Evening star., 1923-11-11

sci was going down, made conditions
truly appalling. No food could be
| prepared under such circumstances;
| II was almost impossible to get hot
tea or coffee; bit of hard sea bis
cult and a glass of water were about
the only fare that could be served.
\ + +
OF course. nearly everybody suffer-
ed from seasickness: some Of the
passengers were desperately i'll. For
about four days IT looked (as one of
the Irishman aptly put it, "as IL hell
had broke loose" No one was allowed
On deck but the crew. Even old hands
admitted that the blow was one of the
fiercest they had ever met.
A consultation among the officers
resulted in the decision to heave the
ship to. This very important maneuv-
er was accomplished without great
difficulty. as the captain and mate
we're both first-class seamen. So the
ship was laid to under q close-reefed
lower main topsail and three-reefed
spanker.
had some experience in heavy
gales, but this was my first encounter
with what sailors term holy ter
ror." The wind blew at a rate not
less than a hundred miles an hour:
the cold was intense. Up to that time,
not even in the Gulf Of Archangel, nor
near the coast of Spitzbergen. had 1
felt such penetrating cold.
n,,1 ia awlt fhn
main lower topsail from foot to head.
Like a burst balloon, 1t was blown
clean out of the bolt ropes. The fury
of the sea was awe-inspiring.
During the height OF the storm. as
l went below on one occasion, my at
tention had been attracted by kind
old lady, who appeared to be about
seventy years of age. I wondered
what a woman OF her age would be
doing on such a journey.
When the weather moderated I
managed. with the assistance of the
stewardess, to wrap the old lady up
in some shawis and brought her on
deck. Her condition improved very
much and she was very grateful for
the attention which had been able
to show her.
1 mention this incident because.
many years afterward, 1 happened to
sit in the visitors gallery In the
United States Senate. and listened to
the speech of an orator on the floor of
the Senate whose name corresponded
to that Of the old lady whom had at
tended on the emigrant ship. / ascer-
tained afterward that the senator
was the grandson of the dear old
lady with whom 1 had voyaged across
the Atlantic SO many years previously.
on the evening Of the thirty-hrst
day out from Queenstown we
were In latitude 46. 4 north. longitude
A, 25 west The wind died down. a
peculiar stiffness pervaded the face
Of the sea and presently there was
not enough wind to give the ship
steerage-way; she rolled about some
times heading west, sometimes north,
and even turning around and heading
east, as much as to say she would
rather go back than face the storm
After two or three hours Of this
rolling and tossing a light breeze
came from the north This was hail
ed as a godsend. We stood away
to the westward under three royals,
everything pulling finely.
With amazing suddenness, however,
the ship was struck by a fierce gale.
All hands were called to shorten sail:
royals, topgallant sails. stay sails.
jibs and courses were furled. Before
we got through, upper topsails were
furled and lower topsails were reefed.
The headway we were making, how
| ever, being to the westward we
were content provided we could keep
the ship on the wind. At times this
seemed impossible, owing to the ter
rific force Of the gale and the ex-
+, traordinary height OF the seas.
! / had the morning watch, to 8. AS
dawn came 1t was wonderful sight
to behold the angry sea. I could not
| help admiring 1t, the more SO because
the stanch old ship was making
good weather A test Of the pumps
showed she was as tight as bottle.
As the wind was still ahead. there
| was nothing left but to keep her
breast to the waves and hammer it
out"
| Head winds and heavy sea retarded
our progress. My observation at the