Evening star., 1926-03-07
BY REN CLEMENTS.

I" HERE. is an old saving AT sea
that no one is a sailor until he
has been around the Horn
Il three times. The saying bears
witness to the terrorS of the
Horn, and the grim old headland has
not undeservedly won its reputation
for endless gales and bitter weather.
OF all the stormy waters of the globe.
the passage of the Cape Horn gray
boards" is the most to he dreaded
Sometimes. il is true. II is possible
to catch the Saunt old sentinel asleep
and slip around without a savage mis-
handling. But such opportunities are
few and far between, and the Warden
Of the Southern Seas takes good care
that few get past without pa wing him
toll.
Nor did he forbear in our case As
We neared the southern tip of South
America fierce wind struck us. and
this was only the beginning of "A sue.
cession of hard gales. All the time we
held our way down the "roaring for
les gale followed gale from the south.
west. A tremendous sea set up, and
day and night the bark strained and
iabored heavily
Solid green cliffs of water thundered
down over the focS'le head and sur"ed
AT In cataracts. But for the life.lines
the main deck would have been inn
passable. As it was. several of the
hands had very narrow escapes
Old Fox, the wiry seaman. came
near to losing his life through the
scooplng up of "A sea. lie and Big
Mac had been sent to restow the inner
Jlb, which had broken adrift and was
dragging over the knightheads. They
lay out on the bowsprt. which at one
moment was pointing To the sky and
the next dug down to the depths.
A surging sea unshpped Fox and he
nung ny one hand to the jackstav.
lhen up swept the head and for "A
moment he dangled in air. The next
ne would have gone, If big Mac. who
was on the other side of the bowsprit
had not reached over and gra bhed him
ny the wrist How Mac did ii passes
my understanding. but with one heave
OF his outstretched arm he lifted old
FOX ana swung him clear on top of
the bowsprit
more magnificent feat of strength
and done on the spur of the moment
never saw. But It passed practically
nnnouced; the sail was made fast. and
the two scrambled in again. and.
watching their chance. regained the
main deck. Such averted mishans
are TOO common at sea to cali for
much comment or remark
A FEW days later we crossed the
fiftteth parallel. and, contrary to
expectation. the wind moderated a
ilItle. Hut our good luck was not 10
last for long. The wind soon began
20 rise in squalls of increasing VIC.
lence
1t was my wheel from ten to twelve
that morning, and just on the stroke
of six bells heavier blast than
usual struck the ship. over she lay.
wall OF warning rising from tense
steel and straining wire-over and
over until the sheerpoles were level
with the water The winds note
rose almost 10 scream and every
line aloft was rigid TO the strain.
The captain shouted an order to let
f1y the gallant halyards and jumped
10 the helm to heave up on the spokes
Even as we hove there WAS a sharp
report for ard. followed by "A terrific
roar. ! saw the rush of a falling
spar and wild confusion of rope and
canvas
For moment | thought the fore
topmast had gone. 1t was not that
however. but the topSl tie that had
parted. The yard came down with "A
crash. both t'eallant sheets parted and
the t'Gans'l itself SCARED up and was
gone.
'V HVdNN y u MT lue tOp-nnHSt cap
an awful blow, splitting il I'm two and
smashing the parrel. The sail went to
ShredS. and In moment the bark
was howlinc wreck for rd with the
foremast tangle Of sparS. ropes and
fiuttering canvas
The devils own job il meant for
us. In our disabled state, with "A
heavy sea running. # was dangerous
WORK 10 lay aloft at all The tops1
WE cprfn
splinter OF steel at every roll The
safety of the lower yard was pre-.
carious. while, with the cap split and
Its hackstaYs useless the whole top
mast stood loose. The old man was
The 1rst aloft. and with the second
mate and two or three of the men
temporarily lashed the crazy contrap.
tion to the lower mast
1t took some time to do that but
this was only the beginning of 1t. We
were helpless without our foremast.
and the "hurrah's nest" aloft had to
he made fit to carry sail again.
For three days all hands. with brief
respites for meals. labored at it, What
With the tumbling about of the shin,
inc bitter cold. the endless hours aloft
and the merciless work with stubborn
wire and steel. we were pretty well
dead beat when the job was finished.
All the rest we got was in our watch
below at night: cuts and bruises We're
the lot OF every one. but we were
driven on by dire necessity. and the
old man himself led the work.
And all the time. endless gale
though the wind was, at least II was
fair. and every day we drew nearer to
the pitch of the Horn
y \
nNE morning at daybreak we
sighted a small bark, outward
bound, and were able to thank our
lucky StArs We were not en- board her.
she was rlprgtns eiose.hau!ed into the