Evening star., 1923-11-04

night" did not realize for = long
time that we were really In the
land Of the midnight sun. For two
whole days l went about looking UP
at the sky. leaning over the side
and looking at the ocean, not hay
ing the nerve to ask = question. Sew
eraI sailors on board had been In
these regions before and the phe-
nomenon was nothing new to them.
When I turned out In the morning
before day it was practically as
bright as when !. went to bed at
midnight; there was no difference
at all, between eight bells and eight
bells" any hour Of the day or night.
BEGAN to wonder whether some
i thing had not happened to my
.eys, when Mr.. Lane came to the
rescue and explained to me the posi-
ton Of the earth and its angle to-
ward the sun, an angle Of 23h de-
grees, and how in summer the north
half Of tho earth IL canted toward the
sun, 80 that when one reaches as
far north as the sixty-hfth parallel
and arrives. so to speak. at the top
of the world, he would be In such q
position that the sun would not only
be the orb Of the day. but that Of
night Is we'll. This was the drst
time that Understood the alterna-
ti6n OF the seasons. The wisdom OF
Divine Providence In designing such
wonderful changes deeply impressed
me.
The favoring winds did not last
more than three days. Soon we had
a regular northeaster. Our Tight
sails were furled nrst and. az ehe
blow continued. our mainsail was
reefed and reef also taken IN the
foresail. Prudence demanded that
we should keep away from land, 30
we stood to sea on the starboard
tack heading about north-northwest.
keeping on this tack for about eight
hours, and then wearing around on
the port tack.
As the gale increased we took an.
other reef in the mainsail. furled the
foresail and brought the ships dress
down to lower topsail. jib and dou-
mainsail. Although the
sea was heavy we made good
weather; that Is. she was dry. We
could walk about the decks without
geeting our feet wet. This was re-
earded as . very good sign as to
our vessel being a staunch ship.
The glass kept going down all
next day and we knew we were in
for some very heavy weather. About
4 o'clock in tbs afternoon Of the next
day the order was given to close reef
the lower topsan and take another
tuck in the mainsail. 1t was my job
on this occasion to help In reenng
the topsail and as soon az the yard
was lowered I sprang intoS the rig
ging determined to get the weather
erring.
This meant lying out on the yard
to the very end, getting astride the
yard in position to haul out the er-
ring and secure 1t, while another man
does the same on the lee side; then
the reef points are tied, all hands
descend to the deck to haul away on
the topsail halyards, thus setting the
sail again. This put the ship under
very reduced canvas. ~
The average, landsmen and. indeed.
the average steamboat hand. or ''sail-
orr Of these days, can scarcely un-
derstand the dangerous operation Of
reefing topsail during . gale In .
heavy sea- This danger II caused by
the rolling and pitching Of the ship.
which causes the san 70 slacken.
The beating Of the sail will throw
q man on the yard. The slightest
slip or fumbling on the part Of Z
sailoe at such. time and hts life
ID lost.
with the topsail eiose-reefsd and
the mainsail reefed. she was what We
called "snugged' down for head
reaching. The gale increased 20
much that she could not be head
reached % It became necessary TO
s'heave-to." In all my experience at
sea had not, up to the present time.
been in . vessel which was ''hove-to." }"
This process, In sea terms. meant
that the throat Of the mainsail was
dashed down, the peak hauled MP.
the 3lb lowered and slowed ana the
topsail yard backed The littis vss.
sel thus lay With her breast 70 the