Evening journal., 1898-10-10
FEVER AND CANNED SALMON.
The Sick and Hungry sailor RefuEed
TO Tulnu the Surgeons Dire
Prediction.


'SThe fever that lot of the boys will
get over In Cuba, If they are not
mighty careful in their way of living.
need not necessarily be yellow to give
EN- a hard tussle for their lives" said
an ex-sailor of the United States navy
now living in Washington. There's
plain old fever dowk there that had
q lot of the men aboard my ship guess
ing when we spent a couple of weeks
in Havana harbor about six weeks ago.
] had q good chance TO size up the bad
breaks I'd made through life myself,
for I was one Of the first of the crew
TO be carried into the sick bay with
the fever / had put in both of my
previous enlistments on the Mediter'
ranean station, and consequently |
was not used to feverish climates. ]
had never been in the genuinely low
llatitudes and hot waters before we
put into Havana hnrbor on this cruise,
ON our way to the South Atlantic sta
ton. We hadn't been swinging TO our
mudhoolS in Havana's filthy harbor for
i2 hours before l began to feel lottery
around the knees, and in the middle
Of the same night the two men who
swung their hammocks next TO mine
pounded me awake. They told me Z
lad been raving in my sleep. ! was
too weak TO fall out of my hammock,
and one of the men went aft and got
the surgeon. l was carried aft to the
sick bay. pretty flighty in the head,
and the surgeon told me l had the
fever.
"'Yellow?' asked him.
"'No said he, you've got plain.
everyday case of fever, and your tenn
perature's LOG in the shade. You're in
} for a dose all right, and you want to
mind the apothecary and do every
thing he tells you to do
There were three or four more fell
lows alongside me that had also been
taken to the sick bay with the fever,
and one of 'em was delirious. During
he next couple Of days about two doz-
en- Of the crew crowded the sick bay
e and the nlleyways. all down with the
. plain fever. 1t was about as hot O feel
I ing as I ever experienced, but after the
g fourth day l went out Of my head.
G didn't come to for two weeks, and then
= the apothecary told me that four OF
the men had died alongside of me, and
that my squeak was Of the narrowest
:, I went down from $50 to 1875 pounds.
2 began to convalesce as soon as ! got
n my head back, and l was as hungry as
|, n wolf, But they wouldn't feed me
= anything but beef tea, mutton brotl
b and that sort of stuff. got so hated
) the thought of these things. wanted
h solids, and / wanted 'em bad. Bu
s the apothecary told me they would xii
\ me If l ate 'em.
n ".All right, my boy I thought afte'
he told me this one day, I'm not goinl
Il TO die hungry, anyhow, not by
d blamed sight and 1 watched for
J. chance TO sneak something to eat
is My opportunity came one evening
N when all hands, including the apothC
~ cary, were on the main deck at ever
= ing quarters. The sick bay wasn't fa
:. from the mess table of the chief petit
= officers, and the supper was smolin
hot on the table, awaiting the retur
D. below Of the men from quarters.
e. toppled ont 80 my cot and crawled &
1r the mess table on my hands and knees
Then dragged myself TO a mess stoo
In the center of the table was n flint
big mound Of canned salmon, swim
ming in q platter Of nicely-prepare
cream gravy. Well, jabbed Il spoo
- into that, and I guess 1 must hav
2 eaten about four pounds Of it befor
2 there was q gathering on the Lac
er ders, and the chief petty officers co
- Jared me. The apothecary looked O
? me and then at the dish. and he wer
G white. He rushed aft and told the SUI
ns geon what had done. / was toted
r the sick bay, and the surgeoa can
z alongside my cot.
6 "'Aiy boy said he, have you &c
es any messages you want to leave"
n. Nothing in particular I said, picl
q ing my teeth comfortably. l felt in
6 mense. why?
or "'Because you're a dead man. sal
E. the surgeon.
"Oh, I guess not said I. I've e
J no kick a-coming, anyhow. I've had
'n feed
"'Youll be deadin an hour said Il
&C. apothecary after the surgeon WEI
5O1 out.
4st "Well. I felt out of sight from th'
sos time on, and began to mend so rapi
St ly that the surgeon was nonplused.
26t "'There's no precedent for it, sa
he. Canned salmon-man with a ter
perature Of 1o2 eating half platt'
IT, full Of canned salmoul What Il
er- deuce is he made Of, l wonder?
he "I was smoking my pipe at the gan
,u- way ten days after I ate that salmon
res Washington Star.
he Potato OmeIet.
ms Remove all the inside from lare