Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-01-11

HE first night out
was fine. The Wiz.
ard slightly bowed 10
the ocean, and the
sails seemed great
black patches, wav.
ing to and fro against
the sky. The six boys
~ so soon to be misera.
bic, gathered in cluster on deck. Jed
X Coles proposed that we "spin yarns" II
was the nautically correct way Of pass.
ing the time. So we "spun yarns. - OF
at least Jed did. He had batch ready
e for the occasion. He sat on tub put
an enormous chew of tobacco in his
mouth, hitched up his trousers and felt
every inch sailor. / noticed the second
mate, that incarnation Of evil and bru
tality, lowering about us, dark as il was.
] saw his fiendish grin and the glare OF
his greenish eye. A precious lot oi
young fools we must have seemed &c
him. A little after our yarn spinning
was interrupted by shrieks and cries OF
distress proceeding from the forward
part OF the ship. We had then our first
exhibition of the manner of enforcing
American merchant service discipline.
The second mate was beating Cum
lnings, q simple being. who, having
sailed only in 'forc and aft coasting
vessels, had made the mistake of ship
ping as an ordinary seaman on n square
rugged craft, and was almost as much NJ
sea in his knowledge of the ropes rs the
"boys." This officer had singled out
Cummings for his awkwardness rs the
proper man to "haze." He was shower.
Ing upon him blows, thick and fast, with
the end of one of the forebraces. II was
the first time had ever seen a man
s beaten by one in authority. The cring
ing attitude, the cries, sobs and suppl
cations Of u full grown man, and the
oaths and terrible ferocity of his casti
gator, were incxpressibly shocking &c
me. The incident, which was often re
peated during the voyage, broke up oui
amateur EARNING and made us very
thoughtful
Jedediah Coles was not at all nautical
~ loquacious the next night. Then the
{ Gulf Stream gave us touch of its tan.
trums. All during the afternoon the
sky grew more and more threatening.
By dark it was blowing hard. The
lighter sails one by one were slowed.
Then it blew harder. The mate swore
the harder. The captain came on deck
and swore at every body. One of the
''boys' asked him IL he thought it would
be stormy. He considered himself priv.
ileged to ask the captain that question.
He was IA native of the same village.
His father and the captain were friends,
and his mother and the captains wife
visited each other. So he deemed il
advisable to establish himself on socia.
BILE footing with the captain at the com,
mencement of the voyage. Poor boy
Never again during the trip did he con.
s suit the captain meteorologically. He
learned speedily the great gulf which
yawns between the cabin and the fore.
castle.
1t grew dark, the waves became big,
ger and bigger, and the ship seemed
taxed to her utmost trying TO chamber
them one after another as they presented
themselves. The mates came out in
4 their oilskins.
When the order CANA 10 reef, and ]
saw the men clambering up the fore and
main rigging, added myself TO Their
number, though felt ! should never
come down again-at least in one piece
1t was my debut aloft off soundings
Many time had clambered about the
rigging Of the old whalers as they lay al
the village wharf, but they were moi
roaring, kicking and plunging like thi;
vessel. Heavy seamen's boots kicked
me in the face as followed their wear
ers up this awful ascent; ether heavy
boots trod on my fingers; they shook the
ratlines, too, in most uncomfortable
manner The mast strained and groaned
fearfully. Somehow, after climbing
over some awful chasms. | got on tho
yard with the men. dared mol 40 on,
far. The foot rope wobbled, jerked and
Z gave way under me at times with the
weight and motion of the men upon IT,
The great sail seemed in no humor to be
fnrled Ii hauled away from us, belied,
pulled and kept upa gigantic series of
laundering flaps. Laying over on the
yard the men would gather in as much
OF the hard, wet, wirelike canvas as pos.
sible and then together haul back on it.
This ! objected to- 1t was risky enough
10 lay out on an enormous stick sixty
feet in the air, while the wind tore our
voices from us and seemed to hurl the
words far away ere they had well got
out OF our mouths, and the white topped
waves, dimIy seen below, seemed leap.
ing up and snatching at us. But at that
height, and amid all that motion, 10 bal
ance ones body on the stomach, grasp
with outstretehed arms a hard roll Of
Struggling, wet canvas, While the legs
were as far extended the other way and
the feet resting only against rope work
\ ing aud wobbiing and giving way hero
and there from the weight of fifteen
hundred pounds Of men unequally dis
tributed over it, was task and seeming
risk too great for my courage. | dared
do nothing but hold on. The conduct of
& the Haintopsail was desperate and out
Z ragoous. 1t seemed straining every
nerve-supposing, for the sake Of forci-
BILE expression, that it had nerves-to
pull Us off the yard and ''into the great
deep"
Ifound myself between two old sail
ors, who lost no time in convincing me
Of my complete and utter WORTH ssness
aloft. concurred. They bade nSe clear
out and get down on deck. ! was glad
70 do so. Reeflng topsails in reality was
very different from reefing them in
books or In imagination. On reaching
~ deck concluded to lie down. All
mrough the evening had experienced
- uneasy sensation in the stomach. |
argued with myself 1t was not seasick-