Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-11-26
AS SCHLEY TELLS 1T.

In the club corner the other night. Be
cause il you haven't you ought to. The
commodore started to tell me thai story
one night about ten years ago. in the S;nok-
ing compartment of sleeping car going
over to New York ard he hasn't entirely lin
ished it yet. Every time meet him and We
have time for a talk over a smoke he tells
me an installment of that orang -outang
yarn. He never repeats himself at Ill. but
his story of that marvellous orauis-otrtang
Is a connected narrative of the adventures
ard misadventures of the anthropoid. l
am free to say that the monkey must have
been wonder and I've always been cu
riouS to ascertain what was his eventual
end. But the commodore has always evad-
ed that issue. Many times I've asked him
naty what finally became of the orang-
Cutang. but he curIs up when [ ask him
that question and stalls me off by telling
me some further instances of the prDWeSS
ard misehievous deviltry of the simian. I'm
IN hopes of learning some day what finish
the monkey met up with and before Schley
goes on the retired list he may relent and
tell me-
Anyhow. when Schley was first lieuten-
ant OF the Benecia, and that good old tub
was cruising through tae Straits IF Sunda
thirty years ago, native bumboat man
brought the orang-outang aboard. The
orang-outang was a natural born sailor,
and he made himself 80 at home with the
rigging and running gear Of thu Beaecia
on his first visit aboard that he caught
Schley's eye-and Schley's eye when he
vas thirty years younger wasn't bit less
discerning than it is now. Schley asked
the bumboat man to name his figure for the
orang-outang. The bumboat man thought
dollard be about right, and when the
Benecla picked up her anchor to resume
her cruise the orang-outang remained on
board and became to all intents aud pur-
poses. a member of the crew. I've seen
the dampness come into Commodore
In foil ,h.Nt,
CutanS. Schley turned the new member Of
the ships company over to the old chief
bo'sn,s mate, to whom the brute took an
immediate fancy. and you know what it
means for an animal to be turned loose up
forward among the blueackets. If an animal
dc esn pick up sense. rot to speak of cul
tUre, audacity and the finer trimmings of
humanity, in the course of a few months
contact with the men forward of a man-o'-
war. then the animal must be constitution
ally lacking, and there wasn't anything
lacking in Porkchops. this erang-outang
My, Schiey says that POrkchops was more
than human. The orans -outang hadn't been
aboard the Benecia two days before his
keeper, the chief bo's'n's mate. rugged up
regular bluejackets hammock for the thing,
and Porkchops slept in it. Porkchops learnt
his hammock number. Schiey says. within
a week. and when the call to get hammocks
out OF the netting went forth IN the evening
Porkcl ops would pick his own out of the
bunch unerringly every time carry it below
TO the berth deck, where he slunG and rugged
the hammock to the correct billet every
time without fail, unashing it and getting
it ready for occupancy himself 1T all
hands in the morning, Schlcy says. the
orang-outang I'D lash UP his hammock and
have it in the MEETINGS before the rest of
the bluejackets Counting Porkchops as u
tluejackeO would be through rubbing their
eyes. Then. Schley says, Porkchops got to
be a Valuabl seaman when the ship was
cruising. He mastered the running gear
in no time and-of course, the Benecia was
p oil
there was heavy weather his services i'll
going aloft and shortening sail were, says
Schiey, worth those of any five men Of the
ships company, You just ought to hear of
the number of times Porkchops saved the
Berecia and the lives of the whole ships
company thereof by getting in the big
spread of canvas just in the nick of time
before the squalls came along
And then-Schley SPECIFICATIONS got
to he a confirmed tobacco fiend. The old
DO sns n ate filled pipe one day, lighted
Ii Tor the orang-Outang, handed Ii to the
tfing quickly, and then galloped for the
topgallant fo'c'sle, fearing that when the
anthropoid took Whit from the pipe and
found out what he was up against. he'd
try to tear the ship apart But, instead of
that. POrkchOps just pulled away at the
pipe-SChley Says-like a royal marine and
seemed to get all kinds of enjoyment out
of the tobacco. and what's more, Porkchops,
when he wanted to expectOrate, would use
the SptkitS for the purpose. After that
PorkchOpS was pulling away at a pipe all
the time and Schley had to include in his
monthly expense account a couple If pound
OF navy plug for the orang-outang's con-
sumption. Schley says that it was a touch
ing and amiable sight to see the old bo's'n's
mate and the orang-outang walking fore
and aft on the spar deck linked arms after
mess of an evening, both of them chewing
on old black clay pipes and thinking over
the happenings of the day-for, strangely
enough, Porkchops never quite attained
mastery of the English language, however
much n, he may have known of the .patois
prevailing around the Straits of Suu.la
'Schley wanted to ascertain the effect Of
spirituous drinks upon the created thing
nearest in its general characteristics to
man. and so, one evening, he called Pork
chops INTO his room and handed the orang-
outang a large glass of an old nutty sherry
that he had picked up somewhere The
orang-outang shifted the sherry at first, and
then put the glass to his lips The first
taste seemed 10 hit him about right-SchIey
says-and with his left hand he rubbed his
stomach approximately. Then he began 10
down the sherry in gulps, did Porkchops
ana Schley says ii wasn't three minutes be
fore he had the drunkenest orang-outang
on MS hands that ever put a marines cap
or one side of his head and looked rakish
ne ofdns-outanS. with funny expression
OF drunken enjoyment on his face-says
Schley-lumbered out of the cabin and
hunted up his pal the old chief Jo's'n's
mate. When Porkchops found his paI he
struck drunken attitude before him as
do you think of this for a complimentary
Jag" The orang-outang had to be Iut In
his hammock that night. for his jag would
not permit of his turning in unassistcd and
when he awoke at all hands the next morn
ing he was the picture of penitence and
from that time on he could never be coaxed
or caJoled-Schley tells me-to take another
drink of alcoholic liquors.
'Porkchops got into the office Of the pay
master one afternoon, when the ship was
in port and the paymaster was ashore and
what Porkchops didn't do to the quarterly
reports, and the clean books, and the care
fully-made-out accounts, by the liberal use
of ink. isn't worth mentioning, says Sehley
The paymaSter was mad when he got back
and the admiral of the fleet to which the
Benecia was attached heard of the mis-
chievous orang-outang and ordered that all
of the ships of the fleet should be cleared
of animals, which made Schley unhappy
Schley lodged the issue by declining to re-
gard Porkchops as an animal. and the
orang-outang was suffered to continue as
member of the Benecia's crew. But Pork.
chops in some way or other found out that
the admiral was sore on him, and so every
time the admiral visited the Benecia in his
barge PorkchOps 'ud hide in the bilges
until the admiraps barge left. Porkchops
may be alive and smoking a pipe yet, for