The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 3, 1904, Page 7

. Being the account of an experience in a tropi- cal “White Squall,” wherein a treacherous burst of wind strikes the old "bark Don Adolfo whils 1wr and cap- sizes her—The water barsts through her cab- i portholes, the men are hurted in a heap and are about 1o be drowned whien the bark suddenly igltts “herself and the ives « 1l are saved. & i € -‘x”;w i ter when Seast s over pling, and of their ins lmpid blue Ceath Buch 1= the impreesion years -of sailing the North Atl Bay of Benga ver I kmown ¢ e early days »d under Nic araguan cc for = several reasons Pisst, - she halled primarily from Corinto; second, she was too worthy ‘ever be South American -port. Her American owners sc chard of San hér to old Bi- low at a price, and were please be rid of her When I joined her as an apprentice sk was fitting Australia wit was manned ocean vagab of @oubtful rey Burprise was universal when her safe arrivel off the Swan River was report- ed, but 1t was ir at smiling tropical harbor ths e near her end and that is jus at 1 am going to tell abou How that d bundle of timbers ever ggored across the big Pacific ‘with yre mishap than the 6 of, half ng remains an un- ed mys o will say that the has no g he r of Fremantle i broad g 3 . n to the sea. « €kippers Island breaks the long, lis rolling in from the Indian Within the water is g anse shimmering blue, piling over it the lime- the bottom, fathoms seem covered only by am azure ound stretch creamy aches. g back and forth with bat llers, ch n of the booming reakers pounding the jagged reefs Here it was that the old Don Adolfo was anchored, after disc” wrging her entire cargo -on lighters inside the breakwater, far out from shore, with plenty of space in which to swing sbout” her anchor. It is an important point to remember that her hold was empty, swept clean from fore to aft, That was bad; her skipper-should have known bétter, In a few days, though, the loading with Yarra iron wood would . begin, and make a cargo re- quiring no ballagt under it. It .was & beautiful night, not quite clear, for overhead the indigo sky was THE SA se the « black tward rossed limp over the he growled. a glass What you want is to sail under think as how it but I've sailed t some, and I a “it takes an ber like you to put the inesg Biessed If I arometer aboard as good as a blessed if you take a sight work with an d mate seemed meditating h striving to cc retort, but ss, venting rief remark: m the shore mp earth, suggest A few lights from rough. The beacon o glared at regular intervals, house. nkled t pers Isla then dwindled to a m d speck, like a sleepy owl winking at us. We who were aft could hear the men for'd con- versing a intervals in sleepy, drawling sentences Finally the moon seemed to have made up her m tod 0 the haze on the ble line of the horizon, the thick atmos: storting blood- red round to all sorts of un- moonly As she began slowly to be absorbed a light tropical shower drifted overhead, sending down big soft balls of tenid water that struck our faces like hot tears, With low, drawling curses the offi- cers arose stumbled down the companior The -forecastle door rattled the men crawled . Finally 1, too, aroused enough energy to abap- don the deck, leaving it to the drowsy vigil of the night watchman in the donkey-room midships. I turned in and almost dropped off into a black, dreamless sleep. It seemed but a minute, al- though it must really have been sev- eral hours, before I suddenly awoke. A strange, heavy sensation over my chest sent a chill of fear through me. From overhead, on deck, came a low soughing roar, the ship trembled, the beams creaked and some invisible power lifted me elightly and pressed me bheavily against the bunk board. The dimly lighted cabin outside my door seemed sinking—sinking. From the pantry came a crash of falling dishes. Another quiver, a lurch and I felt myself lifted bodily out of my bunk, hurled helplessly across my stateroom through the open door into the cabin, where the table, fast to the floor, caught me. The cabin lamp, burning and smoking, swung wildly to and fro, beating against the beams. All around arose a deafening uproar —crashing timbers, rolling casks, splintered glass ard, above all, wild unearthly howis, like a chorus of instantly THLE TO/IAT LERE 170LDIG TO THE THEY A TI0U OF THLEIE FOOTIY: THE ZOOR OF wme THE giant demons. With a crash barely audible in all that din, the door next to mine burst ¥ and the second mate flew out. ntly in midair, his trousers half his nightshirt tangled aboyt his thoulders. 