The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-09-25

the crowd and said. eA
Jim. do you know who you are pound.
coa mo-" said Jim; II only know that he
cosMMTmenced this fight"
Well, it's Yankee Sullivan vou,ve %,
there, said the friend. so'
rn. nag hardly uttered the words before
- III Jumped up and took to his heels "a
Ou NICK was after him. There was
soHetning IN name in this case.
..tne days before the advent of ocean
srsesa, when the freight and passenger
saliing vessels. the finest and largest of
sne ocean craft were the Liverpool pack
ets; Each ship was Offered by a CAPTAIN
anu tnree mates, had a steward. cook
eaoIn boy and carpenter, and crew of
rom twenty-four to thirty sailors. Some
ZINES the captain and all the mates were
mandy with their fists, and a voyage was
rarely made without having OCCASION to
use them. No ship went to sea without
one or more lighting men among the
omcers, whose chief duty it was to
mock down and maui unruiy or dilatory
sailors. The best recommendation a man
couid nave when seeking the position of
- .na,e On one OF these packets, was that of
successful bruiser at sea; being good
navigator was q secondary consideration.
~ was common thing for the mates,
wnen the ship was about to weigh anchor,
on some pretext to start fight. when
tney would knock down a dozen or more
Oh the sailors as warning to the re-
Among the acquaintance of the writer.
,oIty or more years ago, were several
Liverpool ship captains. One of these,
wniie yet mate, in q fight at sea had his
Jaw broken and his skull cracked by a
marlin spike in the hands of a sailor. He
carried trepanned skull and broken
Jaw (which never entirely healed) with
MIN to watery grave in 1882 Another
told me he had not been long in command
OF ship when he concluded to take lessons
IN boxing, in order the better to cope with
the sailors, several of whom had handled
MIN very roughly. In arough-and-tumble
night he was match for the best of them,
but he usually came out of such fights
more or less dsmoralized; sometimes with
ruined clothing or q damaged counte-
nance. The height of his ambition was
to attain sufficient proficiency as boxer
20 Keep his antagonists at arms length;
In other words. to knock them DOWN. like
so many tenpins, as fast as they came
within reach.
The captain accordingly called on the
most popular teacher of boxing in Liver
pool. made known his wishes, and was
assured that he could in given number
OF lessons be made master of the art of
self-defense. While his vessel was in port
he improved the time by taking lessons
daily and made gratifying progress. In
due time he was informed by the teacher
that he could impart no further instruc-
ton In boxing; that now the captain
was or ought to be more than q match for
any sailor that ever shipped on an ocean
packet. The captain felt this to be true.
and was happy in the consciousness Of
possessing the science he had aimed at.
Having settled with the teacher, the
ray,ta IN nd
started to rejoin his ship. Now he would
astonish the sailors when they undertook
TO defy his authority or threaten mutiny;
he could floor them as fast as they faced
him; he was match for an entire crew of
men uneducated in the science which he
as he slowly wendell his way
along street leading to the water front
and occupied by sailor boarding houses
and grog shops. Suddenly a sailor drew
up alongside the captain and rudely
showed him with his shoulder off the mar.
row sidewalk into the gutter. Clenching
his fists and facing the sailor, the captain
angrily asked:
''What did you do that for. you hubert"
because you was taking up too much
of the road, !" replied the sailor.
''I'll teach you better manners, them"
said the captain, as, completely off his
guard, he proceeded to chastise the man.
MUCH 10 Tie SURPRISE "a tue C6ptalus tuo
fellow he was going to thrash SO easily was
better man than himself, so far as box
ing was concerned. Not only was he un-
able to hit the man. but he received sew
eral blows on the jaws which dazed him.
Seeing that the sailor. who was cool and
collected, did little more than defend him
self when he might have given some tell
ing blows, the captain concluded to return
to his teacher and take him to task for de-
ceiving him. Smilingly the teacher met
him and asked what was the matter.
matter enough" said the captain, full
of wrath. 'Yeu told me could whip
any sailor that ever walked q ships deck,
but found that the first blasted lubber /
met on my way to the dock, could maui
the life out of me. So am back to take
some more lessons"
You have just taken your last lesson"
said the teacher, land you can learn
nothing more from me-"
''What do You mean by my last lesson :"
asked the captain.
.:"I mean that the only thing that re-
manned for you to learn was caution" re-
piled the instructor. II saw that you
were over-confident, and. to make my
training of real value, it was necessary to
teach you to be always on your guard.
Few men possess more science than you
do. and yet there are plenty who will
thrash you if you are unguarded and in
discreet"
The teacher then told the captain how,
having quickly assumed disguise. he had
overtaken his pupil and brought on the
encounter TO impart the last lesson. The
captain took the explanation good-na-
turedly, and afterward acknowledged that
il was useful to him, for he sometimes
met sailors who were little inferior to him
in science. CHARLES PRosCH.