East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1916-09-22

No"
She was torpedoed last May by
submarine, off Queenstown"
How many lost?"
over twelve hundred"
We veered away from the majestic
old wind-jammer, as she ranged
along. every line. block and spar stem
ciled a distinct black against the
spectrum sky. Between her topmasts
the crescent of the new moon played
hide-and- through the interstices
OF her rigging. Eight bells, reverbe-
rated over the water, the only ships
bell besides our own which we had
heard during the entire voyage. Soon
she was lost in the merge of night
The water was 72 degrees, and the
sky took on a tropical quality in its
color, and we now felt the heat, Resin
oozed from deck planks, and the deck
was so hot it burned the soles Of my
bare feet.
According to my reckoning, we
should sight Flores about three this
afternoon" one morning remarked
Amory, who had done all the navigat-
ing. "A cigar to whoever first sights
land" Eight pairs of eyes, keened by
long night watches, constantly swept
the cloud-hung eastern horizon.
The Azores are said to be in the most
tempestuous part of the northern At
lantic. But a few miles off our
course, and we would miss the island
altogether. which. being less than a
seventh the area of New York City
was mere pin-prick in the vast of
blue.
Land hol' 1t was the centuries
old clarion call of sailors. and came
from the young Dane. perched on the
fore-truck. About 6 D. m. we could
see Flores from the deck, streaking
its low. twelye-mile length unler al
cloud canopy; then only its northern
tongue occasionally licked out from its
vapor-yeiled lair; the mists shut down
so did night
We were approaching a rock pin
nacled cliff-bound coast with few
landings and no harbor Not wish
ing to emulate the giant Cunarder Sla-
vonia. and crumple up against it. We
loafed along until daybreak, then fol-
lowed under great cave -punctured
mountain walls. Above, the verdant
terraced fields Of the islanders drop
ped here and there down ravines into
the sea
We soon lay peacefully in the only
available anchorage, a half-mile be-
low the little isand capital, Santa
Cruz Of about a thousand souls. some
ten Of whom soon appeared alongside
in the customs boat. They said that
two days previous four British sub
marines laid in just north of Santa
Cruz and transferred supplies from
mother ship, and that the Azores were
a strategic point, being within the
zone Of possible submarine activity
This western sentinel of the Azores
is visited by steamer but once a month
so our arrival was an event. Hunt
ing for a bird with five more pin.
feathers than other birds, in the midst
Of war times" as a friend of mine put
II, might seem a poor reason to the
Portuguese authorities for our adven-
ture. So when we gave as our last
port a social summer resort Of New
England, it took all our papers to con-
vince them that We had actually trav-
ersed the twenty-five hundred miles
Of ocean in the little craft But If
their incredulity and suspicious were
evident at first meeting. the hospital
N ity and exceeding kindness of the peo-
i pie Of Flores will long be remem-
Il bered
VI Our runs between the quaint little
n Old World ports Of the West African
II Tslandsa rely lacked wind or excite.
H ment. On the night Of July 21st, we
\ slowly felt our way into the little port
III Of Fayal Just before we dropped our
mud-hooks, big four-funneled mass
NJ doomed against the night.
III ITS the TENNESSEE" 1 had last
N met her in the Strait Of Magellan in
III 1903 when she and the Washington
formed the Special Service Squadron
III Of the Round-the-W World Fleet. Az
the beginning of this war she waf
known az the famous Gold Ship,
while her latest episode was when the
Hurks fired % at her in Smyrna. W.
N saw her gangway lights flash out and
launch take visitors ashore.
III Launch ahoy!" hailed as It re-
turned Shortly Erving and we're Or
the broad reach Of the Tennessee
majestic deck, to US as roomy as Q
race-track.
VII VERY sorry. sir" said the watch Of.
ficer, but the captain has just re-
tired"
III Can you send down my card7"