1 think he was yelling, but I am not sure. He, too, lodged against the table, struggling fiercely to hold himself. Another sickening lurch and the cabin whirled; the star- board cabin panels sank while the port side rose threateningly above us. qLfffl//)é 3/7&/‘/71)’ gl’f%f Ve ST UNCER 77 The second mate and I were hurled together. - He yelled something in my ear, but I cfught only the one word, “hell!” Suddenly the ship seemed to burst asunder, the lamp crashed out against a beam and we two went flying through — & HAT war should be going on at any time in any part of the earth is a great sorrow to right-minded persons. To be sure, we soon get used to the scare headlines and as the initial shock of armies and na s gives way to a long series of alternating reports of victories and de- feats our sensibilities become a little dulled. But the moment we stop to reflect on the enormity of' war at this stage of advancing civi- lization, in this year of the Chris- tian era, it rests as a welght upon our consciences and our hearts. That great, strong nations should be flying at each other's throats, that they should be bringing together all their munitions of offense and defense for the express purpose of maiming bodies, destroying life, ruining property and crippling independent existence seems terrible. Besides that, it seems so puerile, so irrational, such a sense- less method of settling differences. And yet it must be sald that a single war is not ‘dn isolated or altogether inexplicable phenomenon. It is only the objectifying on a large and painful scale of a spirit which runs through all humanity and which shows how little removed we are from the primeval savage. The war spirit exists and finds frequent expression in al- most every nursery, on every school ground, in almost every mart and ex- change in the land. See those two lit- tie tots, brother and sister, playing so ARS By The Parson * happily there on the floor. But a mo- ment later comes a shriek, a flood of tears and a Stream of angry words. ‘Without any formal declaration of war a state of war exists and perhaps the entire stake concerns the pessession of a poor little rag doll or a top. Here are two schoolboys’suddenly squaring off and rushing with clenched fists at one another, while the cry of “Fight! fight!” rings across the playground,and a crowd of interested spectators is col- lected in a jiffy. Here are capita] and labor in a thousand smbller or farger contests seeking the one to get the bet- ter of the other, often fighting out their antagonisms to the bitter end. Thus the warring Instinct dominates mankind and when Russia and Japan or when Turkey and Bulgaria marshal their forces and try conclusions we are to study the conflict in the light of what we know of the passionate, pu- gllistic tendencies of imperfect hu- manity everywhere. And vet we must take heart as we see the growth of the peace sentiment throughout the world. Warfare and hunting used to be the chief vocations of the Indian tribes that inhabited the North American continent. To-day no¥ many of our enlisted soldiers and sailors even are spoiling for a fight. The best efforts of diplomacy are di- rected to the averting of war and FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. black" space, gripping each other des- perately, until, with a bang, we shot through the thin woodwork of a door and were,struggling in what felt like a small box. A third person became mixed up in our struggles. I heard the viclous spurt and gurgle of water, great Secretaries of State, like Mr. Hay, seek assiduously not only to pre- vent their own nations from becoming embroiled, but to limit the area and shorten the time of strife between other nations. Moreover, the costli- néss of armament and the deadliness of warfare are themselves great deter- rents. And we have, too, a body of earnest, persistent men who through peace congresses and arbitration con- ferences are exerting an influence which has already brought about the ratification of important arbitration treaties and is bound to tell more in the future. And you and I can help, too. How? By cultivating in ourselyes and others the two great qualities which conserve peace. One is self-control. The man who has tamed his own passions, the nation which holds itself