We quote
engineer Anderson's story:
"On the afternoon of May 8 (Thursday) we noticed a peculiar haze in
the direction of Martinique. The air seemed heavy and oppressive. The
weather conditions were not at all unlike those which precede the great
West Indian hurricanes, but, knowing it was not the season of the year
for them, we all remarked in the engine room that there must be a heavy
storm approaching.
"Several of the sailors, experienced deep water seamen, laughed at our
prognostications, and informed us there would be no storm within
the next sixty hours, and insisted that, according to all fo'cas'le
indications, a dead calm was in sight.
"So unusually peculiar were the weather conditions that we talked
of nothing else during the evening. That night, in the direction of
Martinique, there was a very black sky, an unusual thing at this season
of the year, and a storm was apparently brewing in a direction from
which storms do not come at this season.
GREAT FLASHES OF LIGHT
"As the night wore on those on watch noticed what appeared to be great
flashes of lightning in the direction of Martinique. It seemed as though
the ordinary conditions were reversed, and even the fo'cas'le prophets
were unable to offer explanations.
"Occasionally, over the pounding of the engines and the rush of water,
we thought we could hear long, deep roars, not unlike the ending of a
deep peal of thunder. Several times we heard the rumble or roar, but at
the time we were not certain as to exactly what it was, or even whether
we really heard it.
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