The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-20
CONFRONTED By ROYALTY.
How King Oscar Received Two
Bright Sailor Lads.

From the Washington Post.
The candidacy Of Senator Perkins for the
nomination of vice president on the repub-
lean ticket IS regarded as serious and
important move on the political chess
board by many members of congress, and
the senator's friends are recalling some
interesting anecdotes of his career as a
sailor, farmer, and miner, a great many
years before he was elected governor Of
California and representative of that
state IN the Senate. One of the Californ-
ldhs recently gave in the senator's own
words the following Interesting and ro-
mantc incident in his seafaring career:
We came into Christiana in the ship
Luna in the summer OF S." said the sena-
lor, and my ship mate, Jack Branscom,
an English boy, who was with me before
me mast, set out with me to see the town.
we could not speak word Of Norwegian,
naturally; nor read any signs. We wanted
10 get into the kings palace, which we
heard was pretty fine thing to see, and
We went for a long circuit around the
grounds that surrounded it. trying to find
gate where they would let us in. The
soldiers stood US off at all points. but FIN
ally we came TO hole in the fence. We
craWled through without stopping to dis
cuss the matter. and stroled at will
through the magnificent parks OF the pal
ace. We were enjoying look at the deer,
and probably had plucked a flower or two
Tor our Shirt-Strings, when we were sud
4ehly arrested by half dozen gendarmes
ana made to march with them al a good
sim pace toward the main gate.
The sergeant seemed anxious to avoid
a party OF ladies' and gentlemen who were
strolllng near where he was leading US
but II was of no avail; and as we were
passing the party we were halted and for
the tlrst time since our capture heard some
English. The gentleman around whom the
party centered asked us what we had
been looking for IN the grounds We said
we We're strangers in that country, young
men seeing the world. and that We had
wished to view the kings palace and to
see the king himself. The gentleman said
that we had accomplished most of that
Tor he was the king himself-King Oscar
ii. And he gave us each a silver coin-I
have mine yet. So We didn't spend the
night in jail as we expected, but went
back to our ship pretty well pleased with
| our adventure.
I'VE had row with the mate soon af-
| forwards and went ashore and stayed all
night in the shadow of the hills back of
the CITY. The Luna tried to find US, but
had to give 1t up; and she sailed away
without US. We shipped on board a Swed-
ish brig for Guttenberg-didnt know a
word of Swedish-but we could tell when
we We're sworn at; and from Gutenberg
we went aboard the trim ship Nathaniel
| thompson, which sailed for New Orleans.
| loaded with rails for the Algers railroad
| the first road, l believe, that was ever
| built in that part of the country. At New
orleans Jack BranscOm and 1 parted.
| don't remember how 1t was, for l had
| yellow fever there and only pulled through
| by hairs breadth, and my memory of
things about that time is dim. l made a
| lew lIlpS DICK 10 my nome IN Bath, Me-,
and finally started around the Horn for
| California IN the fast clipper Galatea. Then
left the sea. That was in 1857.
'"Twenty-eight years after my little ad-
| venture with King Oscar II, / made a
| Fourth OF July trip to Monterey on a
| yacht with a party of the leading men
Of my state. I was governor of California
then. One of the sailors on the yacht
| kept looking at me intently whenever he
| thought / did not see him. He several
times seemed to want to speak. but the
I vraa I'D to
| him. He eyed me for two days, and at
| length, when l was alone on deck one
time, he approached very respectfully and
| said: Is your name George Clement Per-
| kins sirY 1 told him 1T was and that |
had been a seafaring man in my day.
| He asked me # l still had that coin the
| royal hand of Oscar had given me when !
was arrested in the grounds of the Chris
| tiana palace, and inquired about several
other things which made At absolutely GER
| tain that he was none other than Jack
Branscom, my old shipmate.
| 1t was a strange meeting. Here was
| governor OF. a great state and employing
several hundred men as sailors. And here
| was Jack Branscom, after twenty eight
years the same old Jack Branscom, still
before the mast, smoking his clay pipe
and sleeping in a hammock and dra wing
Sl5 or $50 a month and his keep. My whole
| life since the time / stood before King
| Oscar swept before me, and could hardly
believe it all. / sat for long time talk
| ing over old times with Branscom, and
| when we had finished / told him to go
| along out of where he was and report
to me for duty as boatswain on board
the ship Senator, which was then run
/ ming up and down the coast for our COM
pany. When Jack got there they made
| him third mate, and was prepared to
promote him If he showed the ability to
| handle his work. But the Senator was a
walking-beam side-wheeler, and repre-
scented to Jack the modern innovation
which he scorned as a man who had
| always trusted to the wind. He didn't
seem happy as a third mate, and he took
to drink 10 drown his sorrow at his pro-
motion. We cut him down to a deckhand
| once more but that didn't do him any
81 l;e bna,nS fo X,1stral gu a,d
is the last heard Of Jack Branscom."