The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-03

fate that can happen 20 man In the
civilized world today, writes J. Morgan
Smith in the New York World.
While / was running through my for
tune I INDUCED in every luxury and eN-
travagance familiar to the giided youth
of today I Travelled all around the world.
l tried msuccessfully to break the bank
st Monte Carlo. l went to the English
Derby and the French Grand Prix. l bet
on every big fight or race that was go
ing
dined every night at the finest res
tauIauts of Paris-at the Cafe AnSlais,
Rignon's Vois;ns and the rest. The most
beautiful young women in the French
capitar helped me to get through the last
OF my money.
one night I gave great feast to
fabulously wealthy Hindoo prince, and
all our guests, who were mostly ladies.
were dressed in Oriental costumes.
When I had lost all of my fortune
friend whom l had entertained lavishly
was generous enough 10 lend me enough
tc come home to New York in the sec
ond cabin. l did not care to stay there
among my rich friends and relatives
Who We're disguised with me and so [
wandered on to San Francisco, where 1
thought it would be easier to pick up
living and hide my poverty.
One evening in a waterside saloon l
net man of the sea whose conversation
attracted me. AS l was pennless cheer
fully accepted the drinks which he paid
for. They must have contained some
thing stronger than alcohol, for the next
!,
n splitting headache on the deck of a
slip far away from help out in the bay
OF San Francisco.
I had been shangEaied.
The last thing I remembered my inter-
esIing acquaintance speak of was the
charm of life on board a whaler He
said that chasing whales was such fun
that sailors simply fought with one an
other for the privilege of getting on
board. Well. now l found l was on
whager
The ship, called the Fearless, was the
last l should have taken for whaler.
She was a small, dirty, black, bark
ligged steamship, with a stumpy funnel
ana half-painted box for pilot house.
Once aboard her my dreams of holy
stoned decks, bright brasswork and
snowy sails vanished. On the main deck
q
boys, who stared at me with besotted
eyes. I did not like the looks of things,
but 1 thought l would be a good feilow
with my companions. [ shifted my shore
clothes for a suit of dungarees. My bunk
in the Steerage was with the boat SteererS
and the fremen, eight in all. The place
was about as large as two ordinary cab
ms on an Atlantic liner.
We started with Capt. James McKenna,
First Mate William three ut her
mates, steward, a cook, a cabin boy, a
Storage boy. four boat steerers, two en-
CHEERS, three firemen and eighteen in the
fOrecastle. -5.
I had not turned in five minutes that
night when l found that l had thousands
of bed fellows. 1 complained and was
told that that was nothing" To make
the best of it I slept on the floor.
After talking with the men the next
day l soon began to find out the real
truth about life on the romantic Whalers.
That life is so hard that ordinary sailors
will not accept it willingly, and the crews
are largely made up of criminals, out
casts and hoDoes. Even these have to
be drugged or dubbed into insensibility-
I'm other words shanghaied-in order to
get them on board a whaling cruise
means StarVa ton, torture disease, posi-
bic madness during the three years stay
in the dreary Arctic regions. Men will
to escape it. AS the lights of the Golden
Gate faded away l could almost have
jumped overheard.
We were first to run into Nanaimo, B.
C, for coal With a fair wind we sped
quickly up the coast. The third day out
the coal bunker plate was raised as 1
happened on deck, and out struggled two
forms, covered with dirt and perspra-
ton, that almost made 4ne sick. I have
been below on Atlantic liners and know
that their life Is hard one, but I can
truthfully say that it is one continuous
round of frivolous pleasure compared
to that on a whaler. The next day 1
was to realize this fully, for they made
me take a turn in the bunkers.
The first chance l had to get out
went to the captain and told him that
would die sooner than do a stroke of
work in the bunkers. He seemed to
recognize that | was different from some
of the other wretches and I was never
sent there again.
My next job was a very peculiar one.
It consisted in looking after one of the
mates, who was suffering from delrium
tremens, or the jimmies," as they called
them He was a very powerful and vio-
lent man and liable to kill al any mo-
ment in which case no one would have
troubled further about the matter. How
ever, ] had the satisfaction of hearing
him say when he came to at NanaimO
that he was sorry he had shipped ION the
packet"
While We were coaling at Nanaimo
two men jumped the ship under the very
nose of the first boat steerer. an old
shellback, who was on watch I then
learned for the first time what jumping"
ship meant It simply consists in
jumping overheard and taking the risk
of being shot while you are swimming
away or being kicked to death if you are
caught and brought back. They swore
that they would murder the next man
who attempted it. I determined that I
would be the next man, but that I would
wait for an opportunity when they were
e little less on guard.
Then l sailed away from Nanaimo
When we were a few days from Vancou-
Yer island, while I was trying to take in
a flying iib, 1 was nearly drowned
through the carelessness or spite Of the
man at the wheel. We beat our way
with heavy head winds, in twenty-eight
days to Dutch Harbor. Again we had
the miserable work Of coaling there
We left Dutch Harbor May l6 to look
fer whales. We struck the Ice and then
commenced our real hardships. Near St
Lawrence island we lowered once for a
whale, but 1t was not caught Our prin-
cipal business was trading in Illicit
liquor with the Indians along the ST.
berian coast. Liquor means simply raw
alcohol of the worst kind The Indians
know nothing else. The whalers make
enough out of this awful business to paw
the expenses of the ship, and whatever
catch they make Is. clear profit. The
Indians invariably begin to commit muir
der among themselves when they are I'M
der the influence of this liquor.
We lay around the Diomede islands
most of the month of June, and there
met the rest Of the Whaling fleet Eror,