Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-04
Schooner Captain and Crew
Waist Deep in Acid Water.
sPILEs LOOSE IN HOLD
Wind Blowing at Rate Of Ninety
Miles an Hour.
MEN WEAKENED BY HARDSHIP
Terrors Of the Sea Finally Overcome
and Vessel Reaches Porto
Rican Port.

NEW YORK, December 3.-How Capt
Willard of the four-masted American
schooner John TwoDy and his crew of
nine fought for hours, waist deep in
nuriatic acid and water, with ten huge
spiles weighing in the aggregate 4,OOO
pounds let loose between decks by q
West Indian hurricane, is told in a let
ter written by Frederick Dean, a New
York dramatic and musical critic, which
Will be published here tomorrow.
Sails October IL.
The Twohy left New York October II
and cable dispatches have already brought
word that she made San Juan, Porto
RICO. In forty days after she had been
given up for lost. Mr.. Dean was the CAP
tain's guest, and his letter, written to his
family, now gives for the first time an
eye-W1tnesSes account of the terrors Capt
Willard outfought and outsailed. In part
1t follows:
tuesday. October 25, all day the clouds
mad been disquieting. They took on
strange, fantastic shapes. The wind died
down to nothing and the sails Mapped so
tnat the wise captain ordered them all
taken In. When I came on deck the
next morning the sea was beastly. There
was no sun. The wind blew twenty knots
AsA SAS AAAVA Ai6 dIO 1OILy III the d1IGr.
noon. fifty at night. seventy the next
morning and gradually worked. its way
up to its full fury of ninety knots an
hour. The captain said we were being
shaken up by the outside disturbances of
hurricane go miles away, but even he
had no, idea we were to become such
bosom friends with it.
Decides to Throw Out Cargo.
ION Thursday the captain decided the
cargo swould have to go. The forward
deck was filled with $50 carboys of muri-
attic acid, weighing $50 pounds apiece,
and 40 piles for wharf at San JUAN 1t
took four men to lift each carboy. The
castings around them were of the flimsi-
est. and the glass bottles none too thick.
Consequently they broke against the side
and the acid burned the mems hands
and would have burned the decks il the
water had not been knee Deep
The letter he. e continues with a descrfp-
ton of how the men. weakened from their
labors, and the captain went down into the
hold to help them fight with the 50 les
Each Spite weighed 400 pounds. and they
got all but ten OF them overheard. The
ten broke loose and the captain, who
was standing on top of one of them (the
letter cOntinues) fell off and underneath,
and before he could be gotten out those
ten monsters had rolled over him.
Five Times Bowled Over.
Once more he tried to get up and once
more they rolled him against the deck,
and again and again until he had been
rolled five times across thirty-seven feet
Of deck.
"Tlle acid was floating in the water
and he filled his mouth with it, and for
three days after he had scalded mouth.
Fortunately he kept his eyes shut. He
was pulled out just as the logs came
tearing down sixth time, and by main
force the men held his legs out of harm s
way or they would have been snapped
1T was 8 o'clock and pitch dark when
he was pulled out of the water, but he
stayed and finished putting over the last