Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-02
TIDAL WAVE AND WATER
SPOUTS MENACE VESSEL
Steamer Cadillac Reaches
Philadelphia After Excit-
ing Experience.

PHILADELPHIA, November 2.-Swept
by a giant tidal wave. menaced by hot
water spouts and almost suffocated by
sulphurous fumes was the experience of
master. mates and crew of the British
steamer Cadillac. which arrived yester-
day, seventeen days out from Rotterdam.
Water spouts dead ahead, tidal waves
from the southwest sang out in rapid
succession from the lookout in the crows
nest.
October 20 a rosy dawn was just
beginning to crimson the sky, a fresh
gale was blowing from the southwest
and the Cadillac. which was light, save
for her water ballast, was blowing
through the rollers at twelve-knot
speed. At the, words of the lookout,
megaphoned down from the crows nest,
all on deck suddenly became a scene of
confusion.
Far to the southwest could be seen
coming a giant tidal wave that looked
high enough to ing,ilf the ship.
Capt. Mckay was quickly aroused and
took his place on the bridge, while most
of the crew clamberedS to the hurricane
deck. On and on the giant roller came,
and as 1t drew near 1t seemed to tower
far above the masts. By this time most
of the crew had left the coal bunkers
and furnace room and managed to reach
the deck. AS the great wave struck the
ship everybody held his breath. The
helmsman had put the ship about so that
she took the giant wave fair on the
bow. For q moment fifty feet Of the
great mass of iron and steel stood poised
In midair thirty feet above the water. AS
the wave receded the vessel plunged head
foremost into the water until her decks
were submerged.
Sailors Cling to Shrouds.
Everything movable was lifted and
washed from the deck. That all were
not washed overheard and drowned
seemed a miracle. and their safety was
due to the fact that every man chung
to the shrouds, life lines and whatever
he could find securely fastened to the
ship. For some time after the wave re-
ceded the sea seemed to boil about them,
and on all sides miniature water spouts
began to shoot high in the air. while
the roar of GONE submarine disturbance
could be plainly heard above the gale.
The water spoutS were small, but myri-
ads of them played about the ship and
some came SO near as to throw their
water upon the deck, when it was dis
covered they were no ordinary water
spouts, but like hot-water geysers, as
the water which fell upon the deck or
the Cadillac was hot.
Suddenly the wind died down to almost
dead calm, while at the same time the
most awful odor began to fill the air.
Sulphurous fumes rendered breathing
difficult and life miserable. All around
the ship were thousands of dead fish Of
almost all kinds. Three great whales
had succumbed to either the submarine
shock or been poisoned by the deadly
sulphur fumes. Hundreds of sharks, dog
ems Of porpoises and thousands Of smaller
fish were In the path Of the ship for
more than an hour According to Capt.
Mckay, the tidal wave struck the ship
in latitude 1910 north and longitude 46 10
west at $40 o'clock the morning of Oc-
tober 20, the ships chronometer read
ing at the time 20 hours 80 minutes Green
witch meridian time.