Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1908-01-07

uurging sea. Life buoys we're thrown
out, but It was no use. Only once did
they see him again, they caught
glimpse of his leg sticking up from
the water and that was the last
1t was impossible to stop the SHY
She was beyond control She swayud
with the sea, her rudder banging
from side to side. This was on the
morning of December 23rd, and all
that day the ship was beyond control.
The steering gear, which had broken
at 4 O'Clock, was swinging with ter.
rife force from side TO side, slowly
battering itself to pieces. The ship
fell off her course and came in q beam .
sea, rolling heavily, until her whole
cargo had shifted to the port side.
At this time heavy seas breaking
clear over the ship, smashed two life
boats. Tons of water were hurled into |
the engine rooms, and they had to
draw the fires out OF the port boilers |
to prevent an explosion. There were
five feet Of water in the enginerooms. |
To make terrible situation still
worse, the thirty.four Chinese sailors
became stricken with fear They hud.
died in their hunks In the forecastle,
refusing to come out, and lying with
staring eyes that saw nothing. First
Officer Escherhaus went to them with
big revolver in his hands, pointed 1t
in their faces, and ordered them to
come out and help fix the steering
gear to save their lives. They seemed
not to see him at all. Fear had over.
come them.
And so Il was left to the captain,
three officers, and two engineers to
do all the work Of lashlng the rudder
fast, while big sea swept over the
like string. 1t looked like an impos.
sible task Finally big Gh inch Ma.
Mia hawser was tried. 1t was fast.
ener securely around the steering
gear, but the first sea that washed
over the ship snapped 1t twain as II
1t we're nothing. At 10 o'clock that
night. they finally got the rudder
dashed with 31s inch steel wire. 1t
held.
There were four feet of water In the
galley, and the men had nothing to
eat save salty food and some tins Of
meat that were saved. At ~ O'Clock
that night the storm abated, and the
ship could be handled a little. Then
1t took the engineers two days anu
| nights of constant work t. pump the
water from the engine rooms. The
suction pipes had filed with coal and
| the engineers were forced to dive
down in eight feet of water to pull
the coal from the pipe2
On the morning OF h .llh. hatch
| No. was opened, and lne Grst officer
went down with the sailor and turuCd
5000 sacks of flour from port 20 star.
board side. still the ship listed dsG
| gerously. At $3.50 on the morning Of
the 25th, the steering gear again
broke. All that terrible work on q
had to be done again, The
ship fell of her course once more, ant
began to I'LL with water. 4 big sea
washed a Chlnaman, who was steer.
ing, from the bridge 90 the high deck
where he was wedged in against the
rail. The Captain barely saved him
self. At 3 o'clock In the afternoon the
steering gear was repaired, and dur.
| ing the remainder of the afternoon all
hands we're put to work shifting 50
tons of coal from the port to the star.
board alleyways. This was done in
an attempt to straighten the ship.
| Then came another gale, and at $50
that night the steering gear, for the
fourth time, was smashed by the sea.
Then 1t seemed as II all hope was
gone. First Onlcer Escherhaus' story
of this period is very graphic.
Before this time" he said, II had
never lost hope, no matter how black
| the situation looked. But this time,
| could see no chance for us. We
| we're doomed. was sure. | went to
my cabin and got my wife's picture
SO that | would be prepared. All OF
the firemen and wipers were praying,
and the Chinese again were hidden
away in their hunks. Four of us white
men still labored with the steering
gear, but 1t seemed OF no use. The
vessel swung in the trough OF the sea,
/ kissed my wifes picture goodbye,
then continued working feverishly on
the rudder with the other men.
1--WE could only work for second
at time, then a great mountain of a
wave would surge up and envelop us,
while we held onto anything secure
for our lives. After four hours of
heartrending work like this, at mid
night we finally had the gear fixed
again, and soon afterwards the storm
died down to considerable extent
The Tolosan was then about SOC
miles off the Coast from California
and, as 1t was impracticable to con
tinue her course on to Vladivostok, fol-
which port she started with cargo
of flour from Tacoma, II was decided