The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-04-14
OUR BOYS ABROAD.


UU Il bU AbhUhD.
ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND, March p. lisa
EpIroR CLARION: By this time we epss.
the boys in jackson don't know what bs,
become of us-whether the fishes ate psnn
or whether We got TO the old country =,
last. We must then begin, by telling Won
that we have arrived here safe and sound
in the land where even the little boy.
know how to talk Dutch. During the si.
teen days we spent on the ocean, we wen
on the lookout for a whale a,
an iceberg, but We saw neither
We left New York on Sunday, the 7tb
inst. Everybody in jackson expected /,
hear that we would be scared To deatb
when the steamer would leave land Bpl
it so smoothly glided away from the midsl
of many others, that we hardly knew #
at all.
Father Quito had bought Us a nice little
telescope in New York, and We began IA
use it by looking back at glorious Amer.
ca, as we were getting away from il. We
saw the beautiful surroundings OF Nes
York bay, with the fine villas and gardens
We passed a couple of little islands and
by ii a. m., we reached Sandy Hook
where the pilot who had steered US through
the channel left our steamer jumped In
his nice piiet-boat, in full sail, and wen,
back to New York to his dinner. W.
kept on our way, the steamer plowing is
wav through masses of floating lee the
sun was shining bright, and the sea vas
smooth, and by p. IN. we could see moth.
ing more than our steamer, the greenish
water beneath us, and the blue skies above
And for over fourteen whole DAYS We did
not see a speck OF land. When We saw
that there was nothing else to be seen. We
began TO look closely at the shin. and to
examine ii carefully We wanted 10 See
the sails displayed at once, but as there
was no wind at all, the captain would
not put them up. We might as well tel
yoL that he is strict, good natured Dutch
man, who drinks, every day, a good deal
of beer, bottle of wine, and a little Hol.
| land gin. But he is always as sober as
| judge, and keeps the ship going all night
Try to pronounce his name without
| making faces-"Slierendregt II you put
| IN your mouth about half dozen hickory
| nuts, and try to speak one long word The
sound will be something like the captains
| name. But he Is very good, and makes
| the steward give us as much fruit and cake
as We want, and after dinner he sometimes
plays dominoes with us. Everybody Likes
| him, but | tell Won he keeps everybody
awake in the steamer. We don't mean
/! tie passengers, but the officers and sallors.
I Ii he blows his little whistle, or talks
little Dutch, in less time than you can tell
| it, everybody Is before him, from the chIei
engineers to the cook. Generally he does
not seem to have much TO do, except 10
| find out every day what O'Clock it is, and
how many miles the ship travels. When
| the weather is bad, and the waves begin to
get as high as the banks of Pearl river,
then he goes on the bridge {the highest
| platform on the ship is called the bridge
and stays there all night, in rain, snow or
| ice, if necessary, to see that all things are
right. The captain, chief engineer, and
the first officer, eat at the same table with Us
| first-class passengers. Everybody else, eats
somewhere else. 1t takes forty-nlne men
and one woman to run this ship. Every
body talks English very nicely, as well as
when Mr.: Luther Manship plays the
Dutchman on the stage, except the woman,
who talks no English at all. When We
boys were not so very well, she used to
wait on us very kindly. One day while
she was in our cabin making our beds, We
thought we would teach her some English
But right away some mischief got int Us,
and we taught her how to call good many
things by their wrong names. FOR e1-
ample, we told her that the name oil =
certain vase which is found in every cabin,
for each passenger was called a ri0lja, thai
the word for boy, in English was possl'a
etc, and We were going on nicely IN tha'
/. l. h. II
began TO giggle and spoiled our iun. We
must tell you how Dutchmen eat. Ihey
only take five meals a day. At I:30 a. h.
breakfast; at ii a. m. lunch at 4:50 P. H.
| dinner, and at p. in. supper. But Tor lear
OF starving between lunch and dinner trey
| take, at l:30 p. m, one or two cups oil choeo-
late, and If they feel like it, something
more substantial. Before we got to Rot
terdam, we began 10 think that we were
like Dutchmen ourselves, as we began to
| take very kindly to the FIVE meals day,
and generally got hungry between meals
They feed US very well. But as We are
going to tell you directly, our passage WAS
a very long one, keeping us over Eileen
days on board. So, by the end OF the Jour
ney the fresh meat on board began TO be
not SO very fresh, and when, on the I'D
inst, at Ii a. nj. we were passing by the
coast of France, about : miles from Thar
bourg, which was in sight, the captain
meeting fishing boat, hailed it, aud stop
ped The steamer. The captain and Father
Quito, the only ones who knew how, began
to talk French to the fisherman, who got
lot of the fresh beef mentioned above, and
gave us lot of nice fishes which we're
served US after, at dinner. We then start
ed again. You must think by this time
we are all grown fat. But we didn't, owing
to the ship rolling too much and the sea
being very rough. In fact, for several
days We ate nothing at all. During some
other days, as soon as we would eat we ieii
like grasping our rioiias, and then you
could have seen plenty of what Father
Quito calls, fireworks In fact, we were
all sea sick. No wonder, when sometimes
during several days, when we would al
tempt to walk at all, the ship would 81
once begin TO rock like a great big cradle
now to the right, now to the left, aud at the
same time, backward and forward, almost
like Mississippi mule, rolling in the dust.
While all these motions would be going on,
waves as high as church steeple would
toss US up, as on top of hill, and sec
ond after, we would find ourselves as at
the bottom of valley. Then, sometimes
a wa. e of that kind would suddenly iail
down on deck of the steamer, and bury II
almost entirely in the water OF course,
during such weather, we remained in our
cabins. inside the ship, and could only
hear the waves dashing and splashing
against it, and rolling over our heads, and
over the ship. Everything then, lexcePt
the fireworks), looked grand and awful,
and We could see occasionally through the
thick glasses of our cabin. Some boys,
when they hear all this, will think We are
telling yarns, but if they had been on the
Leerdam, on the 18th and 18th, they would
surely believe that we tell only the truth
1ou may wonder why it took ns so long
% cross the ocean. TWAS on account of all
'f that bad weather. One day We travelled
3nly one hundred miles, and the next one
hundred and two And then, exactly on
he day We expected to land at Rotterdam,
he steamer stopped all at once, early IN
he morning. ltwas on account OF very
hlck log, that prevented us from seeing
urther than twenty yards. Ii We had gone
IN, there might have been great danger OF
collision with some other vessel. We
emained there fishing until 3 O'Clock p.
a., and reached here early this morning.
The weather in Holland is yet very cold,
md il is now freezing. This letter is al
eady too long. and We will end it by tell
ng the boys that sometime tomorrow we
viii arrive in Paris, where we will remain
few days, and then go to the South OF
rance, and then to Italy. When there,
e will write again, meanwhile. adieu,
EDWARD ScorT,
AMOS JOHNSTON.
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