The farmer and mechanic., 1913-11-18

ing tne coral ledge.
FOR hVe hours the Nipsic made a
saAant night against the gale with
ner anchors planted in good holding
ground and driving into il under a
Auii mead or steam. II is more than
PROBABLE that she could have held her
ground had it not been for the Olga,
wnch vessel reached a position in
me middle Of the harbor at the COM
,iiehcement OF the gale and at once |
oecam me menace TO every vessel |
"itnln reach Of the long sweep of |
ner cables. AN effort was made 10 |
chdhge the position of the Nipsic so |
as TO place her beyond the reach of |
'he olga, but scarcely had we lifted |
| our starboard and sheet anchors for |
TINS purpose when she grazed our port
| quarter, carrying away the poop rail
ing and dingy and leaving the whale
| ooat hanging a useless mass of splin-
tereo timber from her bent and
twisted dayits.
We had barely dropped cur an
| chore agaln and were steaming ahead
to avoid the Eber, when we ran down
the small schooner Lilv.
suddenly, little after o'clock
through the dense gloom. dark
mass was seen rising above us on the
crest OF mighty sea, and the next
moment the Olga's head booms were
over our weather bulwarks AS she
1eil OF into the trough Of the sea
she tore our port hammock rail and
the steam launch and sheared off the
: smokestack within 2 feet of the jack
| ct. Again she rose and fell OF.
crushing the port main chains and
striking the mainyaras with such
force as to throw the shattered out
l Doard END in upon our decks
!. The upper section of the smoke
stack Tell With crash into the star
noard gangway. carrying with them
: the wreck of the fireroom ventila-
torS. The wind now poured down
: the stump of the stack and drove the
h names out through the furnace doors
:, forcing the fremen repeatedly from
r their posts. The steam upon which
our main dependence was placed fel
t rapidly from so to 35 pounds The
|. furnaces were at once fed with sail
e pork, which. though il helped the
: steam In slight degree, still lef
d us without sufficient pressure to rem
!, der our engines effective against tn,
y violence Of the gale
q "At daylight there was danger o
n a second collision with the Olga
J. which vessel was racing like ma,
r around the harbor, seemingly at tn
je mercy Of the wind and wave, an,
n was only prevented from going ashor
s by the strength Of her ground tackl
If and the power Of her engines Agai
- and again she bore down upon u:
threatening to crush US beneath he
superior weight, but each time W
- avoided her by playing out on
~ cables or letting the ships head IA
a off. This latter maneuver, howeve
q repeatedly threw US into the troug
"a Of the sea, and we shipped gres
~. quantities Of water. 1t became a
- as most impossible to move about tn
o1 decks on account of the mass {
"a wreckage which was hurled from sid
of "A
4 | vessel
~ "Our escape from a collision, whic
nS at this time would in all probabili'
have been fatal to the entire ere,
.. was wholly due to the calm ski
a. with which the vessel was manage
~ ~ and the p romptitude with which IL
"a men responded to each command.
To- Finally, about half past s, the 0
ga drifted down upon our bow. broa
h side on, and a collision seemed inev
"a table. When drifting down upon Il
he reef we would unquestionably ha'
as struck just where the shadow
cd wreck of the Eber lay had it n
mt been decided to beach the vess.
of The port chain was slipped at t
aw captains orders and the vessel r
90 lieved of her port anchor, swung
her sheet chain, which under Il
.cb enormous phessune ran out, tearil
of away the securing bolts in the loc
tha er. Steaming ahead at full spec
or the vessel swung in toward the shol
Of. her stern grazing the edge Of t
fnr reef, and in a moment more we r
Tod bows on upon the sandy beach
&c front of the American consulate
pht In attempting to get line to t
yes shore the gig was lowered with Fl
nd men in her. The boat dropped ir
- | the hollow Of the sea, and the ne
minute she was capsized. and her
,o,s cupants drowned, despite despers
IF efforts to reach the shore At leng
of a volunteer swan ashore with III
ho+ and we soon had number Of
10 lines stretched across the seethi
49, waters. Commander Muilan, al
;no seconded by Lieut.. Hawley, the exec
ta,e tive officer, superintended the landi
of the crew. He was the last to lea
,,o the vessel, and that only when CO
80, vinced that every man under his co
80. mand was in safety
ELI Mr.. Heisler vividly described