The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-24
FUN ON THE OREGON,
How Old Neptune Was Received When
the Battleship Crossed the Line.'

How Old Neptune Was Received When
the Battleship CROSSED the Line"
Cadet Cyrus H. Miller Of the battle
ship Oregon writes a letter from Callao
in which he tells how, when the ship
crossed the equator the old ceremony
of the boarding of the ship by Nep-
tune was observed. Incidentally he
mentions the effect Of the equatorial
sun, which made the deck in his room
SO hot he could not stand on 1t in bare
feet sending the mercury up to 100,
driving everybody up under the
awning on the upper deck, while the
firemen in the hold sweltered under 1850
degrees of heat. The ice machine, how
ever, furnished cooling drinks, of which
one can drink copiously in such tenn
perature without injury. OF the cere-
mony he says:
"On 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 Jacl1ies made an imposing king,
with his crown and trident, and his
wife, Amphitrite, cut stunning fig-
ure with long blond hair made out of
manila rope. The imperial pair were
followed by the court composed OF
Judge and secretary lin rather batter
ed dress suits) and numerous police
men, who were distinguished 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 We're called aft
on the quarterback to muster. Neptune
was received by the Captain, who turn
ed the ship over to him. The god OF
the sea then surveyed the horizon care
fully through the binoculars Ca couple
of beer bottles dashed together) and
then made a very pretty speech in
which bullfrogs, mermaids, and tap
holes were prominent He promised inn
munity from sharks, seagulls, water
snakes, and NAL de mer, to say nothing
of thousand terrors of the sea that
have forgotten. We then adjourned to
the upper structure, where court open
ed Neptune took his place on the
bridge and every officer on teh ship
was summoned to appear and prove, if
he could that he had crossed the line
before. II he could not bring two wit
iito9Co w SupPVlt NOto tilO caoSN
was under the painful necessity of or
dering him to pay the customary tri-
butte The tribute was number of
bottles of beer so that you can see
how painful 1t was for the poor Judge
when he stood in the heat and conjured
up visions Of ice cold bottles. The Off
GERS having been disposed of, the crew
was then taken up. Proceedings were
changed little, for the first man that
failed to toe the mark as to proofs was
seated on a stool, and two personages
now came into view One had the lath-
err and the other razor. The victim
being ready (although it was much bet
ter to catch him unprepared), the shaw
ing brush Ca good sized paint brush)
was plunged into a terrible mixture of
eggs, -four, molasses and vinegar, and
a heavy coating Of the lather applied
all over the victim. The neck, hair,
| back and every other exposed place
was remembered, sometimes in a way
far from delicate, for the slap of the
brush could be heard all over the deck.
The man with the long wooden razor
next got in his work and shaved the
poor unfortunate in a way that caused
| him to swallow a number of teaspoon
| fuls 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 chutes from the bridge
to the deck below, where 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 the
place of torture he really did know
where he was at. So on with about 400
men. Occasionally the man in the chair
| would smile while the lather was be-
| ing applied. This the barber promptly
stopped by plunging the brush into the
miscreant's mouth.
1.-THE Peruvian currency is all silver,
| SO the result is that for $40 in Ameri-
can gold we get AZ Peruvian soils. Each
of the latter is as large as Uncle Sans
silver dollars. So you can imagine what
a lot of money had."-From the Mil
Waukee Sentinel.
|