The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-02
BARON DE- SEOE A SAILOR.
He Came to America on a Bet and
Had Some Rough Experiences
on the Trip.
Tho Wager Was Five Thousand
Francs, and He Believes He
Has Earned It.


Baron Paul de Sede, with blisters on his
his hands and tears in his eyes, sat patient
w on a hard bench in the Office of the Cam
pagnie General Transatlantique at No. 8
Bowling Green, the other day, says a New
York dispatch to the st. Louis Republic.
waiting to sec the agent OF the steamship
line. The baron wore a blue knit shirt and
dark blue flannel coat and trousers. His
shoes were muddy, his s%un-burned face I'M
shorn, and he twirled between his fingers n
pulled cap, such as sailors wear on the Red
Star Steamship limo from Antwerp.
The baron was at the steamship office as
the result of a little bet he made early in
May with a friend at Cannes, France, where
he was %sojourning on his racing cutter
Leontino. You think you like the sea-"
said the friend. but I'll bet you 5000
francs you would not like to be a sailor.
If you were on a big steamer you would
become tired before you had gone from
Cannes to Nice" There was more talk uI-
til finally the baron put up 5000 francs and
agreed to ship incognito as a sailor on a
transatlantic steamship. Not wishing to
acquaint his wife and family with his pur-
pose he went to his home near Boulogne
and left word that he was going to Ports
mouth to see the French and English fleets
and would then travel to Scotland to see a
friend. Instead of this the baron posted
to Antwerp, disposed of his money and
good clothes, bought a blue flannel suit of
clothes and a black bag and secured en-
ployment AZ a sailor on the Red Star line
steamship Noordland, which sailed for
America on Saturday, August 15. He was
to receive IS francs for the round trip.
On the first night out the incognito baron
got a taste of seafaring life that he did not
relish. He was ordered to sweep the deck
with the other sailors. They gave him a
big stiff broom and made him sweep till his
hands were blistered. But that was
nothing. The next day he was ordered to
pull at the ropes, and he pulled in more
rope than he had ever seen before. He
was sent to the top of the rigging to keep
a lookout. That night they made him
scrub the deck after the frst-olass passen-
gers had retired to their soft hunks. Scrub
bling the deck was an occupation the baron
had not bargained for. but there was nothing
for him to do but scrub, and ho got down on
his baronial knees and scrubbed and scrub
bed till his backbone felt like one of those
two-foot rules that folds up in three sections.
ScrubbinR and sweeping, weeping and scrub
bling, that was the lot. During the day |
Ao Az OSOlN AAAA vAhV " hAtoA WA wv bAN l
at night he swept and scrubbed. Heavy
weather was encountered and the voy age
WAS somewhat longer than usual. which af-
forded the baron more time to scrub. When
two days from New York he revealed his
identity to First Officer Doxrud and de-
clared that he had had enough of being a
steamship sailor. He did not ask to be re-
lieved Of his duties, however, and was a
sailor to the last.
When the steamship arrived at her pier in
Jersey City on Wednesday afternoon the
Baron, who had been known as Paul Glenn
ent to the other sailors and on the books of
the company, hastened OF land to find a
substitute. After some trouble he found
one and paid him $50 to make the return
trip to Antwerp. This transaction re-
osss' s spa Baron e. : wa Of s[%est all Wits IBIS
emotions of hope and anxiety that he
made his way on Thursday to the pier of
the Compagnie Generate Transatlantique,
where he expected to find a Trunk contain
ing clothes which were to have come from a
In Champagne. which arrived last Sunday.
trunk was not there, and although the
officials went over all the lists there was no
trace of it.
The baron was in a quandary. He had
no money. no clothes in which to ''see the
town." and he could not telegraph to his
wife because he did not want her to know
his whereabouts. That night the baron
slept on board the Noordland. and today he
saw the French consul-general and
laid the sad state of affairs before
him. The consul-general sent him
to the agent of the Compagnie Generate
Demonstrations and saw the agent himself
later and fixed it SO the baron could retut
to France on the La Champagne If he so
desired and pay his fare when he reached
home. The baron was highly pleased when
he received this information.
A reporter saw him while he was waiting
to see the agent, and he looked hilarious.
Zee bleesters. Zee 70 blisters!' he ex-
claimed, opening the palms of his chubby
hands. There we're two dozen of them.
carefully arranged on various portions of
the surface of the skin. II am a baron,'
he said in broken English, 'and I live near
B%oulogns, My father was secretary-gen-
oral Of the prefecture under the empire. All
ancestors were in the army and l am an
officer in the reserve"
The baron showed the French consul
general papers to prove that he was q Sec
ond lieutenant of the reserve.
The Caro- of the Itata. ~.
New YORK, Sept. 1.-Cherles r. Flint,
AGENT Of the Chilian ateamahin companv