The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-12-22
The Various Incidents Of Exlstsn1s
on Board . Ship.
"zykor in St. Louis Republican.

"Zyko" in ST. Louis Republican
What does abaft meant IL Il all around
the ship intermediates passengers are not al
lowed abaft this, and stcerage passengers are
not allowed ataft that. You smoke ON tho
promenade deck In front Of . sign that for
bids it ''abaft," and the captain In passing
tells You very emphatically that you must noe
do that. YOU know. You try it elsewhere,
and another officer reminds You that II y
against the rules You arc dying to know
what the jib-boom Is and to understand the
mysterious whistles, and to pierce the arcanum
of the compass box and the miid-eyed Scotch
men answer monosyllsbically, and you con.
cltlde that any effort to cram on navigation
OF n single voyage Is failure. You are rs-
spectfully requested not to converse with the
officers when on duty, and when they are OF
duty they are not TO be encountered excert
by their neighbors at the salorn tables. Al
except the surgeon With his hands In his
rockets. he stands at the ships rail, and looks
far. far far away over the dark blue waters,
aud when you see him again he is still look
ing Then he goes to take nap. When he
awakcs, he looks again.
The fog hanks seem a sort OF halfway
place The monotony Of sea life is broken
first by expectation of reaching them. by solici-
tation a. to icebeigs and collisions in them, hv
anticipation Of new experiences beyond them.
/ The foys reyel on the bosom OF the Atlantic.
The vessel goes cautiously ahead with all the
discipline III the strictest enforcement AMI
with the captain permanently upon the bridge.
The whistle blows for long time at short
Intervals Sometimes there Is another whistle,
and the two keep answering each other until
diminishing sound tells the story OF dccreas-
ing danger The fog goes to the marrow.
II seems to I've the natural atmosphere of the
sepulclrc. Its great folds lift ami fall like the
| flmy drapery of illusion. Damp settles into
and upon everything. There is sort OF car
nival of old clothes Everyone seems to
have neglected for untold years the seductive
cries of the men who have cash for such
articles Women look shabby and men look
shabby Brunettes get a little heightened
color of cheek and clearer display of con-
junctiva, but the poor blondes seem to be frost
bitten shrimps There is a little blue-bound
book on the music saloon table which speaks
Of the voyage to Liverpool as a green demon
The voyage to Glasgow is previous goose
berry.
The club-room. otherwise the smoking
room, IN the only haven of rest for the men.
! There Is a Scotch youth who has the biggest
stock that mortal memory ever carried One
Patrick an Irishman, went on tour with n
magic lantern and tried to lecture OF Biblical
scenes impromptu His chief speech WIS,
"Denis, turn on another CHROME He tells
Of 'Poty -a-fers wolfe. the eli scandal that
this doubling sage refuses tacredit--and then
| he cries ont To Denis To turn on another
chrome The string OF dissertations shoud
90 into comic literature where, IL they create
half the meIrnicnt they did in the club room,
they will remain famous An old Scotchman
who hns as broad Gaelic az ever man spoke
TO civilized beings adds to the fun. lie has
leen six weeks in America, and as he pulls ON
! his old pipe he expresses doubt as to whctl-
or his cain folk' will understand him when
he gets ''hamen II il ''ha M been, "dinnn
care "canna say" and "wo ma tcll' with
him NIL the time. He does not live in ''G-l-as-
go.w"--like unto the town upon the Missouri
river hut in ''Glasky," and Is not a butcher
but buchare,
There was purser on board with an un-
limited variety of slippers he doubtless
made his "Glasgy' friends believe that they
were beaded by North American Indians.
He could win at cards almost every time,
could play the piano in the m,isic-room,
could iptoxicate himself to degree oi
snpernal delight with All accordion, which he
repeatedly asserted cost ''thre pun five,' aud
could sing so as to make the porpoises danes
on the sea green. Now he springs, Jocko
like, upa stauchion TO the promenade deck,
and then jumps over the rope that Is a line of
demarcation between the intermediate and
the saloon passengers, and then straightens
up with all Of a circus gyinnast's pride, aud
walks by the ladies. No one will ever forget
that purser after seeing hi-G. No one can
forget Him.
The an,usements on board a ship ARE linn
tied They comprise chiefly checkers, quoits,
shualeboard and reading 1t Is impossible 10
do tho latter with any satisfaction. The eye
goes over pag6 half-lozen times, and the,
the reader gets only faint glimner OF the
authors meaning. Every American Is read
ing abont Scotland. Those fnll of imagina-
ton vie with each other for the possession oi
SCOTS works. The sepsuagcnarian sings q
Scotch air for the passengers one night In q
piping treble The Scotchmen remember an
old Tory song that sounds like treason in
Yankee ears. It's chief merit is in q refrain
that runs;
yankee doodle, Yankee doodle dandy oh,
Yankee doodle, Yankee doodle dandy OH"
There are volumes Of Scotch songs. The
"kye" Is coming "hame,' morning, noon aud
night on the piano Then there is nm
ola podrida of Burns and Moody and San,
key. Forty children on board make the
vessel seem floating nursery. Forty IN
valids make it seem floating hospital. Tho
children fight and play ana play and fight
An old sailor rigs up two swings, which give
great delight One cunning little boy i,
heard to ask his guardian, after long lcol
over the sea. whether God or Garfield made
men and womsn'