Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-12-02
BY NJ. j. ACKERMAN

NEW YORK, Nov. 29.-Picture a
tossing infinity Of frigid black wa
ter beneath a sombre sky-dome filled
with snow, sleet, rain and moaning
wind gusts.
This is the north Atlantic in No
vember, where the 42-foot LEV Eli
riksson is lost.
Into this overpowering, fearsome,
fascinating scene, 1 went on the
cruiser Trenton on it's 11-day search
for the little sailboat and its crew
of adventurers.
To the experienced officers and
men of the Trenton the trip was
simply an item in their job, a cruise
into whatever the storm gods might
send an occasion for using their sea
manship and clearness of sight.
But to this landlubber it was a
success of hairbreadth escapes, prov
idential rescues, wild adventures.
And to have found the Liev Eiriks-
son would have appeared a miracle.
Returns Empty Handed
The Trenton sailed from New
York toward the banks of NeWfound-
land, took up the search there into
the middle Of the ocean, circled
southwark to check up the report of
a derelict, crossed the warm blue
river of the Gulf stream and re-
turned empty-handed.
The Liev Eiriksson bearing w.
w. Nutting and his party, had sailed
from Greenland early in September,
headed for Labrador on the last leg
of their voyage across the Atlantic.
If they had been lost or disabled,
the natural drift Of the currents in
that region would have carried them
in a southeasterly course. Their rate
would have been about II miles
day. Our course, therefore, was q
double intersection of the track their
boat might have been expected to
follow.
Except for about three days Of
our trip we were continuously buf-
feted by storms.
By the time we reached Fire Is
land. four hours out from New York,
the Trenton was being hammered.
She was built for speed, a sort Of
magnified destroyer, about $50 feet
long with only So feet beam.
Down those mountainous slopes of
the deep raced our ship to bury her
nose in the face Of the steep up
curve of water at the foot. Or a
tremendous surge would catch us
amidships on its peak, the stern with
its four propellers kicking out into
air, the ship throbbing and straining
but always driving forward and up
right. Or the choppy pillows would
lombard US from all directions, hit
ting us when down, pounding US
and rafting us like dice in cup
Sailor Thinks It's a Joke
And at the depth of some such eX-
perience, with the deck slant1ng at
a 45-degree angle, some humorous
sailor would grant to the landlub-
Der:
Il hope she comes back"
She always did.
Worst of all was a hurricane from
Cuba which broke at night as we
neared the end. Yet me missed the
full force of it, for Captain Kalbfus
had needed warnings and altered his
course out of its direct sweep.
How a small boat could live in
such an ocean seems Incompetent
sble.
a continuous lookout was kept
from the crows nest and another
from the bridge. Every toss and
heave OF the ship was magnified for
the men at the top of the mast.
One man toward the end of his
watch got to seeing dereEcts" as
sort Of mirage. but the work was
carried on without interruption. At
night searchlights reached out their
fingers of light for the phantom
Liev Erickson. With glasses from
The masthead, our lookouts could
cover Is miles of sea in every direc-
ton.
If the Liev Erickson had been
in our part of the ocean, the Tren-
ton would have found it. But the
ocean was too strong, too big.