Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-02-15
NEPTUNE CONQUERED.
Lusitania's Wave Would Have Crush
cd Smaller Ship.

cd Smaller snip.
Was 1t a last despairing protest Of
Old Ocean when he lifted his giant
hand in the blackness of the night Of
January 10, and smote the Lusitania a
blow which racked and splintered her
lofty bridge and pilot house, rs feet
above the sea, and crushed down her
forecastle deck and decks beneath, CIV
ing them a permanent depression Of
several inches? For time was, and not
so very long ago, when the sea was the
undisputed master of the ship, and
whenever Neptune saw fit to open the
walls Of mis- wrath and send his league
long rollers across the deep, the proud
est ship Of the day must needs stop at
his bidding, If she did not indeed turn
and run before the fury Of the blast.
or late years, man, by virtue Of his
knowledge and mechanical skill, has
been building in ever-increasing
lengths and breadths. and with such
ceaseless engagements Of bunker and
boiler-room; he has so multiplied
horsepower, and has called to mis- aid
so many ingenious contrivances for
speed and strength and safety, that old
Neptune must for many decade past
have foreseen the humiliating day when
he could no longer hold the destinies Of
the bold sea voyager in his hand, and
no longer say to him, THUS far and
thus slowly shalt thou co.
Following the hint Of the ultimate
victory which was supplied by the Lu-
sitania and Campania, came that Won
derful ship Of the Hamburg American
line, the Deutschland, and the even
larger and more powerful Kaiser Will
helm and Cecilie Of the North German
Lloyd; and with the advent of each
giant vessel mans growing mastery Of
the ocean was shown in ever-increas-
ing speed and a closer approximation
in times of departure and arrival to the
regularity of transportation on land.
1t was reserved for the steam turbine
to supply the last mechanical device
which was to give to man in his age
long struggle with the elements a |
weapon of complete victory; for in the
combination of size and strength and
power afforded by the latest turbine
liners there has been developed ship
which has demonstrated it's ability to
drive at full speed and adj day long into |
the heaviest seas that tine stormy North |
Atlantic could pile across her path |
The writer will not soon forget a nota- |
BILE day, some two winters ago, when |
the Lusitania, in weather which varied
from a gale to full hurricane, aver
aged for the twentyfour hours speed
Of between twenty-six and twenty !
seven land miles an hour. During the
tumult Of that tremendous struggle, |
ten-ton anchors were shifted, it is true,
and steel derrick booms were swung
atnwartship and twisted as If they
were no stouter than boys tin whis- |
tie. Yet the ship steamed into port
started in the whole fabric of her hull. |
Ordinarily a transatlantic liner will
drive her way against a westerly gale, |
voyage after voyage, with no more Sc
stanchion or the breaking Of pane of
glass in the pilot house. But, once in
long while, there may come COM |
bination Of seas which are so related
to the length of the ship, that she may
be riding down one wave, with her
bow buried deep, and her forecastle deck |
awash, just as her stem drives into a
roller, steep Of front and Of vast
height. Then it is that the structure
of the ship meets its moment Of su-
rs feet above water, are safe from the
full impact of solid Atlantic sea.
On the Monday night in question. be-
cause Of the tempestuous weather, the
glass windows in the pilot house had
been lowered and the storm windows,
built of solid wood with a small heavy
glass port light in the centre, had been
raised. The stern of the vessel was
lifting high on a receding sea, and the
forecastle deck was awash, just at the
moment that a wave of gigantic pro-
portions loomed up at the bow.
From the fact that the solid water
swept entirely over the pilot house and
the compass stand upon its roof, which
latter is at least 80 feet above normal
waterline, this wave must have been
some 35 feet nigh measured from the
trough The sea was breaking, and
therefore the mast of water must have
had considerable forward momentum.