Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-03

big Atlantic liner through the murk
| and confusion of early morning and limit
merable passing craft up the crowded waters
of New York Bay. The ship was crowded
| with passengers most of whom had risen be-
| times to watch their Homecoming. A tense
expression, brought on by the tremendous
responsibility, cast its grim lines over the
| pilots face as he turned into the lower
| Hudson River and saw dense fogbank
creeping down from the Palisades. Three
| miles still to go, and three thousand lives in
his hands! Slowly he crept along, almost
touching ferryload of commuters, just
| skipping triple tow of sand-scows, thread
| ing his way through the maze of vessels big
and little; the fog, denser and more dense,
| making it impossible to see the shadow of
| nearing craft more than couple of lengths
away.
Suddenly a departing liner, just hauled
out into the stream, 1oomed up off the star
board bow. The pilot turned CHASTITY white.
"My God! Crossed chains or straight
chains? Crossed or-straight? Heaven
help me.' In almost instant desperation he
called "Hard aport!" the quartermaster
swung the wheel Overland the huge floating
hotel slowly turned out and glided by, al
most scraping the other.
Crossed chains straight chains?' What
| does this mean? 1t means this: that there
| is no invariable rule or system of arrang
| ing the tiller ropes on vessels so that the
| latter always move in the same direction
in response to similar turn of the wheel.
| If equipped with Crossed chains" the craft
will turn the opposite way; if with straight
| chains the wheel must be turned in the
same direction the vessel is desired to go.
| Most ocean vessels are equipped with
straight chains; though this is by no means
an invariable custom. Sailing craft may be,
and are, fixed either way. On the other hand,
harbor boats, including towboats, tugs, ETC.,
generally have crossed tiller ropes.
Thus, our pilot friend had spent most of
his nautical life aboard tugs and other inland
boats, and when confronted with crisis of
great responsibility, wavered momentarily
between the influence of his habit of twenty
years and the newly acquired Information
| given him as he went aboard. 1t was just by
| the sheereSt chance that he ordered the
wheel turned the correct way.
Soon after one of the big army transports
left Newport News for New York to take on
| cargo for Cuba during the Spanish-American
War, the officers discovered that the tiller
| ropes and signaling apparatus had been in
stalled under the direction of an engineer in
stead of the shipbulder, who had arranged
everything exactly opposite to what the Off
y,
they had to establish an interpreter of all
signals given. The quartermaster would
shout "Starboard!7 meaning to turn the
tiler in that direction, and "Port!' would
shout the interpreter, to save confusion in
the pilothouse; and when "full speed ahead
was meant, the signal flashed to the engineer
was "full speed astern.'
An able ocean seaman signed for round
trip from Buffalo to Duluth, and asked if he
could handle the wheel, was sent to the pilot
house. They were already under way, and,
not being familiar with the uncertainties of
steering gear, he neglected to ask the usual
question, Crossed chains or straight
chains?' The coal steamer neared scow-
load of bricks. Hard aport!" called the
mate. The helmsman flung his wheel to
starboard as he had been used to do on the
high seas, and his vessel bore down upon
the unsuspecting tow. "Hard aport, you
IDIOT yelled the mate. "Don't you know
this boat has crossed chains?' He reversed
the wheel, and missed the scow by bare
Craze.
Such incidents as these are by no means
rare in navigating experience; though, for
tunately, serious accidents therefrom are
uncommon, either because of benignant
Fate watching over befuddled men at the