The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-09-01
SCHOONER ADRIATIoO
AND IT'S CRUISE.

A DvICE to the person who il Just be-
~ ginning o residence in the South
seas: Never be surprised at anything.
no matter how extravagant or unex-
pected or even impossible 1t may be,
for IL is in the South seas that the un-
expected is most certain to come to
pass, says an exchange. Furthermore,
never believe the men on the beach
who are moved to tell you OF q precise
ly similar happening somewhere else,
for that is the beach-combing instinct
of romance. Chance-plain. unaided
chance-may be better counted orto
bring about more marvellous things
than were ever told in any story Of the
beach-combers beginning, when Sir
Arthur was governor over yonder In
Fiji" or "When Shirley Baker was run
ming things down in Tonga" No
where but in the South Pacific would
you find On expensive excursion. pas
sage clio Q head, with hundreds Of
excursionists from all over the world
attracted by the idea Of a cruise among
the islands, yet not allowed to land at
q single island just because they had q
solitary case of measles aboard.
So when strange schooner was
sighted up the coast running down the
trade wind for Apia, nobody really ex-
pected that It would be a common
place trader or even a yacht, but no.
body could have invented the compli-
cation which 1t brought, not even II he
had cudgeled his brains for day and
n half. Yet Apia felt that it had pretty
well sounded the depth of schooner
possibilities when II had studied the in
fammatory intricacies of the San
Francisco schooner yacht Tolna Of
Count and Countess Festetics, who will
be ever remembered on the beach as
the titled Mysteries.
The pilot duly displayed on his flag
pole at Matautu the proper signal for
a schooner sighted. and started out In
his whaleboat. manned by Savage is-
land boys, to meet the incomer. Apia,
being interested in coming ships, met
to take drink, and figured it out that
no vessel was known to be under char
ter for the beach except one of the
firms copra barks, last heard Of In
Delagoa bay. AS soon as the strange
sail appeared In sight around the point
spyglasses were brought to bear.
AS each glass was coaxed into work
ing order and leveled on the newcomer.
it was confessed that no one had ever
seen the schooner before, and even the
flag was In dispute, some saying II was
Italian, and others Greek, and there
was no way Of settling II nearer than
by going to one Of the consulates and
asking to look at the colored flag pic
ture In the dictionary. As she came
colting in through the pass, and an
chored we'll in toward the shore, IL
was easy to read her name, Adriatico.
This left the dispute about the flag
as balanced as ever, for II one Of the
geographers at the bar could prove
her flag italian, because Italy was
washed by the Adriatic SEQ, another
could employ the same argument In
favor of Greece.
Very soon another flag went up, the
yellow flag of quarantine, and the
health officers boat was seen pulling
to the landing stage. He was met
with questions about the schooner,
and the disease.
"She's the Adriatico, and I don's
know where she comes from or any
thing about her. There are six peo-
| pie aboard, and they all have a very
high fever; In fact, they are fighting
mad. They surrounded me as soon as
I got aboard. and the only thing
| could make out was: Captain del
puerto!' which was the burden of their
cry. So I ran up the yellow flag, be-
cause have known that fighting fever
70 be contagious, and I guess the pe.
lice will be needed aboard"
With the chief Of police the collector
Of customs went OFF to the schooner
The six men renewed their hubbub
and II seemed that very nearly every
tongue was current aboard the vessel
except the English and German, which
are needed In Apia. a very little
broken English showed the chief OF
poli0 that there had been no END
of trouble aboard, and arrests were
therefore, needed. One man seemed
70 be skipper, and he was the mar
who had the shattered English.
OF him the chief of police asked
which Of the party were the sailors
for when there is trouble aboard shiI
the crew IL always arrested. He point
ed ont two men, who were promptly
passed over the rail and into the boa,
alongside. Then for the first momen,
they became quiet, possibly simply
exhausted, possibly awed by the three
fat half-castes who wore clubs ant
German silver stars with the inscrip
ton M. p" Next the man with frag
mentary English pointed out anothe,
angry disputant, and he, too, was
passed over the side and suppressed
himself. With his prisoners the chic
was just about TO pull of to the ca
boose when two of the three who