The Republican journal., 1896-06-04

last pricked on the general chart; like to
Jump the squares and to see that we are
in a new place and farther onward than
when the position was last calculated.
This childish method may not be good
navigating. and certainly not according to
the old school, but with more than
quarter of a century's practice we have
never failed to get there Just the same.
When near the land OF other dangers, en-
tirely different habits should, of course,
always be maintained.
When few days out, some 200 miles
northwest of the Cape de Ferdes, we
passed through a broad belt of the rare
phenomena of I" red fog" sometimes
called ''sirocco dust" That particular
locality is where it has been most often
met with, though no one knows why.
The Cape de Nerdes, the nearest land,
were never credited with producing or
being in any way responsible for it; for
many years it was supposed to come from
the African deserts, hence the name,
''sirOcco dust Professor Ehrenberg,
however, made careful microscopic and
analytic studies and found it to be of in
fusoria and organisms not of Africa but
of South America, to be found near the
upper Orinoco and Amazon rivers His
theory, entirely agreed with by Maury, was
that in the dry seasons the dust was whirl-
ed upward in strong winds and then car
ried towards North Africa in the upper
currents of air which overlay the trade
winds and blow in an opposite direction.
! Why the dust happens to fall no sooner
nor yet farther on, but almost always near
the one place where we met with it, no
one has been able to advance even a theo-
retical reason 1t is of a brick or CHINA
mon color, and covers the vessel, sails and
rigging with thick coating. We were
passing through it for some POO miles
observation was not greater than half a
league at any time, and the sun-not to
be seen at all when within ten degrees of
the horizontal other times looked exact
ly like n full moon, neither red OF golden,
but just a white silvely sphere. One
meeting this for the first time, who had
never heard OF read of the wonder might
well lie surprised and uncomfortable.
Having Many works On board, turn
ed to his remarks regarding the matter
with more than common interest 1t has
been met with most often in April or May
and sometimes in October, but, all to-
gether, its appearance is rare. | had
passed through the same waters very
many times and never before seen the
phenomena, to any noticeable extent.
Humboldt wrote Of it, and | think his
belief regarding its origin, comedies with
those of Ehrenberg and Maury.
After emerging from the depressing and
uncanny strangeness of the red fog the
weather became very fine and there is
plenty of work for might be idle hands to
do, though of different things than we
did i'll times gone by. What we once
called good seamanship, regarding handi-
work, will soon be one of the lost arts; it
| is not entirely steamships that are causing
it, but is largely due to the improved ways
in which modern vessels are rugged and
equipped. There is no longer any hemp
used except for the service on wire ropes
and for the settings on the fore and aft
stays. Dead eyes and lanyards have given
way to tulnbuckles and springs, ratlines
are being made of gas pipe, while rope
strapped blocks were long ago forgotten.
With these changes there is no longer
such things as turning i'm shroud.
putting on ''4uarter settings or Gaping
the ends; no lanyards to hitch off without
opening the lay or allowing the whole to
sag; no sword mats, grating or cross
pointing: no knots to make and no fancy
diamond or solid eye spices to be worked
in tar. The serving mallet is split and
mislaid, the marlinespike is kept in the
Old iron box, and the tar bucket is only
hunted up once year in order to slobbe1
over the service of the rigging.
All that are now needed is tinker and
a carpenter, amachiniSt and roustabout.
with a couple of scrapers and painters.
After the wire rigger and other shore
mechanics turn the button they do the
rest. The mates and sailors may be lust
as willing and ambitious as ever, but the
school of necessity is less severe, hence
their education is, and must be, neglected.
highly respected grandfather of mine
was once fitting his little yachts jib stay
while a young sailor looked on and asked
if he had been to sea. ''Yes,' said the
old gentleman, 81 was an able-seaman
do you know what constitutes such a
hand?'' The young man did not claim to
know. He was told that it was one who
could mold the frame, build a ship, rig
her and take her to sea as commander
And, truly, the grey haired old man. in
his time, had done it all; but the world
has given up raising any more able sea-
men to ever hold that kind of certificate
One of my first jobs, on this smooth
weather passage, was to put up solid,
shelf-like table, shellaced, polished and
..r1,1 i II