Evening star., 1898-12-03
o'TooLE VAS THE GHOST

winch L was attached q few years ago,
might easily have got a reputation as a
'bewitched ship on certain uncanny oc-
casion had not the mystery been so pro-
saically cleared Up, 's-Lkafd a naval officer
on leave of absence in Washington. The
snip was ordered from Mare Is and to San
Diego, to take part in the winter flower
hesta at San Diego. Cal, and, incidentally,
to go through its semi-annual great gun
practice and deep-water drills a side
issue OF the excursion. When we got into
lhe haroor Of San Diego the people ashore
mace whole lot of u.s. and the men for
ward were almost taken off their feet with
lhe hospitality they found 'on the beach
In truth. everything came SO easy for them
I'D oan Dieso that the ships company wes
good deal demora!ized. and, liberal as
the skipper was In the matter Of overlook
ing aDsenteeism on the part of the blue
jackets. the master-at-arms was kent
pretty nusy all the time putting off to he
beach to bring in long-overdue sailors who
got so mixed up in the whirl of the car
nival that they couldn't navigate back TO
the ship After We had been in the farb
ol san D1ego Tor week it became neces
safy Tor all hands to report aboard for
the captain decided to have first-rate eX-
hibitlon or the drill, ali hands abandon
ship So the chief master-at-drms went
ashore 1or big roundup of the dereiicts,
ana ne succeeded in gathering i'll all Of the
liberty breakers except one man an oiler
named OToole. O'Toole' had been five
days over his leave. and when the Jimmy
Legs returned to the ship with the boat
load he had hauled in and reported that
O'fooie wasn't findable anywhere the oil
err chances for a general court-martial
wheh ne Gid return were considered of the
best.
Steam was got up in couple of the
boilers and the ship pulled out inro the
open harbor for the all hands abandon
snip exercise. big flock of tugs and
yachts carrying people from San Diego
who wanted to take in the drill, following
after us.
Now, when the officer of the deck passes
the word and the bos'ns mate gives a
pro!onsed blast on his pipe and bawls that
long-drawn-out rather moving call, All
ha-a-nds abandon shin. there is surely a
whole lot of movement on an American
man-ot-war, for it Is the most CXactirg
dr1il on the program. not even excepting
the drill, clear ship for action. Every man
ia shlps company has got number, ard
In the abandon-ship drill his number calls
upon MIN to do certain things and the
hurryfng and scurrying for five minutes
after the call goes is something lively to
look at. The deck crew handle the boats
load them up with provisions and ;.1r use
iui appliances for a prolonged season in
the open sea, and every man IN the black
gang down below in the engineers depart
iheht mas also a good deal Of business On
hand. If the ship is under steam the fires
are banked, the valves all set the engines
all locked fast, water-tight compartments
closed. and everything below arranged SO
that in case the ship really doesn't go
down she shall be found in daeent ship
shape order in case she rides through and
is picked up later on with a hawser Thus
every man has got 10 be on the jump TO 60
MS little acts otherwise. when the skipper,
VINO is the last man to leave the shin
makes his tour of- inspection OF the shin
ne IS about to ahanf}Qn to see that sverv-
thihg is right and tau j the b.uejacket who
mas neglected his little part is likely to get
INTO trouble and asheaB Of il.
We'll when the ship had steamed a
couple of miles from tbf anchorage read in
lhe harbor of San Diego the call All hands
ABANDON ship suddenly4went and he usual
rush cnsued. Within just four and half
minutes from the tina the can went an
hands were in thejboats and the ,aptain's
gig was alongsdeAW aiting for the old gen.
titman to finish bis rapid inspection and
shake the ship nlInsalf After he had seem
that everything was made tight. the skin
per stepped into hs g e VIII ch sheered eff
instantly. and there was the fine white
cruiser standing Utterly deserted in the
swell, with every, officer and man of the
crew in boats two or three hundred wards
on. The drill was a frst-rate success. and
me skipper was getting ready to pour ont
DIS expression Of ,appraYai as ne stood in
tas,, the stern sheets or his gig, when a queer
lnlns happened. TIE water right above
the twin screws began to churn and the
snip slowly got into motion. The wheel.
petore the ship was abandoned. had been
lashea hard aport and the cruiser, under
pretty fair headway of steam to Judge
from the churning of the pronelers. began
TO turn around rapidly in circles. You
never saw such q sensation on land or sea
as mat Job created. 1t was utterly mex
pilcable The engineer officers knocked
their foreheads Ike crazy man ,rhere US
absolutely no theory upon which the move
ment of the ship could be explained The
Steam had been shut off the main steam
pipe before the ship was abandoned, and
IL is quite an operation to get a shiD's
steam into her cylinders and to make
everything ready to turn the engines. BIT
there circ!ed the ship, apparently turning
on pivot. and obviously under as much
steam as there was left in the boilers
She's a bloomin' witch" some Of tbe
old-time fiat-feet of the crew shouted and
the men looked at the crazy acting shin
with bit of fear in their eyes She was
circling about still when the chIaf enp3neer
who was in the steam cutter had the coy
'un make for the cruisers starboard gang
way with all speed, and in a short time he
with half dozen other officers and men
had clambered aboard and were rushing
down the engine. room hatch
Ne ell, the chief engineer the first man
70 reach the engine room, found Mr.
OTooie, oier, at the throttle of the port
engine. OToole was as drunk as an owl
and he smoked clay pipe turned upside
Town, with all the complacency in life
The chief engineer had the man by the
throat in Jifry, and couple Of minutes
later, when some of the marines got aboard
oIoole was put In irons in solitary confne
ment When OToole got sober enough ho
was brought to the mast and questioned bv
the skipper. 1t seems that on the night be-
Iore, OToo1e, being in a crafty state of
drunkenness, and knowing that he wouJd
oe thrust into the brig Immediately he ar
rived aboard the ship for liberty breal,ina
mad hired shore-boatman to pull him OF
10 the ship. Instead of taking him to the
sangway the boatman, acting under In
structions from his crafty, jagged passen-
ger, quietly pulled the boat alongside the
anchor chains, and OToole was lust Iin,bar
enough to shin up the chains under cover
or darkness In the middle Of the night and
after reaching the to'gallant fo'c'sle. sneak
aoWh below to an empty bunker, along
With a couple of quart bottles of whisky
lie had come to life just as the AN hands
abandon ship call went, and, with his car
cass full of whisky, he took it into his heoS
that Ii was his part of the Job to set the
snip in motion. SO he had turned the
steam into the cylinders of the port engine
set the throttle at the full-speed-ahead
lotch, and just let her go. 1t was Juclrv
the wheel was lashed hard aport. or the
snip would unquestiohably have baen
neached. instead Of simply turning In a cir
cie O'Toole got a general court-martieI
and was 'beached, without imprisonment
and the bluejackets lost their chance to caiii
sI@ lS.xt,C 1-1