The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-03-01
A CASTAWAY.
But He Didn't Enjoy Himself as
Robinson Crusoe Did.

Robinson Crusoe Did.
If boys did not get the idea of going
to sea the supply of sailors would by
and by give out, but do not believe
that one boy out of twenty who has
grown to be a sailor came by the occu-
patton legitimately. The majority of
them ran away from home to 60 on
their first voyage, and would have been
glad to quit the sea forever before they
had been out a week. l had the ro-
mantle ideas of the average boy, and l
ran away to sea, and the reason l be-
came sailor was because circumstances
afterward obliged me to be. l sailed
for the best part of sixteen years. ship
ping in all sorts of craft and with all
sorts of crews. and it was rarely that l
found sailor who would not have
gladly traded his occupation with a
wood sawyer. The romance is all in
the books A sailing craft, either in
port or on a voyage, is surrounded with
any thing but romance.
found, too, that almost every boy
encountered on shipboard had a Robin
son Crusoe life for his pet theory. He
was aching to be cast away on some I'M
inhabited island, and he had it all
planned out how he was to live on the
fat of tho land. 1t was my fortune to
be thus cast away once upon a time,
AMI 1 will give my experience in order
that the boy readers of The Sun may
draw conclusions. There was also
curl q coincidence connected with my
advchlure which will bear relating.
We were on the run down from Yoka-
hama, japan, to a port in Cochin
VIVA, on an English tea brig called
the Russell. Our course lay to the
south down the Pacific to the island of
Formosa, and then around in the China
Sea. 1t was the season fer squalls, and
the first four days out gave us plenty to
do, although we made good progress.
On the evening of the fourth day, just
as twilight was coming on, sudden
squall laid us almost on our beam ends,
and while in that position we were
swept by n sea which carried me over
board. l don't suppose l was even
missed for the next quarter of an hour,
and l was no sooner in the water than |
understood that the brig could do
nothing for me. No craft leaves man
to drown if there is the slightest show
to save him, but / knew the brig had
her hands full with the squall. / was
near done for before got breath of
air, and had not yet pulled myself to-
gether when / flung out my arm and
touched solid object. 1t proved to be
cage containing about twenty live
fowls. which had fetched away, and l
wasn't over five minutes making fast to
it by means of my belt. By the time l
could look around the night had come
down and the brig was nowhere to be
seen. The squat lasted about twenty
minutes, and then passed away, to be
followed by a steady breeze during the
entire night
had no idea that the brig would re-
turn to look for me, and the best thing
could do was to make myself COM
Portable. The water was warm. the
night balmy and starlight, and the sea
was not heavy enough to annoy me
much. had every hope of being
picked up next day, as vessels were nu-
merous on that route, and SO, taken all
in all. j was not in despair. l was
driven to the west at a steady pace up
to about midnight. and then queer
thing happened. l was on top of the
coop or cage, which was buoyant
enough to float me a foot above the
surface. 1t had no doubt been dashed
TO the deck by rope or two. and por-
tons of these ropes might have been
trailing underneath, or it may be that
in going overheard it entangled rope.
At any rate, at about midnight there
was a sudden commotion under and
about me. and then my craft started off
at almost railroad speed. / have an
~. that a big shark came nosing
around after me and became entangled.
but it might have been some other large
fish,. Whatever it was, was fast and
adsng as tug, and the way he towed
that cage along the surface was a eau
ton. He tried diving, but he could not
pull it under, and seeming to be more
frightened by this discovery, he set OFF
with increased speed.
For at least three hours the shark, or
whatever it was, ran to the west at a
rate of speed which could not have been
IL Al
first flush of day was in the horizon at
my back when there was a shock and a
crash. and went end over end off my
float. To tell the truth. was asleep.
had been towed SO steadily and rode
SO easily that l went to sleep without
knowing that my eyes had closed. 1
struck out and began swimming. con-
fused and frightened BY the shock. but