The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-22
THE SAILORS PETS.
HE KNOWS HOW TO TAME WILD
ANIMALS.

The Pets of Cruise to China-Par-
rOts at Madeira, AIbinOs at the
and Squirrels in China and Long
Haired Dogs In Japan-The Rivalry
Between Jamestown and POrst-
mouth.
From the Philadelphia Times.
Ever since men have been compelled to
seek a living and risk their lives by GO
ing down to the sea in ships" has the
sailor been famed for his great success
in the training of animal pets. Columbus,
in the Santa Maria, 1 feel certain, must
have had on board a pet of some kind,
the existence of which historians have
failed to chronicle. Superstitious sailors
claim that without one that great navi-
gators success would have been impos-
sible.
globe-trotter or business traveller
pays pretty penny when he brings home
from foreign port a small dog, a mon
key or parrot and finds, after paying
the extra transportation, tipped the stew
ard and attendants, that the pet costs
more than it is worth.
Sailors on the other hand, get to all
kinds of little corners on this earth where
four-footed animals and feathered pets
can be bought for a song. They feed
them from their own mess tables, and
besides are not troubled by that terror
of a&curio-seekers, the custom house Of
ficers.
A good-sized monkey can be bought in
the West Indies for 81, while parrots cost
about so cents each. Other quadrupeds
and feathered pets can be had there equal
ly as cheap.
During five years experience in our
navy have found that our men-of-war's
men do not differ from the Old-time mer-
chant sailor in regard to their love for
dumb animals, and have seen this fond
ness carried to ridiculous extremes. If
a captain wishes to gain the good will
of all men forward the mainmast he
must allow them to have their own way
and have whatever pets they wish to
bring aboard. About the time the ship
begins to look and sound like a. first-class
menagerie Jack, ever whimsical, be-
comes tired of some of the animals and
presents them to friends on shore. But
the people aft must be very careful not
to hint at this removal, as that would
cause serious objections.
When l was on my way to China we had
forty American boys, apprentices, each
one of whom, if not a sole possessOr, at
least shared in the enjoyment of pet
owned by a more fortunate chum We
remained at Madeira a short time, but
quite long enough to receive on board, be-
sides a couple of Portuguese SCOWa!WayS,
a large number of bTight-plumaged and
very noisy parrots. ] have never seen any
place where the latter bird can be pro-
cured for as little money as at the Azores.
Before we again saw land, two months
later we had plenty of time to get hearth
ly sick of the screech and cry of 'Senor-
ta'' of the many feathered takers.
When nearing the Cape of Good Hope
we were becalmed, harpOoned Porpoises
and caught albicores, the latter being kept
in tubs as pets unth we reached Cape
Town. AS usual we met plenty of alba
trosses and cape pigeons, some of them
being caught by the captains steward
by means of a bent pin and a length of
black thread A sailors legend is that
when an apprentice boy dies the neighbor-
hood of his last plunge will be haunted
by his spirit in the form of a Mother Ca
rey's chicken. For this reason these lit
tie birds, and in fact, all the sea birds
are, even in this day of enlightenment,
held in awe by all seafaring men.
At Cape Town our stock of pets was ma
terially decreased, some having died of
seasickness, while others had been liber-
ated. The pet lovers, therefore, went
ashore bound to get mething alive. and
returned the next day with monkey a
small pig, and numerous birds. Parrot
cages were cleaned out for new occupants
while other birds we're chained to guns
and stanchions, or roarned about the deck
or perched on MEETINGS. After getting well
to the north again in the Indian Ocean,
we met with no more cold weather for
two years, so that all the tropical animals
thrived.
At Singapore another Monkey. a bob
tailed cat and a hairless dog swelled the
list until we arrived at Hong Kong, when
small poX broke out among the crew
causing the doctor to advise the ships
riddance of all pets.
After the smallpox the first new ar
rival was a little black pig, which was
thrown in through the gun deck port
from a sampan long after hammocks had
been "piped' down. The owned did this