Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1913 — SHIP’S UNIQUE TRIP [ARTICLE]

SHIP’S UNIQUE TRIP

Voyage, Just Completed, Will Seldom Be Duplicated, With the Opening of Panama Canal There Will Be Little Necessity for Long and Dangerous Trip Around the Horn. Philadelphia.—The three-masted full rigged ship Aryan, the last wooden ship of her type to be constructed, in this country, and one of the few at present under the American flag, has arrived here from Fort Blakely, days, in which she rounded Cape Horn. The vessel’s arrival recalled the glorious days of the clipper ship, when the fearless American skipper and his crews made the stars and stripes supreme on the seven seas. More than ordinary interest wad attached to the vessel’s arrival because of these features and because she carried a cargo of 1,000,000 feet of Gregon pine, the first to be received here in 15 years. The timber, some of it 90 feet in length and nearly two feet square, was packed solidly aboard the ship. Nearly 180,000 feet of it was stacked on the deck. Capt James McLachin, the captain, said the voyage was uneventful, but the log book told a different story. Two winters and three summers were met on the voyage, with four hurricanes thrown in for good measure. Lightning played its pranks on one occasion. A mirage was seen, St Elmo’s fire illuminated the ship, and at times she sailed through the lurid glare of seas lit with phosphorescence. A young shark was captured and his tail was attached to the bowsprit for good luck.

The vessel began her long trip at eight o’clock on the morning of October 20. About twelve hours later she struck a gale, which tore off the outer bobstays. On the next day the fore upper topsail was carried away. Nature sent the crew a Christmas present when they were 66 days out It came in the form of a mirage of a beautiful tropical Island. Everything on it was plainly visible. Despite the coolness of the weather at the time, some of the seamen say they even felt the warm wind that must have been blowing over the spot The strangest part of the voyage

was experienced on New Year’s day. The vessel was roaring along on the edge of a hurricane. The wind from the northwest was blowing 75 miles an hour. Rain came down in sheets and the crash of thunder sounded like a battery of heavy artillery in action. Lightning flashed from the skies at frequent Intervals. One bolt struck the main skysafl yard and leaped in bounds from it to the upper foresail, to the lower foresail and then to the crossjack yard, which it snapped off. Second Mate William Swater was standing beneath the mainmast Near by stood Augustus Rose, and cabin boy Fred Hart was passing with a tray of food. The pipe which Swater was smoking was broken off at the stem by the lightning. Rose’s* wooden leg was shattered and the tray of food was tossed into the sea. A pine log about 85 feet in length and about 18 inches square was split in half as though by a saw. The last hurricane of the voyage, on January 30, tore away every sail. The vessel sprung a leak just above th® water line. The Aryan was constructed 20 years ago at Phippsburg, Me. She will probably be the last ship from this port to make the voyage around the Born, as the opening of the Panama canal will sound the deathknell of such tripe.