Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-06-10
FUN ON THE OREGON.


How Old Neptune Was Received When
tho Bettleship Crossed the Line"
Cadet Cyrus II. Miller of the battle
ship Oregon writes letter from Callao
in which he tells how, when the ship
crossed the equator, the old ceremony
Of the boarding of the ship by Neptune
was observed Incidentally he mentions
the effect Of the equatorial sun, which
made the deck in his room 50 hot he
could not stand on it in bare feet, send
ing the mercury up to 100 degrees, driy-
ing everybody up under the awnings on
the upper deck, while the fremen in
the hold sweltered under 100 degrees Of
heat. The ice machine, however, fur
nished cooling drinks, of which one can
drink cepiously in such temperature
without Injury. OF the ceremony he
says:
ION March 81 we crossed the line
(equator), 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,
Amphitrite, cut stunning figure with
long blond hair made out of MANILA
rope. The imperial pair were followed
by the court, composed Of judge and
secretary lin rather battered dress SUITS
and numerous policemen, who were dis
tinguished by their immense size and
huge stuffed clubs.
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 binoculars Ia couple of beer
bottles dashed together) and then made
a very pretty speech in which bullfrogs
mcrmaids and tadpoles were prominent.
He promised immunity from sharks,
seagulls, water snakes and NAL de mer,
to say nothing Of a thousand terrors Of
the sea that have forgotten. We then
adjourned to the upper structure, where
court opened. Neptune took his place on
the bridge and every officer on the ship
was summoned to appear and prove, if
he could, that he had crossed the line
before. If he could not bring two wit
nesses to support his word, the judge
was under the painful necessity of or
dering him to pay the customary trib-
ute The tribute was a number of bot
ties 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 taken up. Proceedings were chang,
ed little, for the first man that failed
to toe the mark as TO proofs was seated
on a stool and two new personages now
came into view. One had the lather and
the other a razor. The victim being
ready although it was much better to
catch him unprepared), the shaving
brush "a good sized paint BRUSH was
plunged into a terrible mixture Of eggs
-four, molasses and vinegar and heavy
coating Of the lather applied all over
the victim. The neck, hair, back and
every other exposed place was remem-
bered, sometimes in a way far from del
icate, for the slap of the brush could BIO
heard all over the deck. The man with
the long wooden razor next got in his
work and shaved the poor unfortunate
in way that caused him to swallow a
number of teaSpoOnfuls of the lather.
When the torment was carried far
enough in that line, the stool was given
a quick jerk and the victim shot the
shoots from the bridge to the deck be-
low, where o canvas tank with four feet
of salt water was rugged.
Here he was waited for by the bears,
who ducked him numerically, beat him
with their clubs, and so abused him
that when he finally emerged from tho
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 while the lather was being
applied. This the barber promptly stop
ped by plunging the brush into the mis-
creantis month u-NilWaukee Sentinel.