The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-01-10

veyed them by one OF the mates that
they weren't sStwortht their Balt,n-what
business had a. boys stomach TO put on
airs at sea :? Most landsmen, II called up
at 4 o'clock on q muggy morning and
worked like mules for couple OF hours
on a digestive vacuum, would probably
at the breakfas hour feel more the ne cd
Of food than the appetite to partake
OF 1t. $ssi9aT sijliit tsSlEjssl
although followed the sen nearly two
years, am no sailor. The net result OF
my, maritime experience Is a capacity for
tying a bow line or a square knot and a
positive knowledge and conviction con.
corning which end oi the ship goes first.
l also know enough not To throw hot
ashes 10 windward. 6! 4, ll3l5Is
= But OH q yard could never do much
else but hold on. The foolhardy men
about mo would lilo out fiat 1 on their
stomacLs amid the darkness and storm,
and expose themselves TO the risk oil
pitching hendlong into tho sea In the
most reckless manner while trying TO
spill the wind ont Of a t'gallant sail.
But i never emulated them. l never
lived up to the maritime maxim OF zone
hnnd for yourself and tue other for the
owners" l kept both hands for myself,
and that kept me from going overheard.
What would the owners have cared had
l gone overheard Nothing. Such an
occurrence twenty-five odd years ago
would, weeks alterward,s have been 70.
ported in the marine news this way:
Common sailor, very common sailor,
fell from .t'gallant yard off Cape Horn
and lost.n 9,,.Flil5g.l
L, The owner would have secretly re.
jolced, as he bought his CHRISTMAS toys
for his children, that the :t'gallant yard
had not gone with the sailor. No; on a
yard Ia a storm believed aud lived up
TO the maxim:t Hold fast to that which
is good lathe yard was good. Yet /
was ambitious when a boy before the
mast on the clipper which brought nue.
to California. i was quick to yet into
tho rigging when there was anything TO
do aloft. e But once in the rigging l was |
Of little utility. q
"a The, first time went up at night 10 |
loose one OF the royals, thought l |
should never stop climbing. The deck
soon vanished in the darkness OF very
black tropical night, the mastheads were
likewise lost in q Cimmerian obscurity
whatever that is. Z At last | found the
yard. wasn't 5quite sure whether 1t
was the right one or not. didn't know
exactly what to do. l. know / had 10
unto something somewhere. But where |
the savage Scotch second
mate. was believing, rs II then seemed,
a mile below. me. / knew the below .was
for me. Ihud 10 do something, aud Il
commenced doing. did know, or rather
guessed, enough TO cast Off the lee and
weather gaskets, or lines which bind the
sail when furled TO the yard, and then l
made them upinto a most slovenly knot.
But! the bunt. gasket (the line binding
the middle and most bulky portion OF
tho sail bothered me. I couldn't unite
i. l picked away at it desperately, tore
my nails and skinning my knuck les. Ijis!
The believing from below continued.
as tiercely as ever, which, though not
rs to words, was certainly
exhorting me, and me only, 10 vigilance,
Then the watch got tired waiting for
me- Thinking the sail looscd, they be:
gan hosting. They hoisted the yard to
its proper place and me with it. i chung
on and went up higher. That, .bythe
way, always comes OF holding fast TO
that which is good. Then mans head
came bobbing up out OF the darkness. It
vas that Of a good natured Nantucket
boy, whose name, OF course, was Coffin.
He asked me the trouble. l went into
lengthy explanation about the unman.
lgeable knot. "Oh, the knot r.. said he.
Cut t!nand he cnt it. / would never
have cut it. In my then and
sven present nautical ignorance 1. /
should have expected the mast or yard
o have fallen from cutting anything
aloft.4 Only n few, days previous ]: had
seen the. captain on the quarter deck
jumping up and down in his tracks with
age because common seaman had, Eby
mistake, cut mizzen brace, and the sec
md mate, as usual, had jumped up and
Town on the seaman " hen he reached
he deck. I feared to set similar Jump.
ng process in operation. Coming on
leck after my lengthy and laundering
'ojourn loosing royal, I expected to be
to q pulp for my stupidity. But
both watch and believing mate had gone
below and i heard no more OF it. rs
q a few days after my unsuccessful as.
tension, the Wizard one morning shot
through a bank Of Jog and San Francisco
ay. before US. PRENTICE MuLroRD.
q - Il