Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1890-02-01

that he intended doing the best for the
general good. This answer was not very
to the crew, who went
back to their quarters. Ulti-
mately it turned out that we were to
take the leak with us to San Francisco.
At the rate the water was running In
it was judged that the bone, muscle and
sinews of the crew could manage to keep
1t down. So we pumped all the way
round Cape Horn. We pumped during |
our respective watches every two hours
In good weather and on an even keel 1t
took half nm hour to 'suck the pumps"
II the vessel was heeled to larboard or
starboard it took much longer In very
rough weather we pumped all the time
that could be spared from other duties.
There were two pumps at the foot of the
mainmast worked by levers. and these
were furnished with ''bell ropes" to pull
on. Half the watch worked ut each
lever, and these were located exactly
where on stormy nights the wild waves
were in the habit of flinging over the
b,llwarks hogshead or two Of water to
drench us and wash us of our feet.
The Wizard was a very "wet ship"
She loved giving us moist surprises.
Sometimes on a ene day she would
gracefully, but suddenly. poke her nose
under. and come up and out Of the At
lantic or Pacific ocean with fifteen or
twenty tons OF pea green sea water foam
ing over the t'gallant forecastle. cascad-
ing thence on the spar deck and washing
everything movable slam bang up aid
sometimes into the cabin. This took
place o:.cc o., washday. Sailors wash
day is often regulated by the supply of
water caught from the clouds. On this
particular occasion the fore deck was
full Of old salts up to their barred elbows
in suds. vigorously discoursing washtub
and washboard. Then the flood came,
and in q moment the deck was filled
with n great surge bearing on ITS crest
all these old salts struggling among their
tubs. their washboards, their soap and
partly washed garments. The cabin
bulkhcad partly stopped some. but the
door being open others were borne partly
inside. and their wooden shirts were af-
terward found stranded on the carpeted
cabin floor One duff day" we had
gathered about our extra rcpast in the
boys house. The duff and New Orleans
molasses had just commenced to disap-
pear.
Then shining, greenish. translucent
cataract filed the doorway from top to
bottom. 1t struck boys. beef. bread
duff and dishes. 1t scattered them. 1t
tumblcd them in various heaps. 1t was
q brief season of terror, splitting and
suffering salt water. and u scrambling
for life, as we thought. 1t washed under
hunks and in remote corners duff. bread,
beef. plates. knives, forks, cups. spoons
and molasses bottles. The dinner was
lost. Going on deck we found couple
of feet of water smashing from bulwark
to bulwark with every roll, bearing with
it heavy blocks and everything movable
which had been looscned by the shock,
to the great risk of legs and bodies. But
these were tribes. At least we call them
trifles when they are over. have no
ticcd, however. tl.;A n man may swear
as hard at jammed finger as y broken
leg, and tho most eflicacious means in
the world to quickly develop Il furious
temper is to loose ones dinner when
hungry. get wet through, then abused
by :. Dutch mate for not stirring around
quicker. and finally work all the after
noon setting things to rights on an
empty stomach. robbed ana disappoint
ed of its duff. This is no triflc.
Learning the ropes isn't all u boys frs
lessons at sea. He must learn also t.
wash and mend his own clothes. A
least he must try to learn and gothrougl
the forms. never could wash Il fame
shirt, and how the extraneous matter
called dirt. which the washing process il
intended to dispense. is gotten rid OF b..
soap and muscle ut all equal averaE
over the entire surface Of the garment i
for RE today one of earths mysteries
could wash shirt in spots: when tries
to convince myself that had finished it
Icould S, i'll see where had washed clcal
and where had not. There i, a certain
system in the proper manipulation OF
garment in Il washtub which to me is ii,
cc:nprchcnsiblc. An old sailor Is usual
a good washer. It's part of his trade
These Oh the Wizard would rcprovc til
boys for their slipshod work. "Sucsi
slovenly washed shirt az that" said Con
the ri;,-inS is disgrace to the ship.
IIc alluded to- one of mine. Tho failur
was not from any lack OF labor put on il
The trouble lay in that | didn't know
where to put the labor on.
} 1t was particularly disagreeablc ut mit
! night as we assembled ut the bell rope
to give her the last "shake up" ant
more asleep than awake. pulled YEARLY
, with monotOnous clank. Sometimes ;
that hour, when our labors We're ha
through. the valves would get out {
) order 1t was then necessary to call I'll
: carpcnt,: and have them repaired. TIL
would keep ~ on deck half cn hour {
more. for by mutual compact each waite
was obliged to ''suck its own pumps.
Such delays made the men very angry
They stopped singing ut their ~ork-a
, ways bad sign-and became silent. M
r rose and sullen. For the first six wcel
: all the "shan,i-sonss" known on the sc
had been sung. Regularly at each pun!
r ing exercise We had "Santy Anna