CITY OF SYDNEY IN A HURRICANE.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 91, 28 June 1879, Page 2

CITY OF SYDNEY IN A HURRICANE.

A passenger by the steamer City of Sydney, which sailed from Auckland on the 4th March, and arrived in this port on Thursday, furnishes the following account of a gale encountered by the vessel off Tonga Islands: "On the morning of the 7th, I left my berth at about half-past live, and noticed that we had a tine, strong wind from the southeast, directly in our track, accompanied by high sea. Presently 1 felt the ship rise for a " pitch,'' and, looking towards the bows I obsered a tremendous wave coming from the northeast, directly in our truck and almost at right angels with the wind. In about I'll) seconds a second great wave followed, and this time it slopped right over the bulwarks. Proceeding forward, 1 learned that the barometer had fallen rapidly during the night, from fine-weather indications to below 2U. Eight hours afterward, we all sat in the Social Hall. We had had no breakfast to speak of, no luncheon, and there was a certainty of no dinner because the veranda had become impassable between the cooking galley and the dining saloon. All tin- windows and doors on the weather side of Social Hall were close fastened. The windows were double, and both were drawn across the opening, yet the wind was driving in the spray like, rain and everything and every orifice was whistling and shrieking like'a million of maniacs. Every person was saturated with water, and the only sound that reached our cars in the intervals of the battle was that of the water on the main deck passages. Falling in heavy cascades through the ventilation openings into the dinning saloon and lower deck room , md the shoi.t; of the stewards and saicirs as they tried to stay its progress. Suddenly a sound as of a distant explosion reached our ears. This was followed immediately by a tremendous pounding upon the roof of the Social Hall. The tnizzon staysail had burst from the bolt-ropes, and the blocks, ropes and pieces of canvas were thumping with all their might overhead. 1 succeeded in pulling back the cover from a window and looked out. Nothing was visible except spray, rushing post horizontally with almost incredible speed. Sea and air seemed one, and out of this chaos of madly flying wind and water tliero leaped upon deck nmses of solid green waves, which almost as instantly turned into spray and foam and rushed furiously across tho <b>ck. Never did I witness so awful, so grand s i t. r ible a sight. I watched anxiously tor a lull when I oould catch sight of some of the objects between the Social Hall and the bow of the vessel. At last 1 caught a glympse of the bow itself as it fell slowly and painfully with a downward plungo to the sea. From that moment 1 felt safe. The noble ship, although sho lay heeled over at an angle of nearly fortyfive degrees, as she made the plunge, she tossed off the waves from her piegonhoad in a way that showed she was no diver and meant to remain above water. My vision of the bow of the vessel was almost as instantaneous as theat revealed by a Hash of lightning, but the interval, short us it was, showed to tho watchful officers and crow tho condition of the Hay-sail. 1 saw the chief officer wave his arms in the air us a signal to the sailors, and then a rush of shrieking foam and spruy across tho deck concealed everything from view— sailors, masts, smokestack, deck ami all. In ulmul leu or fifteen minutes afterwards the wiveked sail seemed to have been gathered in or cut away, and

the passengers once more breathed freelv Just then the ship heeled over almost J„ l»er hum HHh allli a^ reat w » v « struck her a mighty blow. The lurch caused a chair, which'was screwed to the f10,, r , t ,, hurst from its moorings, and a gnii uil . Major was sent flying through the ~p,.,* door towards the lev bulwarks. ]f rails of the iron bulwarks hud been set a little further apart, the gallant Major would have probably now hten drilling n corps of mermaids SOtnewhen, near the Tonga Islands, but, luckily f,,,. him he did not tit the opening, a ,„| stuck fast by the neck. Hour after hour we sat silent and wretched, and soak,.,! with salt water. Nobody read, Dobodv looked to the right or to the left, an',| all seemed to await the coming of night. Presently a kiud of whisper went round that the hurricane deck was going, | crept, holding on, to the doorway ;u„[ looked out. I saw that the iron railing* round the stern of the vessel, and al.-., the steering wheel had been left Btandin» in mid air. The deck had gone t'i,„ u under them, and other portions of it were breaking away with every sea. The question instantly occurred—had the smoking-room bulk-head gone too - and we listened for the sound of rushin" waters on the u»ok below. Presenile Capt. Dearbunt went to the edge of tlie broken deck and looked down into thy boiling sea. He seemed to be considering what he should do. As ho returned along the deck ho looked in at our denial crowd, and was just going to sa\something when n sailor presented himself at the door mid said, " Please sir, the engineer says the engine-room is—

" All light; toll him I'll bo down pre. seutly." Away wont the sailor, ami away followed the Captain. What|swroii" 'in tlio engine-room ? Hud the son broken in there also ! Heaven help us if that bus happened ! In tliroo or four minutes after the Captain hud left iih we perceived that the ship's course had boon changed. Head to wind, so that the heavy seas should inHict no further damage on I lie broken deck. During the night the wind and sea moderated, and next morning we found the ship again pursuing he proper course. For twentytour hours the passengers had had no thing to eat. For thirty-six hours the Captain and his officers hail neither oaten or drank, nor laid down to rest. As soon as the doors could he opened, and ii was reasonably safe to walk along the verandah, 1 went along it to see what amount of damage we had sustained. It was a siglit. State-rooms wrecked; doors off their hinges ; windows knocked in and smashed. I looked into the engine room. The engines were encrusted with salt, in some places heaped like snow upon a snow-drift. The sheep-pell had dead sheep in it. The poultry lioxes were strewn with dead bird-. 1 went to tho stern of the ship to see what had become of the smoking-room and the other '•conveniences." The smoking-room was there but all the tables and like fittings hail gone to sea on their own account, and as to the other " convieiiees." most of thorn were non est. About three hours after the usual time of breakfast the stewards managed to put some food for the hungry passengers on the table, and a few of us assembled and ate, attended by limping waiters with blackened eyes and bandaged heads. No less than five of them wore on duty and in hospital with more serious ailments. Next day the gale succeeded by line weather, and the hurricane deck presented tho appearance of a Russian Fair. Everybody* clothing was spread out to dry, and men, women and children lay exhausted over tho deck. It took throe or four days iih re to restore things to their usual course and people to their accustomed cheerfulness, " Captain," said 1 to him a few days afterward, " now that its all over, and everybody alive and well, what do you say about tho little breeze wo have just passed through '." " 1 have been in many a gale of wind," said lie," but I never was in one before like that. No man wdio had not walked the open deck can imagine the full force of that gale." Ido not wish to see another like it again.—San Francisco paper,