The Republican journal., 1884-01-31
Capt. buttons Ocean Experiences.

The Portland Advertiser says: Captain
dinian. lectured in the Mechanic course.
Thursday, at Mechanics hall Every
seat was DC ,upied and many were obliged
to stand. The lecturer was introduced
10y Mr.. }. B. Coyle, Jr. Captain Dutton
is a perfect type of the bluff and hearty
British sea captain. He has fine ply
sque and commanding presence. He
speaks in a ready. otf-hand manner, but
a little too rapidly to be easily under
stood by people at the farther part of the
hall.
Captain Dutton began his lecture by
speaking of the grandeur OF the sea, re-
peating from memory favorite piece of
poetry describing the sublimity of the
ocean. He spoke enthusiastically of his
love for the sea. When he is sick he
always longs for his berth on his steamer
When in port he loves to sleep on board,
in preference to going to hotel. as
many captains do. On lana, he says the
air is SO dry that it gives him the cholera.
He gave an amusing account OF his eX
perience in a gale when he occupied a
room on the upper floor of a hotel The
house shook and the windows ratified.
He tried to wedge up the easements but
to no purpose. He was afraid the chin
ney might blow over, for he knew it had
no back stays" Sleep he could not. so
he dressed and went down stairs to the
office and sat there by the fire all night
That was the time he wished himself on
board his steamer No gale would de-
prive him of his slumber there. While
he was relating this experience the capt
ain left his desk and spoke from the side
Of the platform. He suited the action to
the word in describing his adventure and
raised several hearty laughs from his
audience before he got back to the sober
part Of his lecture.
Going back 5000 years he traced the
Improvements in shipbuildng down TO
the time that England began to build
iron vessels. In passing, he remarked
that every nation but one, the United
States, took advantage of Englaud's en-
terprise and bought iron ships of her.
The first iron vessel was built in 1874 and
it is in active service to-day.
Great Improvements have been made
in the rigging OF vessels and many of the
been succeeded 10y new inventions. The
captain devoted by far the greater part
OF his lecture to his personal experiences
on the sea and he told these with SO
much eamestness that he held the at
tenti0n Of his hearers closely throughout.
He described in a graphic manner the
rescue Of ships crew from wreck.
They We're all huddled together to keep
from freezing and thought at first their
signal OF distress had not been heard.
When they found that the steamer was
really coming to their aid they all began
to cry like children, from sheer Joy. The
sea was SO rough that the boats could
only get near enough to the wreck to
throw line to the distressed people.
Each one grasped the rope and Jumping
into the boiling waves was pulled on
board the boat. The captains wife
jumped first and was rescued triumph
Dntly. Then the frost bitten sailors were
saved one bv one. They were relieved
of their vet and icy clothes and put
down in the boiler room to warm up.
The passengers We're asked to give them
a change OF clothing and ii was good to
see how every body ran to fetch a supply
There was no one but was willing to take
his coat off his back to give it to the
rescued sailors
On another occasion the captain picked
up TWO men adrtt in small boat He
told bow they rubbed them for two hours
with whiskey and thought the liquor did
more good outside than it would have
done inside.
I'm
the speaker could not fail to meet many
eccentric people among his passengers
and Captain Dalton has had some velv
amusing experiences, which amused his
audience Immensely. He mimcked the
dude, the inquisitiye Yankee and the
consequential Frencbman. one old lady
got the notion in her head that the
snip course Was wrong and that the
captain ought to steer southwest instead
Of northwest. She eXpostulated in vain
but got no satisfaction from the officers.
She tired to raise a mutinN among the
passengers by telling them that the cap
tain was trying an experiment III going
a new route. When gale came on the
next morning she remarked spitetully to
the captain. Il told YOU So" When the
ship came in sight of port the captain
called her attention that he had got
safely to the end OF the voyage without
changing his course according to her adj
wee. ~ eS, responded she, "but it was
a dangerous experiment."
An amusing story was told about a
couple engaged to he married. who
hadn't seen each other for eleven wears
The lady was coming from England to
America to meet her lover. lie was to
meet her at the wharf and they were to
recognize each other by the lady wear
ing blue ribbon in her nat and the
gentleman having blue ribbon on his
vest. The lady could not keep the plan
to herself The passengers conspired
together and when the lover rushed on
board, as soon as the ship touched the
wharf, every lady on the vessel had a
blue ribbon in her bonnet and every
gentleman in the crowd appeared with a
huge strip Of blue ribbon flung across his
breast.
There we're several amusing anecdot eS :;
of the nervous old lady who imagined
with every roll of the ship that the yes
had struck on the rocks; of the women
who thought the passengers stuck up be-
cause they did not all make her acquaint-
ance immediately: of the person with a
note book, after the manner of Pickwick,
who eagerly jotted down every absurd
yarn that was heard on the voyage
The dangers of the sea were described.
Captain Dutton told how his ship once
got on fire 10y an explosion Of coal gas.
They had to scuttle her, in shoal water
The vessel sank but he raised her next
day by pumping her out. Now he has
apparatus that will extinguish fire in
any part of his ship. 1t consists of steam
pipes leading from the boiler to every
apartment on board. If fire should
break out, the steam could be turned on
IN moment Steam will put out a fire
more readily than water because it pene-
trates to every nook and corner and
smothers the flames in twinkling.
/ fThn tni, told Of = Z Zoo