The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-12-31
a PECuIIAR CUSTOM.
4 Ludierous Practice In which Many
Ocean Travellers are Compelled
u. -. Non-h

/ q A4uleEDu8 LE6GLl56
Ocean Travellers are Compelled
TO Take Part.
A Cambridge undergraduate. now on
his way to the cape In a trading vessel,
sends the following interesting commu-
nication to the Pail Nall Gazette: One
of the oldest customs of the sea lately
came under my notice, and in such q
way as am not likely to forget As
usual after our 6 o'clock tea, we were
seated in the saloon enjoying our game
Of cribbage, when q blast from the fog
horn, fit to awaken the dead, put an end
to our cards. Hurriedly we made for
the deck, where sight never to be for
dark and cloudy, the moon entirely hid
den, but the deck was brilliantly illu-
minated with blue lights. From the fore
castle was issuing a procession that
battles description. First walked Father
Neptune himself, leading on his arm his
young and beautiful wife, Amplitude.
Neptune was dressed In long, white
flowing robes-that is, a nightshirt;
around his head waved his gray locks,
blowing before the wind in every direc-
ton; his beard reached below his waist;
on his head he wore a inter of such
tremendous size as to drive any bishop
wild with envy; in his hand he bore his
trident
His wife's dress was evidently on the
plan Of ''beauty unadorned," for some
red paint. small red flag, and a pair
of red bathing-drawers constituted her
costume. Her faxen hair in curly
masses reached ker knees. Following
this august couple walked the hero of
the evening-the barber. Dressed all in
L
dice-box, half white, half black, with
curly white hair and whiskers, he was
sublime; but the sublime changed into
the awful when one perceived that he
carried in his hands instruments of tor
ture rivaling in their latent cruelty even
those of the 1nquisition. Imagine stand
ing and gazing upon a bucket of flour
and water mixed to about the thickness
of liquid glue, of which you know you
will receive large share your head.
Recover, if you can, from that sight, and
look again. In his other hand he holds
a razor of such magnitude that it would
not be i'll amiss for telling trees, and
think that soon that edge of rough,
rusty iron viii be blowing its meander-
ing course over your innocent jaws.
Following this torturer came two
policemen armed with cudgels and dark
lanterns. Behind them crowded the
crew. In spite of the awful solemnity
of the scene, one could not but admire
the dark, cloudy sky, the sea blaze of
phosphorescence, the Pickering summer
lightning, the grouping of the actors.
Hating before the after deck, Neptune,
in a loud voice, with such calm disre-
gard as to where he put his HIS as would
make any classical author turn in his
Ia
some of the crew of this ship is such as
they ave not yet crossed the loine, and
bin baptoized, my sons, ham ERE to
see them done So" Evidently Nep-
tunes intercourse with British sailors
has been to the disadvantage of his elo-
quence.
The sailors, at the finish of Neptune's
speech, cheered loudly, while from their
midst stepped the two brawny police
men, one of whom was a niger from
Demerara, and seized upon T. Mean
while the torturer was not idle. He had
seated himself upon a low stool, with
his bucket before him, in his left hand a
brush like a housemaid's broom, while
with his right he was sharpening his
razor on the companionladder ratings
Alas for poor T. He stood smiling be-
fore his executioner, who, evidently
thinking the occasion far too solemn to
smile at, put an end to his innocent
merriment by inserting as much as he
possibly could of his mixture into his
mouth. While he was engaged in
choking and splitting out what he could
of the concoctiOn, his head was being
covered to such an extent as to render
his features quite indistinguishable
Then that awful razor came into use, its
broad, rusty edge scraping away the
dough like a plow in a clay soil. But
how difficult it is to take the dough out
of ones eyes and mouth with razor
blade three feet long, one can not inn
agine till one has tried! His satanic
majesty, mean the barber, having
scraped off as much as pleased his
fancy, the two policemen came to the
fore again, armed with buckets of cold
part of the victims body received the
water, they threw in quick succession
over him.
I was the next victim, and went
through the same terrible routine; but
at last it was all over, and issued from
the cold-water cure quite ready to see
the fun in treating the others to their
dose. 1t was a novel experience, and
one not likely to be forgotten. Then
followed the others who had not crossed
the line, some half-dozen of them, but
two were missing. The police were
soon after them, but it was an hour be-
fore the first was found, lying under
meath the boilers in about the temper
AZURE of the place had wished the bar
Der in when I was being shaved. All
this he endured rather than face his
shaving, or, should say, shaving his
face. He was quickly dragged upon
the scene, and paid the penalty of his
fear by receiving double dose. Soon
after this the other, boy, was found
concealed in a sail in the rigging; he,
too, got what he deserved for trying to
escape justice. After all were baptized,
we had some songs and dances, the bar
Der being especially good at the latter,
and giving US some excellent clog-dances
and breakdowns. Poor Neptune had
terrible trouble with his wife, who, sud-
denly discovering herself among a lot
of sailors, became ''skittish"
what woman would notP The songs
and dancing finished, grog handed all
round, and with three cheers for US
from the crew, we retired to our cabins
to put on dry clothes, and to tear out
handfuls of hair in endeavoring to rid
our heads of dough. And so we crossed
the line.