The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-12-29

lett 10 give assistance.
Tic point where the Tasman
went ashore is in Torres Strait.
between the northernmost part of
Australia and New Guinea.
Thursday Island Is In the same
locality.
NEW YORK, Dec. as--A cumula-
tive wave, which Third Officer Hugh
Wallace, of the Clyde liner Seminole
called & genuine Cape Horn comber."
smote the West Indian packet ON Fri
day morning southeast of Hatteras
and for a moment, as she stood on her
beam ends all hands thought they
were on the way to Davy Jones
The Seminole arrived today with
many scars of her encounter with the
mighty sea done up neatly in canvas
All her staterooms were flooded, a
dozen were wrecked and fifty feet of
the pcrtside of her main deck house
were smashed The marvel of 1T all
was that nobody was seriously hurt.
The SUN set in a heavy haze on
Christmas day when the Seminole was
jogging along at IL knots through a
placid sea. Captain Carey foresaw a
blow in the aspect OF sky and sea and
ordered all ports locked and awnings
furlef for heavy weather. Before day
light on Friday the Seminole was
rising on hills and dropping into hol-
lows In n way that made her six pas
sengers and some Of her officers long
for solid earth.
Seventy Miles An Hour
At dawn the ship was laboring
heavily in a whole gale, which came
In hurricane spurts of seventy miles
or more at times, and added to the
peril of tobagganing- dawn ths-lanGe-
inclines Of the eombers. Finally one
CAME along. two big fellows rolled
into che, that Captain Carey could
not avoid. 1t was about the ta1fest
one he ever saw off Hatteras or else
where. and 1t came into being with
such swiftneas, rising clifflike close on
his port bow. that he could not head
into IT,
The great sea struck on the port
side. The Seminole reeled 70 starboard
like q fighter after a knockout blow.
Over she went. splitting from their
herths all hands who had gone there
for relief. And still further she keel
ed. until she seemed about to turn
turtle, with rib gripping the nearest
thing that looked as If IL might hold
At last, fiat on her beam ends the
staunch old iron liner lay for fraction
of minute. which to the whole ships
company was much more than full
minute. Then she slowly rIghted and
would have rolled to port 1T a heavy
angle II another tieerish sea, almost
as fierce as the first. had not sprung
at her.
This was the sea that almost made
a wreck of the ship. She had stag
gered from her course under the i'm
pulse of The smash of the first cember.
shivering from stem to stern. A still
greater vibration swept through her
when the second sea crashed against
her portside. The force of the sea
and the force of the ship returning to
even keel. met. Three passengers in
the dining saloon were thrown to the
floor by the second wave. which burst
through the portside of the Geckhouse
and ripr ed out four cabins al the for
ward entrance to the saloon. They
were nearly drowned by food of
water that poured in. they were
knocked against other tables and
badly bruised
The assistant purser. Charles w.
Cutting, who was suffering from sea
sickness in his berth, was thrown out
on the floor. Before he could rise a
part of the second wave had caved in
the portside OF the state-room and
ripped the woodwork into splinters
Cuttings face and scalp were cut by
flying glass.
Firemen streamed up from the
stokehold when the food rushed down
into It. but their panic was only mo-
mer1tary, and when they saw that the
chief engineer and his assistants were
sticking to their posts they went back
to duty.
Nine dead lights were stove on port
side and into these broken ports the
crests CT the tumuit surged The
ships carpenter plugged these up
later and canvass was stretched over
the shattered side of the deckhouse,
which was braced with scantling
After seventeen hours of pitching and
rolling the Seminole got under full
speed again and steered a course for
Sandy Hook.