Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-12-23
MY eat.Grandfathe - His Remark
able Voyage.

"You see" said my great-grandta.ner
who had gathered crowd of his friends
around him at the country grocery store
at Darby, one evening: "you see, was
once sailor before the mast, on small
vessel which was cruising about in the
Souh Atlantic Ocean.
"She was very small vessel and so
frail was afraid all the time that she
would go to pieces; but she didn't. 1t
happened one day that | was sent aloft To
nail block of some kind on the top Of
the mainmast, and as we had no hatchet
took an axe. / hit the mast three or
four pretty stiff knocks, when all of "a
sudden l thought felt her go down with
jerk. But she looked all right, and l
thought it couldn't be. So came down
and said nothing about it.
"Three or four days afterward the mate
says to the captain:
:" Cap, it's queer we don't sight land
by his time
every queer says the captain
"And what is funny about II is, that
for several days past my instruments have
made US out to be in the same latitude and
longitude
+" May be something is the matter with
the SUM-
"'Or perhaps the parallels Of latitude
have shifted
"Or maybe you've made mistake in
your figures
al didn't think of that said the mate.
$50 they took another observation, and
found that they were in precisely the same
old place. Everybody was frightened,
and it was not until after close examina-
ton that it was at last ascertalned that |
had actually driven that main mast
through the bottom of the ship into the
mud, where it had stuck fast, and that
there the old tub had been spinning round
and round like weather-cock on a
steeple, all this time, without anybody
knowing it.
"To say that the captain was mad
doesn't describe his condition. He roared
around so about it that got scared and
hid myself in an old cask in the hold
There / laid all day, when it was decided
to heave part Of the cargo overheard TO
tighten the ship, and the cask was in was
headed up, and afraid to bulge, and the
whole concern was heaved INTO the water.
81 was in that barrel about four days
1t was little crowded, to be sure, and it
would roll some, but on the whole ! was
comfortable. One day felt myself tossed
on shore, and then | was so certain OF
saving my life that just turned over and
took q tirst-class nap
81 was walked by something tickling my
face. At first thought it was a mosquito,
but then | remembered that no mosquito
could possibly have got into that barrel
anyhow. | brushed it again and caught
it. 1t was straw | gave it jerk.
Something knocked against the barrel
outside and heard the word:
"'Tuyfel!'
"Then another straw was inserted, land
pulled harder yet. Something struck
the barrel again, and | heard this exclama-
ton
"'Der tuyfell'
"Then another straw was put in, and !
caught hold of it, and saw that it came
through the bung hole, and there was
man outside trying to suck something or
other through the straw, and every time I
gave her jerk, it damned his old nose
flat against the slaves. So | gave her
one more pull and kicking the head out
of the cask, | got out and said to this fel-
low
"'Look here, what in the deuce are
you trying to do anyway? '"-J0hn Quill.