with qulet dignity, which avoids giving the first blow even in the face of provocation, which is scrupulous toward weaker peoples—that man and that nation help powerfully in keeping the peace of the community and the peace of the world. The other restraining quality is good-will. The nation that cares most to get land and wealth is likely to be drawn into all sorts of feuds and fusses, but the nation that looks upon itself as a steward of bless- ings for other peoples, that wants to serve -and exploit the backward an depressed peoples of the earth will never have any part in any but righteous wars. THE PARSON, felt it creep up my legs and was rolled over and over until my head was sub- merged. . 5 I felt the water squirting down my throat, through my nostrils, into my ears and even my eyes. Blue flashes shot through my brain and a sledge- hammer seemed beating my head Even then, as my senses were leaving, I can remembér the ome thought that shot through me: "'We‘ve turned turtle and the game’s up!” Relief came. I got my head out of the water and took a long, deep breath, a deliclous gasp. Slowly the ship right- ed. At last we stood on our feet, on solid flooring. The noise diminished; the umearthly chorus of shrieks died away in the distance. Something bang- ing the keel under us shook the entire vessel, a gentle lurch and—she stood upright. ° Finally we could craw! out into the cabin. Water swished about the floor between our feet. I knew. where the match box was nalled fast to the bylk- head. I found a match, struck it-and with some difficulty lit the cabin lamp. The glass chimney was smashed, but the wick burned a dim, smoky flame. The two mates were holding to the table as though still uncertain of their footing. The door to the after cabin opened and the skipper appeared, bleed. ing slightly from a cut over one eye. For a few seconds no one spoke. “Well,” I'll be damned,” gasped the second mateée at last, amearing blood over his tace from a cut on his hand. “I hove vou will be,” exploded the mate. ‘“What t'ell ye mean, you two lubbers, by busting in my door and walking all over me? Why 7in thun- der didn't stay In your bunks till it was over' “Till it was over?” cried the second mate. “Why, blast it, you was too scared to turn out. ‘Me and the boy are the only ones who had the sense to turn out. We didn’t lle trembling in ‘our bunks—not much. We turned out to see what could be done. We can tumble out when there’s trouble. Then 'cause we happened to slip in the dark and fall against your bloody door ye raise a kick. Why didn't ye leave it open so's we didn’t have to dive through it. Blast your bloody £ ggif £ door, anyway! We came in 50’s you should get out, too, “The ‘ell yo 411" snorted “Well, next time you call jump on my stomach, an’ & my wash basin over my head. 50 heavy a sleeper. A pantie & top maul will do.” Further recriminations short by the captain ordering deck. We crawled unocertainly companionway as though still ing our foothold. gLieE &S : it training over to seaward the water was agitated choppy waves, licking and smacking like a herd of hungry pigs. Aboard Iay heaps of debris of smashed boats, bulwarks, spars, watsr casks and ropes. Half the mismen rig- ging lay on the skylight. The wateh- man and sallors came crawling aft with a lantern. right? The mate ventured only & low, articulate growl ‘spose,” continued the second ¥ saw a white squall before, but they'll learn as they grow older. Cap'n’ll know better next time than leaving his hold empty in these waters. After this I'll sleep on deck till we get some stiffening In.” “Jack,” shouted the skipper, “where were you when this happened?” “On deck, sir,” replied the watch- man. “The cable got foul of the keel It was a dead calm, an' the blarsted puff struck her midships before she could pay out.” 4 “All hands clear away this mess,” ordered the captain. After an hour's work we had cleared the poop of all movable wreckage, lashed fast what we could and then slacked out twenty fathoms more of cable: It had been too short. By this time it was only two in the morning. Again all hands turned in, and half an hour later were peacefully slumbering, forgetful bf the night’s in- cident and of the morrow’s wotk. The second mate forgot his vow to sleep on deck, -for before I dropped off I heard through the partition that sep- arated our rooms the deep gurgle of his nightly sleeping song. v (Copyright, 1903, by Albert Sonnichsen.) .