The Washington herald., 1921-05-22
By John Fleming Wilson
n. shut his nps IN . grim Ina .xss

was stin there. lying ~ enchor csio~ Ds
Made Sands. and tvs vsrs sceuaiiy ~
formed likely 10 90 permanently agrounf
any hour.
That makes n the better for uss Howard
said with hardly suppressed Eies rhoss
log raft owners VIII jump AZ my or~'
To make long story short Howard eisssi
the deal within Ex hourl fhs ovnsrs q
the ran were Desperate Ths bss - ths
MOUTH ef the Columbia had besa rough fR
two wesls The two steamers they hal -
gagged 70 DO the towing had wsitst. gfvsa
notice. and departed Any Day ths bar uuasnf
smooth sunsosnuy for the rsfs % 20 20 sss-
but thsrs vas no vsssS svai,ab,s b tz,8
hold Of T. Howard sisnsd essa-sa - ~
the hugo. unv1sa1y sfsar % . psauf s,saA
the Golden oets for forty thousand tsusaL
within an hour Norsh Hssd rsporss6 Q
smooth bar. Howard fAiriy tore ths ossas~
from her berth and down the river % the
raft. within sax hours Ne had q fAst on ths
END Of our hawser and st sundswr ve vsrs
heading into the ssttins sun
-when We get outssds re IN plain ssilinG'
Howard exultsd- Tho norester WIN sim
ply blow us down At six knots Per hour
Il dadnt DO quits 70 well but ne nads
rood dime, though the Cleaner isbored hssv>
iy and began 70 give vsy In weak spots a.
an old ship VII. II WIS too much for her
strength. But Howard hung sr.ualy on and
listened TO no complaints or srrumentA
And on the sixth day after lssvtns Astoria
We wsIowed past Mendocano and into the
smoother stretches Of the California coast
I'VE ought TO make the Golden osss IN
three more days.- told Howard
We both turned and stared back a ne
huge, low bulk that followed us- Il lay lnks
q long island swash to every breaksr. srncth-
cred In foam and spray. bot steadily surGtns
southvard 10 the pun Of our havssr.
we better get that anchor chstn cable
over thsrs.- my sonnnandsr said suddenly.
looked q him IN snasement 10 tsu
the truth, ! had forget that cd part % cur
equipu,snt- And the need for O. thers
could Be imagined any need. was pes1 In
sids three days ~ vuuid hsvs our to1 tn
port Il 10 seldom rough In late Nay ca the
central California coast And % ten ths
truth II this enormous cable vers b b uss<
Il should have bsen spt on the ran oseors
we left the Columbia
All my suspscsons were reused ssx4n- But
Howard was sdsrnant % my rspressntstions
The Cleaner and her tow nosted motionles&
We began the killing labor a breaking the
cable. length by length. out q ths hssd and
hauling r to the raft oo . traveller which
ran along the wire havver which the clesDsr
kept taut- II took four precious days % go
this useless weight into the cable vel bunt
among the loss Of the raft- AZ iast ths tAsk
was done. came back - shs stssm seheeo-
er and said 70 Howard;
-rvs got your chain cable etcwed ovef
there and no anchor b bend on n And
you've spoiled the trim Of your vssssl %
that she can't tow half 20 we'll
Howard laughed In my rsee and rang ehs
engines ahead full speed.
Two days followed during which ~ mad,
fair progress. Then the wind besan 70 hsu
into the south'ard and the sky became over
cast and inshore the storm clouds pied sbov,
the mountains- The third night after oul
resumption Of the voyage Il was thick snt
drtzziinE. The next day we saw nothing snt
began 70 impress on Howard the DANCE
Of meeting other vessels which could not se.
the extent and weight Of the thing We to~ed
"A steamship might better run on soa,
rock than on that raft.- I urged -ItS
deadly menace 70 everything going up an
down the coast You ought 70 haul In Of
your hawesr, make fast sstsrn the rso an
lie by. blowing signals TN Il oae.rs-
II was an hour late cocs- he tod M
hts REDEEMED syes giaxins eo mtn~ -Ks~
on
And IN the end hsd TO scsrnow,edrs a.
Theodore Howard ~s insane Some strs,z
possibly thst Of risking his an On such
venture, had broken down the runxs reueu
integrity. He kept the bridge and rosrs
biasphernies down the speaking tube % d
engine room. bavled curses at me crs~. an
shook his fat toward the leAden sseiesL
was at my wits ends. We were nearing ts
crowded channel Of Pt. Reyes and the veath
er was growing wurse
The Cleaner was steadily SCANNING shea
though her seams were opening. her boiler
leaking and the engineer Desperate Br
something loyal and faithful kept NJ st on
work After an I'VE told each other Howar
e. had toiled for years without much recon-
pense Nov fortune was within his srasl
To land the great raft inside the Golds
Gate would be a triumph indeed In who
we should have our share That he was d,
mented was true; bat II was q temporsr
craze induced by s'eeplessness. worry IN
fros Az<f ~ xl~. 49, s~-<
the misty. veiied waters where the do