Third
Engineer Rennie had been running the donkey engine, when suddenly it
choked, and when he finally got it clear from the sand or ashes, he
found the valves were all cut out, and then it was we discovered that
it was not sand, but some sort of a composition that seemed to cut steel
like emery. Then came the danger that it would get into the valves of
the engine and cut them out, and for several moments all hands scurried
about and helped make the engine room tight, and even then the ash
drifted in and kept all the engine room force wiping the engines clear
of it.
"Toward three o'clock in the afternoon of Friday we were practically
clear of the sand, but at eleven o'clock that night we ran into a second
bank of it, though not as bad as the first. We made some experiments,
and found the stuff was superior to emery dust. It cut deeper and
quicker, and only about half as much was required to do the work. We
made up our minds we would keep what came on board, as it was better
than the emery dust and much cheaper, so we gathered it up.
"That night there were more of the same electric phenomena toward
Martinique, but it was not until we got into St. Lucia, where we saw the
Roddam, that we learned of the terrible disaster at St. Pierre, and then
we knew that our sand was lava dust."
The volcanic ash which fell on the decks of the Horace was ground as
fine as rifle powder, and was much finer than that which covered the
decks of the Etona.
Returning to the stories told by officers of the Roraima, of which a
number have been given, it seems desirable to add here the narrative of
Ellery S.
Pages:
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423