, 1890-01-02
TRUTHFUL TARS.
Some Pretty stiT Yarns Concerning Fos
from the Fo'cas'Ie Chest.

some Pretty Stih Yarns Concerning Fog
from the Fo'cas'Ie Chest.
was sitting on the stun'sails secured
on the %starboard side of the to'gallant
fo'casle 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 n three years cruise in the orient,
and had settled down to the monotonous
life of a run up the trades. Yarn spin
ming was the principal occupation of the
men, and they let no moment tina could
be filled with this pass u%nimproved,
their great endeavor seeming to be to
reach the height of the improbable.
Three Cf the most inveterate warn
spinners of the crew were seated on the
f~o'cas'le chest. just opposite me. They
were Jack Kelley. the captain of the port
f~o'cas'ie watch; Tom Hutcnins. the chief
1gut-Nain's mate. and Bill Williams, 10
signal quartermaster. 1t was diamond
cut diamond with them always. when
yarns We're being snapped, and l knew
| had 4 treat in store the IN Will
Jams said:
"Well. boys. we'll be on the coast in
time for the March fogs. Hope they
wont be SO bad as | had them once in
the gulf. when ! was ON the blockade. in
the Tio-I."
"And You had a fog experience in the
gulf. did You: Well. let us hear about
it," sail Kelley.
1t was in june, said Williams; eve
had left Key West, bound for Mobile.
with Important dispatches. so we could
not hold up for anything. and the morn.
ing after we sailed the fog met us. Well,
it was 30 thick that we had to have n
man with a shovel at the pinnacle to
scoop the fog away so that the wheels
man could see how to keep his course So
And you call THAI a thick fogE' said
Hutchins. with a ton of contempt in his
voice. We'll, it don't compar with one
| met coming from the Mediterranean.
in the Brandywine. in the forties. /
was an apprentice then, and it was my
first cruise. and. of course. | was anxious
to get home, 50 every day | 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 buckrd up against a fog.
The wind kept fair, however, and the
sails were full, so " thought nothing of
it, though we did not get a sight Of the
| ou'i ~ W. 'hNos ilNltai'h VI 'lbpul II
in the morning. and the sailing master,
as WE called the navigator then. came up
and took the noon sight. and I'll be eter-
naIly smashed if We were not exactly in
the same place we ~ ere at noon five lavs
before. That Confoundcd 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 MS
THAT Was something of Il fog" said
Kelley, land set | don't know that it
can quite com. up to one that | made the
acquaintance of when | was sailing in
the merchant service just before the war.
| had been home, up the Kennebeck, and
they had just finished a new 3,OOO-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 a strong north wind blow
ing down the river, and just before we
got to the mouth we met 4 fog. Our
skipper was an old cruiser in that iati-
tude, however, so he kept on. 1 noticed
the ship had n curious sort of bobhing
motion, but the fog was so thick you
couldn't even see the water, and as the
sails kept full, though the wind slack
eagd, and we kept going ahead, why, l
didn't pay much M: Ition 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 our feet. Luckily she was
u new craft and the damp weather had
kept her rigging taut, or her masts must
have gone by the board. When she
quieted down and we could get on our
legs once more we looked back, and
there was a thick wall of fog, that we
had tumbled from, and you can believe
it or not, just rs you like, but hat ship
had been sailing on a fog bank for a
week, and when she reached the edge Of
it she jumped off and dropped"
Its time 1 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 jib sheet a critical examination