The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-05-14
CAPTAIN BOYTON.
Interview with the 0ueem-Aquatie
Performance I'm the Presence Of Roy
atty.

Ne,os writes 10 thst journal from Cowes.
under da.e Of April 8. as follows: A. the
Queen Il now In residence at her marine
home Ina the Isle OF Wight. and as Captain
Boyton exhibited his life-dress and It's
capabilities before her Majesty this morn
ing In the Medins, il is. presume, quite
competent for me 10 write Of the matter
as an appearance OF the young American
life saver at the court of the English SOW
ereign. And, surely, never did human
being aforetime present himself at court
in such a costume as the india-rubber suit
In which Captain Boyton made his bow to
the Queen on the quarterback OF the royal
Yacht, where, for the time. the court was
held. In quiet, unpretending Cowes the
world moves so slowly that nothing was
known of the intended exhibition until il
had actually commenced. IL was '' pri-
vate view," and the secret had been well
kept. BY the time the performance was
fairly over dwellers In the remote corners
of the celebrated yachting metropolis
awoke 10 the knowledge of what was hap
pening. but not before. Strolling down
the Medina road, noticing the trim yachts
men passing TO and fro. or lounging at the
gates of the building-yards. and struggling
TO defend my head-gear from the bolster
Gus winds, about 10 O'Clock | was struck
upon hearing the remark, There's some
thing up this morning, mate" addressed
by one native To another. At first sightit
was not easy To see what that "sOme-
thing " was which the mariner suggested.
although II was just possible that, since
sailors by long habit make close observe
tons which escape ordinary mortals. the
hint was worth following out. Here was
the Medina running swiftly out into the
Solent, and glittering in the sunshine
l linz l..x 81 Ii hot
Over the way. AZ the Trinity wharf land
ing stage, lay the Alberta, clean as a new
pin, and eminently genteel from stem to
stern and from truck 10 keel-the com mon
condition of well-tended yacht. From
the flagstaff on the lawn fioated the
Trinity House hag-as IL ought to
have done. But a few moments
scrutiny revealed more significant
signs and tokens. Man-of-war's men
were preparing the halyards. and stand
/ ing BY with another flag upon the sward
serving men and women, from Osborne.
were boarding the yacht and disappearing
down the state-room stairs; a naval officer
in full war-paint went the rounds TO see
that every thing was ship-shape; and,
lastly. there stole out frem an East Cowes
nook small boat, over " hose stern tralled
blood-red banner, bearing the words
"Harbor-master." These things, GER
tainly meaning something uncommon,
were noticed one by one, and worked out
by the gathering throng at the ferry steps
as one works out problem In Euclid.
At last water-side patriarch was found
possessed of the Information which every
body craved. and he impaired 1t gener-
ously: "Whv," he said, jerking his pipe
toward the river. where smsll American
flag surmounted gayly painted buoy,
Its this yer American diver, who Is
going for to dive across TO France. and the
Qaeen wants TO see um start. It's TO be
AT II O'Clock she's always punctival"
Upon the Alberta's decks ladies' and
gentlemen began to gather shortly before
this hour. persons who, as every Cowes
man and woman knew. belonged To the
royal household. And 10. i'm their mist.
having emerged from the Alberta's
Tween decks" stood towering figure
IN slaty gray suit, and at a distance re-
sembling the presentations. as We see them
on the stage, of some fully mailed cru
sader. Soon, simultaneously, what APP
peared TO be small canisters were run up
at each of the Alberta's masts, and also at
the iiag-pole on the Trinity green the
initiated-and we are all bunting-wise at
Cowes-knew they were neatly-folded
flags emblematc Of the presence of the
royalty as soon as they were displayed TO
view. The Queen. as the gossiper had
declared, was punctual she drove in an
open wagonette. with Princess Beatrice
and Prince Leopold. into the Trinity
wharf Enclosure on the stroke Of IL. and
the royal standard Immediately fioated
out lis richly-coored folds. As she
stepped on board the Alberta the flags in
such case made and provided opened like
blossoms from the bud, at fore. main
and miZZen trucks. The crusader
looking figure. armed now with double
bladed paddle, and self-proclaimed,
therefore, as Captain Boyton. was. with
out loss of time. escorted to the quarter
deck. where he bowed low To the Queen.
and the salutation having been responded
to, the amphibious gentleman walked
down the Alberta's gangway. and plump
ed forthwith into the rapidly rolling river.
ROYAL yachtsmen, who had previously as
sisted him in liking" his apparatus, now
attended upon him in boats, handed him
his various properties. and generally made
themselves useful according AS the Ameri-
can citizen required. Captain Boyton,fiy-
ing the English colors from the foot
socket, first padded to the buoy In the
tideway, unshipped his American flag, and
opened that apparently inexhaustible
locker. Affixing small square sail to his
feet. he ran back before the wind to the
royal Yacht at prodigious rate; then he
returned TO the inexhaustible buoy and
took out carrier pigeon, which he dis
patched to show one of the uses to which
the apparatus may be applied. Hammer
and ak were next brought 10 light, and.
proceeding with these to three or four
planks and balks of wood floating little
beyond the buoy, the performer chopped,
and hammered, and lashed, until ser
viceable raft was completed. At this stage
of the program ne the stars and stripes
got adrift, ano BETRAYED an unkind haste
to find the middle of the Solent, where
upon a crew of the Alberta's men went In