The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-07-06
HOBBS AMI HIS FLAG.
AN EPISODE OF VAR DAYS IN TIE
hAR3OR OF HONG-KONG.

An Impatient Yankee shipper Who u;sc
Confidence In Ills ship and Who p.ree
the Flying Two Flags Ia Heu
trail Waters How the Escape Was Mad.
During the greater part OF the wlF.
said the retired skipper, there ver" !"
large number 81 American clIprer5stal
ed in Hong-hong harbor. having or,l-.
to remain thsr" from their owners. wso
feared the Alabama. This arrangement
did not at all please the captains AMI.
officers. rs many Of ms We're anxious L..
go home and ship III the navy, but orders
were orders. We could not leave t.Hs
ships. and tie frequent visits of the Ala
bama herself to Il 9 harbor. forcing her,
self into orr midst, as the saving goes.
were very vivid reminders that neutral
waters We're IA pretty good sort Of al in
vention
Although we passed the long weeks
and months as pleasantly as we could
with all kinds of arrangements for kill
ing time, both on %shipncard and on
shore. there WIS of course Il continual
and concerted growl going up from our
little band Of Yankee shippers. and old
Hobbs was she star growler Of us all.
His ship was the Hu1n,ning Bird, a
GRAND new clipper hailiny from Boston
The trip II to Hong-Kong had been her
maiden one. and it was chatting to Hobbs
not very smooth temper to have her lie
idle SO early in her career. Having great
Saith in the ships speed md in his OWL
~seamanship. he was more than anxiolr.
to put to sea and let Selalnes catch him
If he could, but. ike the rest OF lis. hi,
orders to remain were positive.
Occasionally il ship would manage I
clear by sailing under some foreign flag
hui as it was Il complicated process in
volying fatlolns of red tipe aud very OF
ten fell through just wnen %everythin.
seemed favorable it WAS not resortel ~
rery often. When it was tried. however
DID Hobbs would 20 on his beam enc
with wrath, He weull fume and rant
fasting aspersions on the patriotism: =
the owner. the AGENTS. the officials. al
eve the Chinese crew. He was so ir
tensely patriotic that to see q good Van
kee craft sail under false colors WOMB
keep him boiling for Il week.
Won can SEQ what his feelings We
when one day he wa ordered to procec,,
10 Sumatra under the British flag. L
funnel. rarted and swore and thoI4
tuned. raurnd an! swore over amaii.
with 4 few extra choice nautical apafA
nmas thrown in farpmrEas!s. This NEG
essary operation Dvpr. he sent ashore H.
the native sa~5l.aaser's for a British 4
the smallest 10 be haa, When i. r8..u
ahoard-it was about 2 by / feet III s.a5
Hobbs looked 1T II 3skalce al
dertti It to he put ont of siGl5 NM. n
ing day
Sailing day arrived, aud the Er3elsi,
flag was seen ti.tfering quietly from il
proper place 81 the Humming Birl. L
attracted mighty little attention, sosg
ever, for the Alabama was anterint liz
harbor. She fioatel slowly along am
dropped anchor exceedingly close to !.
HuIaming Bird. About this time tlta
harbor master was seen III his boat be.
ing ro"ed rapidly toward Hobbs snip.
and Il huge buGIia of bunting about IT,
size of an old silellback's sea chest WI.
rapidly hauled to the maintop Of the
Humnins Elrd.
The harbor master pulled NJ along
side the Eu,nming Bird and yelled for
the captain. IL could be seen that he
wis angry about something. Hobbs
came to the rail i'll his plug hat AMI long
tailed bottle green coat, the CUSTOMARY
uniform of Il skipper in those DAYS.
and asked the harbor master what he
could do.
- WONT Won, p, fnlyn lou, f1a,t a., !
instantly. sir said the harbor master.
"'Guess not said Hobbs.
Its q disgrace, sir, and an insult to
hoist such u flag as that
Whats the matter with the flag
said Hobbs, surprised.
Its all wrong, sir; the proportions
are all wrong. The field is too long 70,
its width. and the rest of it is too wide for
it's length. The crosses are wrongly ar.
ranged. sir, and it is a vile c~aricature Of
an honored flag. sir: Remove it imme
"'Guess not said Hobbs again. That
flag was bought in "A British port aud
made by a British subject. He was q
but that is neither here nor
there. | don't care if it is the flag OF
80 long AS it was sold to me
for that of England. Good morning.
THE harbor master had nothing to say
to this and started back. but he had no
sooner done so than the main halliards
we're pulled. the bundle at the peak
broke out, and in a second the stars and
were waving before the aston.
shed eyes of the harbor master, the Yam.
zee shippers and Captain Semmes of the
Alabama. Indeed. SO large was Old
Glory in this particular case that it al.
brushed the Alabama's decks, the
vessels being SO near together. The huge
lag had been presented t. the ship at
her launching and to the excited spec.
on this occasion seemed larger
han the ship herself.
THE harbor master put about. angrie,
han before. and demanded explanations.