The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-05-15

ONN ~
perilous voyage. A big sea broke
across the stern of the vessel, snap
ping the mizZen boom like a carrot
and carrying the broken end over
board, where it rained fearful blows
upon the trawler's hull, m~omentarily
threatening to smash her plates or
become entangled with the madly
thrashing propeller.
Cut her adrift!" shrieked Thomas.
and the only available man slipped
and stumbled aft over the i]ce-coated
deck, followed by the captain himself.
1t is, however, n thing to give an
order under such circumstances, and
quite another to carry it out. What
were they to release the boom with.
seeing that nearly everything nova
BILE had been carried away? BY
great good luck, however, they espied
a Ratchet, which had been washed
against the bulwarks. Hastily
snatchilg this up the seaman hacked
away at the tackles Of the boom until
at last it was free and vanished into
IhS oiiiSlASs " lOdIu dSICl
This danger ayerted the men
breatned again. But what a sorry
plight was theirs! BY this time the
whole vessel was a mass of cleaning
white-a veritable floating iceberg.
The shrouds and ratlines were sheets
of ice, the masts were huge pillars of
ice, and the rigging was so swollen
with caked masses that a man could
not envelop it with his arms. There
was ice everywhere, b%urdening the
little vessel with a weight it seemed
impossible that she could carry. The
only means of getting on to and off
the bridge was by crawling through
a small aperture in the cleaning berg
at the end. How long it would be
before this aperture should be n
tirely closed, and so practically i'm
prison those upon the bridge?
Night closed in, and it seemed
thai nothing worse could befall the
hapless little craft now than absolute
humiliation. But still the toll of
their troubles was not yet complete.
The two men at the wheel had all
along had the greatest possible diff
Guilty in keeping their positions, so
heavy was the steering gear. Some
times the united strength of both
men was scarcely sufficient to control
the wheel when a heavy sea struck
the rudder, and as their strength be-
came reduced in consequence Of the
continued exposure, so the poor fell
task. An accident seemed newt
able, and ere long it occurred. The
wheel was being held h~ard-a-star-
board, when the sea suddenly forced
the rudder back, with the result that
the wheel whirled round with light
ming speed, carry one of the men,
who pluckily maintained his grip,
over with it, and dashing him violent
ly to the deck. His companion en-
deavored to stay his progress, but
was helpless against the might of the
sea, and the man was so injured that
he was rendered useless for any fur
Their service for the time being. The
number of men available to navigate
the vessel was thus reduced to three.
Aimlessly the Kastoria drove
through the mighty seas during the
leaden hours of the night; her bur-
den of ice growing momentarily
greater as the sheets Of spray froze
upon her. She rolled heavily in the
trough of the waters, and ever and
anon listed to starboard to an alarm
ing extent, often dipping her lee rails
below the surf. It was at such mo-
ments that those on board her felt
the chill of death upon them. Upon
one occasion she retained her list
for such a length of time, through the
weight of ice upon her upper works,
that the occupants of the bridge
thought she would right her
self again. At last, however, she
gradually and laboriously lifted, to
the infinite relief of Thomas and his
companions.
The three mel were now practical
ly reduced to helplessness; they could
do nothing with the vessel, nor for
their imprisoned comrades. All of
them suffered intensely from the
cold, Captain Thomas fingers being
frost-bitten. And so that never-to-
be-forgotten night passed slowly
away.
Next day the storm abated just as
suddenly as it had arisen. The wind
dropped, the snow ceased, and the
barometer went up with a jump. BY
rapid degrees the vessel was released
from the grip Of the ice, and as the
sea went down the men on deck were
able to release their comrades by
chopping away with axes the layers
of ice from the forecastle door. 1t
was a memorable reunion. The first
intimation the men below had re-
ceived that anything was wrong
sailors can sleep through a great deal
Of hubbub-was the crash of the
huge sea which smashed in one end
Of the bridge. 1t was then, when
they strove to get upon deck that
they discovered they were prisoners
and surmised the cause.
When the compass was got into
working order again it was found
that during her fight with the storm
the vessel had run eighty-four miles
to the northwej it. Captain Thomas
then turned about and steamed back
for Dyrefiord, where he put in for
much needed repairs. He then set
out for Grimshy where the KaStnria