer changed to that ad-
dress also"
June is the date of the next letter
1t was written in the Indian ocean and
reads in part as follows:
| "This Is the first time have written
you since we left Suez. At that time
we fully expected rough sea across
the Indian ocean and to average about
seventy-five miles day. AS matter
of fact, however, we have actually
averaged over 100 miles a day for the
four weeks we have been out. This
has been a most agreeable surprise and
| IL nothing happens we shall reach Co
lombo Monday afternoon. We are now
only about 400 miles away. But these
four weeks have been the hottest
have ever spent. The Red sea Is not
very wide and on both sides there are
deserts. What little breeze we got was
hot. Sometimes the sky would be OBJ
scured with sand blown from the des-
erts The Gulf of Alden was just as
hot and we did not see cloud or have
drop of rain for three weeks. The
sea was calm except for an almost i'm
perceptible swell The heat In the fire
room is $50 degees and the men down
there are having a dreadful time.
Some Of the warrant officers forward
told me that their rooms have been
115 degrees, but 1t has not been quite
so hot aft. My room all the time has
been over 80 degrees, and this with
an electric fan going night and day.
During the past week we have had
some heavy rain squalls and these with
overhanging clouds have made the sit
uation more bearable. Fortunately the
monsoon has not broken yet. 1t gener-
ally breaks with bad storm and the
wind blows hard for three or four
months. OF course this makes a rough
sea and If we had struck them sooner
we would have made very poor time.
Now our course is almost east and we
are in a much better position to re-
ceive the monsoon; but am hoping 1t
twill hold off two weeks longer. The
probability. however, is that we are al
most sure to get 1t before we reach the
strait of Malacca.
From the appearance through a
port hole Just as this time, we are going
to have a blow before the expiration of
many more hours. There has been a
heavy swell from the southeast during
the past two days and as the Glacier
| is getting pretty light aft on account
Of exhaustion of the coal supply, her
propeller is racing terribly. AS the long
swells pass the ship and throw her
stern up, the propeller, left without
water resistance, turns at lightning
speed until 1t strikes the water again.
In the meantime the entire ship trem-
bles from stem to stern.
I'VE are getting very tired Of this
trip and the hot weather has made 1t
very hard one. Just imagine, being
shut up in house for five months with
the exception Of the short intervals we
spent in ports, and ship is worse than
a house. We had a pleasant time In
Las Palmas; but 1t is very seldom one
has so pleasant a time in a foreign
port. Port Said and Suez are no good,
and we did not go ashore except on
business.
II have just returned from the deck,
where for some time I have been
watching some heavy rains and
squalls; but none Of them came closer
than a mile or two. I suppose we will
get some of it before they are over.
AT the present time It is the inten-
ton Of the captain to cut loose the
Glacier Sunday afternoon and start
full speed for Colombo. The other
ships will keep on for Singapore and
we will overtake them In a few days.
We should arrive Monday afternoon,
and the department should get notice
of our arrival on Monday morning
They will no doubt be glad, for they
have good reason to be uneasy about
the dock in the Indian ocean at this
time of the year. We will not remain
at Colombo more than a day and a
half, but we will get mail there and
that is what we want more than any
thing else"
The next letter after the above was
written in the strait of Malacca on
Sunday, July II, 1906, and deals with
several interesting incidents as fol-
lows:
| I'VE left the Indian ocean last
Thursday morning and are now In the
strait of Malacca, safe from the mon
soon We had a fine passage from
Alden. There was no rough weather
to speak Of except one day before we
reached Colombo and another, the
last day we were in the Indian ocean,
when the monsoon gave us a farewell
shot. 1t was pretty rough last Wed
nesday afternoon and night until we
got to safety under the lea of the Is
lands. We passed a signal station and
asked them to notify the navy de-
partment.
"Our only fear now is the typhoons
Of the China sea. These are terrible
revolving storms, which pass over
Il T,,l. af a nj