The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-06-17

<>s>. --E- 49,
excuse Tor NOT o6eymg. or even % =
marx that you'll be up directly
should not care to be in your sea-Dooe
if you did. ....h.d
with the driving rain and Tying spray,
have plunged frantically into the loe
scuppers and been requested with moro
emphasis than courtesy to get afofs on
the topsail yard. you will forget your
.drowsiuess, For It will abe ell Is1caa
do to cling to the yard with your eE
bows while your feet are balanced on
the slippery, swaying foot-rope ana
your numbed fingers clutching at the
Stating canvas which seems trying 70
knock You from your perch.
".Bus,' hear you say quite SCOTT
fully. lit isn't al,OGys stormlng on the
ocean, And have NO doubt but that
Won picture yourself, arrayed ike q
.Pinafore' sailor, leaning Idly against
the rail as the ship glides smoothly on
ward before the steady trade-wlnds
over some sparkling tropical sea; which
7 confess is q charming picture, my
dear nephew, the drawback being tnas
it is as unlike the reality as a ten-cens
chrome is unlike Photographic neg
alive.
"In certain ATTITUDES there are sum-
mer seas and skies for days at tlme'
We're it not so, my dear boy. the un.
pleasant and endless jobs of tarrlng ana
greasing, and splicing and mendng'
and scrubbing and painting, and scrap
ING and oiling, which are always gong
on on shipbOard but never finished,
would have to be done in bad weather
instead of fine. For the good Captain
and his kind-hearted officers not only
mean that YOU shall have no time To
smope' or be homesick in, but they
bear in mind the beautiful suggestion
of DR.. Watts, that
"sSatan finds some mischief stir
For Idle hands to do.
So that YOU will find every moment
snent on deck is filled and running over
into the next one with tasks OF every
conceivable kind tasks which are In
yariably connected with clinging tar
and odorous orease-tasks which will
take YOU from the keelsOu to the royal
truck a dozen times in day.
true, should the Sabbath prove ex-
ceptionally fine, you n1dv have time 10
read chapter in your Bible. though
such rare occasions are generally occu-
pied by sailors in the necessary duties
of patching and mending.
So, my dear Johnny, in summing the
matter up. have to tell you frankly
that going to sea before the mast doss
not give the boy the chance to CRAFTY the
love for fun and adventure of which he
fondly dreams. True, being dismasted
!, in a typhoon or wrecked on > lee shore
! NAV SAVIOR of adventure, but even these
! exciting episodes have some very I'M
pleasant features-sO unpleasant, IN
fact, that it not unfrequently happens
: to the participant in them that he never
1 returns home to relate such adventures:
! ..And finally, as to rising in the naval
1 or merchant service, that, my dear
. nephew, depends. If you have an iron
: constitution. gutta-percha joints, and
!, perfectly tempered steel springs all
! over your body; if you have q quick
mind to take in both the practice and
. theroy of seamanship; If you have a
y never-tring energy, which can ycause
such body and such mind to be in the
Z perpetual motion, and if you have
L enough OF the yeast of ambition about
a YOU to keep the whole in sort of I'M
u ceasing ferment-why then. in the
e course OF time, you may rise in either
J branch of the service. But you
Z. will never rise above hard work. ex'
: posure, anxiety and responsibility,
l even if you are elevated to the quarter
deck. In conclusion, my dear Johnny,
: my own impression is that, generally
. speaking, you will find the best part. o1
5 sea-going to consist in staying at home
and reading truthful accounts OF the
!, sailing experiences of others: "-frd''A
d II. Converse. in Christians Union.