Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-06
CHAPTER ~.
Elsie Goes on Deck.

men give strength and courage to mu-
tltude. Although the rumor soon went
the rounds that the giant wave which
popped the ship had carried away two of
her six boats. there were no visible signs
of furry in the measures taken to equip
the remaining boats <or use. The men
Had confidence in their officers: every one
worked smoothly and well.
All told, there were eighty persons on
board when the Kansas left Valparaiso.
Of these. seventeen. including the officers
were of European birth or lineage. Tn
remaining sixty-three were men of mixed
nationalities, ranging from Spansh-speak-
ing Chileans to negroes. There were eight
under-stewards. a cook and his assistants,
and nearly fifty sailors and iremen. I'm
fortunately, the explosion in the stoke
hold had killed the chief cngin ncr and one
Of his juniors. while six stokers were
dead and several injured.
1t was discovered that. before he died
the chief had shut off steam and thus
prevented the accident from assuming
far more serious proportions. The second
engineer, a Newcastle man named Walk r,
who rushed to the engine an at the first
! indication Of a mishap. found his chile
! lying in collapse on the lever platform
! Walker promptly opened certain levers
which allowed the steam to escape freely;
| then he carried his conrada out OF the
! spume t. the deck. l. was too late. Par
tial sunocation had paced too great a
strain on a diseased heart: by the time
! DR.. Christobal was summoned a brave
! man was dead.
/ Courtenay. who had left instructions
that he was to be called when the Evan
gelistas light was sighted. was sound
asleep. In the elevated quarters assigned
to the captain the noise of the explosion
differed little from the thunderous blows
/ Of the sEa But the stopping of tn. en-
| gines aWoke him instantly. He felt the
ship iurch away from her cours'. ana saw
the quick swerve of the compass ndi
Gator ever his head. AS he ran down the
gangway leading from the bridge he
/ heard the officer of the watch say:
Something given way in the engine
room sir
Several minutes elapsed be ore he or
Walker. aided by willing volunt GERS, could
/ penetrate the depths of the stok hold
/ The place was a charnel house, a stiff ng
pit. filed with the charred contents IF tn ,
/ furnaces, which gave off the most moi
some fumes owing to the rapid condensa-
/ ton of steam and water escaping from
! the damaged pipes But the gale raging
without served one good purpose In driv-
/ ing plenty of air down the ventilatins
CoWls. Gradually. the choking atmos-
/ pherc cleared. COurtenay was the first to
reach the lowermost rung of the iron
! ladder. whence he looked with the eyes
{
The electric light was uninjured. 1t re-
vealed the bodies OF several men, eth r
dead or insensible. lying amidst the scat
tered coal. Shovels. stocking rods and
pieces Of iron plate had baen hurled about
! in wild confusion. The door OF one fur
| mace was blown clean out o its bolts:
! furnace bars and fire bricks strewed the
| Iron deck. while, each time the ship rolled
| the heavy Cank OF loose metal SOM Thera
| in the engine room proved that tho dam
| a crp niaiI TO tfs. ta1ita
| hold.
If Courtenay could have dropped quietly
into the sea through the stout hull Of the
Kansas he would have welcomed the GER
tain result in that bitter moment But
he was the captain, and men would look
to him for salvation. Well, he would do
all that was possible. and, at any rate, di.
at his post. So, choking back his misery,
he ORGANIZED the work Of rescue Sings
were formed Of ropes, and those men In
whom any signs of life were visible wera
the first to be lifted to the upper deck
The stokehold was quickly emptied of It's
| lnanimate occupants; living and dead
alike We're carried to the untenanted sec
! ond-class saloon forward. Then Courte-
nay left Walker to solve the puzzle of
the accident ard report on It's extent
while he climbed back to the bridge. there
| to tackle the ar more pressing problem
of the measures to be adopted If he would
save his ship
1t was typical of the man that his first
act was TO wipe the CRIME of the stoke
| hold off hts face and hands Then he
drew chart from the locker in which he
had placed 1t two hours earlier. Mr..
Boyle, who had been attending to the sig
nails both by siren and rock t, joined him.
Cou:tenay pointed TO a pin mark in the
sheet
We were there at o'clock" he said
and his voice was so steady that he
seemed now to be free from the least
touch of anxiety. The course was south
40-east, and, against this wind and a.
together with strong current TO the nor
east We would make eight knots under
easy steam. Therefore, by o clock. when
| the furnaces blew out we were here"
| He jabbed in a pin little further down
| the chart. Mr. Boyle whose peculiar
| gifts in the way Of speech were accurat =
| ly described by DR.. Christobal, gruntad
agreement.
Huh" he said.
Courtenay glanced at a chronometer
| 1t Is now quarter to nine" he went
on. and l reckon that since the ship
swung round We hava been carried a
least six knots to the nor-east."
Huh, Growied Mr.. Boyle again, but
he bent trif1e nearer the chart 10 his
sailors eyes the situation quite sim
pie. Unless. by Gods providence some
miracle happened, the Kansas was a
doomed ship. The pin stuck where the
admiralty chart recorded soundings of 100
athoms with a fine sand bed. The lon
g1tude was 1000 west of Greenwich, and
latitude 5l35 south. Staring at them
from the otherwise blank space which
showed the wide expanse of the Pacific
! was an oninous note by the compilers
| of the chart:
| 'Seamen are cautioned not to make free
| with these shores, as they are very i'm
| perfectly known. and, from their wild,
| desolate character they cannot be ap-
preached with safety"
Right in the track of the drifting ship
! lay a vaguely outlined trio of dr. ad I'M
| port Breakers; iset (conicaD: Duncan
rock" Behind this sinister barrier stood
the more definite White Horse Island
while, running due north and south few
miles away to the eastward. was WAIVER
| ing dotted line, which professed TO mark
| the coast of Hanover Island. nding a
| fear 'ul significance to the unknown char
| acter of the region, a printed comm Mt
| followed the dotted line: This coast is
| laid down from distant obser lions on
| board the Beagle" so the sea face of
| Hanover Island had not been visit ID by
civilized man for nearly sixty years +,
| There. not three hours staaming distance
| from the regular track of Gillian COM
| merca, was a place SO guarded by reefs
| on one hand. and impenetrabe ice-cap-
! ped mountains on the other. that a pronar
survey was deemed impraCtica bic even by
| officers Of the British navy a service
| which has Charted nearly every rock and
| shoal and tiny lSlet on the lace of the
! waters.
! Neither man spoke while their practical
scrutiny took In these details The roar
ing chaos of the gale told what fat"