Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-01-11
TRUTHFUL TARs.

| TRUTHFUL IAHS.
n~0e Pretty stt6 YARna Conserving 1oB
| fron the Fo'eas'Is Chsst.
| Twas sitting on the stun'sai secured
on the starboard side Of the to'gallant
fo'cas' 10 one night during our run from
Cape Horn, when the trades blew stead
| lily. and the watch had nothing 70 do but
spin warns. We were homewaI: bound
| from a 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 that could
be filed with this pass unimproved.
their great endeavor seeming to be 70
reach the height Of the improbable
Three Of the most inveterate yarn
spinners Of the crew were seated on the
fo'casle chest, just opposite me. They
were Jack Kelley, the c4,tain Of the port
fo'casle watch; Tom Hutchins. the chief
boatsw ains mate, and Bill Williams, the
signal quartermaster 1t was diamond
cut diamond with them always, when
yarns were being snapped. and ! knew
| had a treat in store the moment Will
| Jams said:
| We'll, bows. well be on the coast in
time for the March fogs. Hope they
the gulf, when was on tho blockade. in
the Tioga"
And you had fog experience in the
gulf, did you? Well. let us hear about
it, said Kelley.
1T was in June, said Williams; I'VE
had left Key West, bound for Mobile,
with important dispatches, 20 we could
not hold up for anything, and the mosn-
ing after we sailed the fog metus Well.
it was SO thick that we had TO have .
man with a shovel at the binnacle to
scoop the fog away, so that the wheels
man could see how to keep his course"
And you call that thick fogy' said
Hutchins. with tone Of contempt in his
voice. We'll. it don't compare with one
in the Brandywine, in the forties.
was an apprentice then, and it was my
first cruise, and, of course, l was an xious
to get home, so 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 bucked up against fog.
The wind kept fair, however, and the
sails were full. SO we thought nothing Of
it, though we dill not get sight Of the
sun for five days. Itcleared of about II
in TIN morning. and the sailing master,
as We called the navigator then, came up
and took the noon sight. and Ill be eter-
nally smashed if we were not exactly in
the same place we we're at noon five days
before. That COMPOUNDED fog was 30
thick that it had just held US fast, and
we with all sail set. and fair ten knot
breeze to help us.
THAT was something Of fog" sid
Kelley, land yet l don't know that it
can quite come up to one that made the
acquaintance of when 1 was sailing in
the merchant service just before the war.
had been home, up the Kennebeck. and
they had just finished new 3.000-ton
clipper for the New York tea trade. She
had taken in ice to carry as ballast, and
was asked to hel p 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 a fog. Our
skipper was an old cruiser in that lati-
tude, however, so he kept on. I noticed
the ship had curious sort OF bobbing
motion, but the fog was 30 thick you
couldn't even see the water. and a. the
sails kept full. though tbs wind slack.
ened, and we kept going ahead. why, !
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
swsyed and cracked, and we were all
knocked of our feet. Luckily she was
q 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 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 as you like. but that ship
had been sailing on a fog bank for q
week, and when she reached the edge OF
it she jumped of and dropped"
Its time l 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.
| Ocean.