The Dickinson press., 1890-02-01
TRUTHFUL TARs.
Some Pretty Stiff Yarns Concerning Fog
from the TO'cas'le Chest.

6Omo 1Eetty Stlu Yarns concerning Fog
from the Fo'cas'le Chest.
I way sitting on the stun'sails secured
on the starboard side of the to'gallant
fo'cas'le one night during our run from
Cape Horn, when the trades blew stead
lily, and the watch had nothing to do but
spin yarns. We were homeward bound
from a three years cruise in the orient,
and had settled down to the m%onotonous
life of a run up the trades. Yarn spin
ming was the principal occupation of the
men, and they let no moment that could
be filled with this pass u%nimproved,
their great endeavor seeming to he to
reach the height of the improbable.
Three of the most inveterate yarn
spinncrs of the crew were seated on the
fo'cas'le chest, just opposite me. They
were Jack Kelley, the captain of the port
fo'cas'le watch; Tom Hutchins, the chief
boatswain's mate, and Bill Williams, the
signal quartermaster. 1t was diamond
cut diamond with them always, when
yarns were being snapped, and l knew
/ had Il treat in store the moment Will
Jams said:
"Well, boys, we'll be on the coast in
time for the March fogs. Hope they
won't be so bad as Ihad them once in
the gulf, when 1 was on the blockade, in
the Tioga."
"And you had Il fog experience in the
gulf, did YOU: Well, let us hear about
it," said Kelley.
"It was i'll june" said Williams; 1--WE
1,ol 1,ft L-or NIvo.t l~,r1 co, NroL1o
with important dispatches, so we could
not hold up for anything, and the MORN
ing after we sailed the fog metus. Well,
it was so thick that we had to have a
man with a shovel at the pinnacle tc
scoop the fog away, so that the wheels
man could sec how to keep his course"
"And you call that a thick fog" said
Iutchins. with a tone of contempt in his
voice. "Well, it don't compare with one
l met coming from the Mediterranean,
in the Brandywine, in the forties. ]
was al apprentice then, and it was my
first cruise, and, of course, l was anxious
to get home, so every day l got the
reckoning. Well, we were going along
about ten knots, with the wind on the
quarter and all sail set, when, just after
meridian, we bucked up against a fog,
The wind kept fair, however, and the
sails were full, so We thought nothing of
it, though VIC did not get a sight of the
IL for five days. ltcleared off about II
in the morning, and the sailing master,
as we called tho navigator then, came up
and took the noon sight, and I'll be cter-
nally smashed if we were not exactly in
the same place W. were at noon five days
before. That COMPOUNDED fog was so
thick that it had just held us fast, and
we with all sail set, and Il fair ten knot
breeze to help us"
"Tllat was something of q fog" said
Kelley, "and yet l don't know that it
can quite come up to one that Imado the
acquaintance of when I was sailing in
the merchant service just before the war.
| had been home, up the Kennebcck, and
they had just finished a new 3,000-ton
clipper for the New York tea trade. She
had taken in ice to carry as ballast, and
l was asked to help take her round. We
set sail, with Il strong north wind blow
ing down the river, and just before we
got to the mouth we met n fog. Our
skipper was an old cruiser in that lati-
tude, however, SO he kept on. 1 noticed
the ship had q curious sort of bobbing
motion, but the fog was SO thick you
couldn't even see the water, and as the
sails kept full, though the wind slack
cned, and we kept going ahead, why, l
didn't pay much attention to it.
"Well, We sailed along for nearly a
week, with the fog as thick as pudding,
and then all at once we gave a dive and
dropped nearly fifty feet. The ship
swayed and cracked, and we were all
knocked off IL feet. Luckily she was
new craft and the damp weather had
kept her rigging taut, or her masts must
have gone by the board. When she
quoted down and we could get on IL
legs once moro we looked back, and
there was a thick wall of fog, that we
had tumbled from, and you can believe
it or not, just as you like, but that ship
had been sailing on a fog bank for a
week, and when she reached the edge of
it she jumped off and dropped"
cts time I hove the log" said Will
Jams, and with that the party broke up,
and Kelley, with an air of great satisfac-
ton, walked over to the rail and gave
the lib sheet q critical examination
Ocean.