The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-05-24
FUN ON THE OREGON.
HOW Old Neptune was Received When the
Battleship Crossed the Line"
(From the Milwaukee, Sentinel J

(from the Milwaukee Sentinel.
eaoe5 Cyrus 81. Miller of the battleship
oregon writes a letter from Callao in
which he tells how, when the shin crossed
the equator, the old ceremony Of the
boarding OF the ship by Neptune was OBJ.
served. incidentally he mentions the
effeot of the equatorial sun, which made
the deck in his room SO hot he cou,d NOT
stand on it in bare feet, sending the mar
curry up to 100 degrees, driving everybody
up under the awnings ON the upper deck
while the tiremen in the hold sweltered
under 160 degrees of heat. The ice
machine, however, furnished cooling
drinks, of which one can drink oopioasly
in such temperature without injury. Of
the ceremony he says:
"On March 81 we crossed the line (equa-
tori, and as we then entered the domains
of Neptune he came on board to welcome
us, especially those who had never crossed
before. One of the old Jackies made an
imposing king, with his crown and
trident, and his wife, Anphitrite, cut a
stunning figure with long blond hair
mads out of manila rope. The Imperial
pair were followed by the court, sconl-
posed OF Judge and secretary lin rather
battered dress suits) and numerous pollce-:
men, who were distinguished by their I'm
mense size and huge stuffed CT ubs, - Il
1.-The costumes were ridiculous in the
extreme, but could never begin to de-
scribe them. All hands were called aft
on the quarterback to muster. Neptune
was received by the captain, who turned
the ship over to him. The god of the sea
then surveyed the horizon carefully
through the binoeular "a couple of beer
bottles lashed together) and then made
a very pretty speech In which bullfrogs,
mermaids, and tadpoles were prominent.
He promised immunity from sharks, sea-
gulls, water snakes, and NAL de mer, to
say nothing OF thousand terrors of the
sea that | have forgotten. We then ad-
]ourned to the upper structure, where
court opened. Neptune took his place on
the bridge and every officer on the ship
was sum moned to appear and prove, if he
could, that he had crossed the line before.
Ii he could not bring two witnesses to
support his word the Judge was under
the painful necessity of ordering him to
pay the customary tribute. The tribute
was q number of BOTTLES of beer, so that
you can see how painful it was for the
poor judge when he stood in the heat and
conjured up visions Of ice cold bottles,
The officers having Been disposed of. the
crew was then 3aken up. Proceedings
were changed little, for the first man
that failed to toe the mark as to proofs
was seated on STOOL, and two new per-
sonages now came into view. One had
the lather and the other the razor. The
victim being ready (although it was much
better to catch him unprepared), the
shaving brush Ia good sized paint brush)
was plunged into terrible mixture OF
eggs. flour, molasses and vinegar, and a
heavy coating of the lather applied all
over the victim. The neck, hair, back,
and every other exposed place was remem-
bered, sometimes in q way far from deli
cate, for the slap of the brush could be
heard all over the deck. The man with
the long wooden razor next got in his
work and shaved the poor unfortunate in
a way that caused him 70 swallow q num-
Der of teaspoonfuls of the lather. When
the torment was carried far enough in |
that line the stool was given uick1 jerk
and the victim shot the chutes from the
bridge to the deck below, where a canvas
tank with four feet of salt water was
rugged
who ducked him numerically, beat him
with their clubs, and SO abused him that
when he finally emerged from the place
of torture he really did not know where
he was at. So on with about 400 men.
Occasionally the man In the chair would
smile willis the lather was being applied
This the barber promptly stopped by
plunging the brush into the miscreant's
mouth. 81 +
''The Peruvian currency is all silver, so
the result is that for $40 in American
gold we get 40 Peruvian soils. Each of
the latter is as large as Uncle Sans
silver dollars. Soyou can imagine what
a lot Of money had.'' IA
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