The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-06-16
A BRAVE DEED.

Nandalia as she lay at her moorings
IN the tranquil harbor of Apia on the
occasion of our first visit to the Sa
moan islands in January, 1889, for
scarcely had we let go her bow and
stern anchors, as is customary in
those treacherous latitudes, when it
was discovered that our messman
| during the cOmmOtIOn attendant
Herewith had unceremoniously slip
ped over the side and swan to an
outward bound merchantmen with a
view to abruptly severing his rela
tions with the naval service in gener-
al and the midship Ness of our YES
sci in particular.
The mess striker" as he is unoffi-
cially designated, of a man O. war, is
Notwithstanding his apparent infer
iority, from standpoint Of relative
rank, an important functionary, par
ticularly when SO thoroughly familiar
with his duties as was our late in
cumbent, who, in spite of his charac-
| terlstlc, harum scarum propensities,
| which had from time to time called
| forth corrections in various degrees
| of severity from the members of our
mess, was far above the average in
| his capacity. Trne, he had penchant
for thrashing every new cook who ap
peared for duty at the galley, but his
saucepans and baking tins We're In
| consequence always given the point
| Of precedence, thus Insuring us hot
| cuisine at every meal, and If he did
restrict himself to the best brands of
tobacco he could abstract from our
private stores, he daily bestowed up
On our shoes a polish which was un,
Iimpeachable III the eyes of the in
Ispecting officers, and, thanks to his
| industry, our sword hits and trap
pings invariably bore luster which
awakened undisgnised envy in the
| eyes of our seniors. But he was gone
| now, and we had to console ourselves
as best we could with blaming each
other for his flight.
The carpenter, who alone appeared
| above reproach in the affair, accused
the sailmaker because of having re
viled him for appropriating a bolt of
| canvas from the sail locker with
which to manufacture deck cloths for
our quarters, while the sailmaker in
| turn censured the boatswaln for nav
ing gone still further i'll reporting
him for creating some disturbance or
| other forward among the crew. The
boatswaln was equally convinced that
the fault lay with the gunner, who
had seen tit to impose extra duty up
on him, for having shghted his ord
nance duties as set forth in the ships
station bill, though the gunner argued
| that the pay clerk, our caterer, was
| responsible for the catastrophe in
having held back the strikers" ra-
ton money to cover an overdraft in
his accounts. Finally all bat myself.
the commanders secretary, agreed
that | was amenable to contributory
negligence In not having manipulated
the conduct records in such manner
as to secure first class liberty for him in
every port we had visited, from which
privilege his turbulent department
had always precluded him. Howev-
er, such speculations were productive
Of no improvement in the situation,
and after having endured the petty
annoyance of being forced to admin
lister to our individual wants for the
space of three days, intensified by fre-
quent criticisms on the part of the
commanding officer during his rounds
Of inspection, we were not little re
lleved to near caterer announce that
he had secured another messman
from the settlement on shore, the
same being native islander who had
been recommended for the billet by
one of the local missionaries.
We entertained more or less mis-
givings as to the suitability of this
new acquisition, but under the cir
cumstances we were ready to accept
any one IN the form of an attendant,
SO that when subsequently he appear
ed on board and entered upon the
charge of his duties no dlsparaging
comments were forthcoming.
His name, in accordance with the
customs of his people, was limited to
one appellation, Wailoah, which, pro
nounced in his peculiar native accent,
was strangely pleasing to the ear. In
appearances he was strlklngly hand
some fellow, the comeliness of his
well proportioned frame accentuated
by regular cast of features, fine
eyes and straight black hair. No
doubt his splendid physique. together
with his amiable disposition, went far
toward reconciling Us to his unso
phisticated manners and and in.
a1aptability to his duties, for as time
progressed 1t became evident that
Nailoah would never make brilliant
| success rs mess striker. His tastes,
not unnaturally for a Samoan. were
more in harmony with the strictly
| nautic al features OF life on shipboard
than with the menlal requirements of
his rating, and he would have accus.
toned himself with vastly greater
| facility to the use of 4 marline spike
or serving mallot than the accom-
trements of galley and messroom.
Our stay at Apia on this occasion
was brief, and less than fortnight
found us again under way, bound for
the Hawaiian Islands, away to the
northeastward 1t was while at Hon
olulu that change became manifest
in Wailoah's character. whether the
outcome of his association with the
uuruly element of our crew or of an
| inborn thirst SO prevalent among his
race is problematic, but all events
when at the expiration of month we
were again headed for the Samoan
group, our messman had developed an
Unsuitable appetite for Intoxicating
| liquor. In the absence of ordinary
stmulants, which it was impossible
for him To procure at sea, he would
seek to alleviate his thirst with any
ing, from the contents of the cook S
yeast breaker to undiluted Worcester
shire sauce, and when these subsu
tutes We're placed beyond his reach,
his craving WIS as intense as that of
q confirmed topper. l pitied the poor
1 fol t,u IN biS lpmopt q blo @ N lotion ON Il