Probably nothing will more forcibly attract the attention of the practical navigator than the new and striking illustrations which have been furnished by reports from various masters of vessels, caught in the terrific winds and violent cross seas of this great storm, relative to the use of oil to prevent heavy broken seas from coming on board. Although this property of oil has been known from time immemorial, it has only recently come into general use, and it is good cause for congratulation, considering the great benefits to be so easily and so cheaply gained, that the U. S. Hydrographic Office is acknowledged to have taken the lead in the revival of knowledge regarding it, and in its practical use at sea. It is difficult to select one from among the many reports at hand, but the following brief extract from the report made by boat-keeper Robinson, in behalf of the pilots of New York pilot-boat No. 3 (the "Charles H. Marshall"), cannot fail to be read with interest. The gallant and successful struggle made by the crew of this little vessel for two long days and nights against such terrific odds is one of the most thrilling incidents of the storm, and well illustrates the dangers to which these hardy men are constantly exposed.
The "Charles H. Marshall" was off Barnegat the forenoon of the 11th, and, as the weather looked threatening, two more reefs were put in the sails and she was headed to the northward, intending to run into port for shelter. During the afternoon the breeze increased to a strong gale, and sail was reduced still further. When about 18 miles S.E. from the lightship, a dense fog shut in, and it was decided to remain outside and ride out the storm. The wind hauled to the eastward toward midnight, and at 3 A.M. it looked so threatening in the N.W. that a fourth reef was taken in the mainsail and the foresail was treble-reefed. In half an hour the wind died out completely, and the vessel lay in the trough of a heavy S.E. sea, that was threatening every moment to engulf her. She was then about 12 miles E.S.E. from Sandy Hook lightship, and in twenty minutes the gale struck her with such force from N.W. that she was thrown on her beam ends; she instantly righted again, however, but in two hours was so covered with ice that she looked like a small iceberg. By 8 A.M. the wind had increased to a hurricane, the little vessel pitching and tossing in a terrific cross-sea, and only by the united efforts of the entire crew was it possible to partially lower and lash down the foresail and fore-staysail. No one but those on board can realize the danger she was in from the huge breaking seas that rolled down upon her; the snow and rain came with such force that it was impossible to look to windward, and the vessel was lying broadside to wind and sea. A drag was rigged with a heavy log, anchor, and hawser, to keep her head to sea and break the force of the waves, but it had little effect, and it was evident that something must be done to save the vessel. Three oil bags were made of duck, half filled with oakum saturated with oil, and hung over the side forward, amidships, and on the weather quarter. It is admitted that this is all that saved the boat and the lives of all on board, for the oil prevented the seas from breaking, and they swept past as heavy rolling swells. Another drag was rigged and launched, although not without great exertion and danger, and this helped a little. Heavy iron bolts had to be put in the oil bags to keep them in the water, and there the little vessel lay, fighting for life against the storm, refilling the oil bags every half hour, and fearing every instant that some passing vessel would run her down, as it was impossible to see a hundred feet in any direction. The boat looked like a wreck; she was covered with ice and it seemed impossible for her to remain afloat until daylight. The oil bags were replenished every half hour during the night, all hands taking turn about to go on deck and fill them, crawling along the deck on hands and knees and secured with a rope in case of being washed overboard. Just before midnight a heavy sea struck the boat and sent her over on her side; everything movable was thrown to leeward, and the water rushed down the forward hatch. But again she righted, and the fight went on. The morning of the 13th, it was still blowing with hurricane force, the wind shrieking past in terrific squalls. It cleared up a little towards evening, and she wore around to head to the northward and eastward, but not without having her deck swept by a heavy sea. It moderated and cleared up the next day, and after five hours of hard work the vessel was cleared of ice, and sail set for home. She had been driven 100 miles before the storm, fighting every inch of the way, her crew without a chance to sleep, frost-bitten, clothes drenched and no dry ones to put on, food and fuel giving out, but they brought her into port without the loss of a spar or a sail, and she took her station on the bar as usual.
Do the pages of history contain the record of a more gallant fight! Nothing could show more graphically than this brief report, the violence and long duration of the storm. No wonder that this terrific northwest gale drove the ocean itself before it, so that the very tides did not resume their normal heights for nearly a week at certain ports along the coast, and the Gulf Stream itself was far south of its usual limits. The damage and destruction wrought ashore are too fresh in mind to be referred to here, and losses along the coast can only be mentioned briefly. Below Hatteras there was little damage done to shipping. In Chesapeake Bay, 2 barks, 77 schooners, and 17 sloops were blown ashore, sunk, or damaged; in Delaware Bay, 37 vessels; along the New Jersey coast and in the Horse-shoe at Sandy Hook, 13; in New York harbor and along the Long Island coast, 20; and along the New England coast, 9. The names of six vessels that were abandoned at sea have been reported, and there are at least nine others missing, among them the lamented New York pilot boats "Phantom" and "Enchantress," and the yacht "Cythera." Several of these abandoned vessels have taken their places amongst the derelicts whose positions and erratic tracks are plotted each month on the Pilot Chart, that other vessels may be warned of the danger of collision; the sch. "W. L. White," for instance, started off to the eastward in the Gulf Stream, and will soon become a source of anxiety to the captains of steamships along the transatlantic route, and furnish a brief sensation to the passengers when she is sighted. There is thus an intensely human side to the history of a great ocean storm, and to one who reads these brief records of facts and at the same time gives some little play to his imagination, there is a very pathetic side to the picture. In the words of Longfellow,—
| "I see the patient mother read, With aching heart, of wrecks that float Disabled on those seas remote, Or of some great heroic deed On battle fields, where thousands bleed To lift one hero into fame. Anxious she bends her graceful head Above these chronicles of pain, And trembles with a secret dread Lest there, among the drowned or slain, She find the one beloved name." |
WEATHER CHART.—MARCH 11.
Meteorological conditions at noon, Greenwich mean time (7 A.M., 75th meridian time).
Barometer.—Isobars in full black lines for each tenth of an inch, reduced pressure. The trough of low barometer is shown by a line of dashes.
Temperature.—Isotherms in dotted black lines for each ten degrees Fahr. Temperatures below freezing (32° F.) in shades of blue, and above freezing in red.
Wind.—The small black arrows fly with the wind at the position where each is plotted. The force of wind is indicated in a general way by the number of feathers on the arrows, according to the scale given in the following table: