Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1899-03-25
at Sea.

EaFSoUS at otof
Church Gazette: / have observed that
merchant shippers, almost without excep-
ton. have a great dislike to having par
sons aboard. Navy men. owing to their
respect for the queens regulations. do not
care 10 talk on the subject. Inc com
manders of big liners are also ratner sny
about discussing the subject one
wished one a pleasant voyage. "Pleasant
VOYAGE" he retorted savagely. That's
likely. ain'tit, when there's three parsons
shipped. and one of them Il pishop! rieIs
his feelings became too much Tor MIN aho
he called to the steward TO rehn me
glasses. | was not surprised to hSar tnat
a cylinder cover blew off in the bay. sn-
ting in my club one night a skipper caoh1
in. | shook him by the hand ana hope,t
he had had a good voyage VOYAGE.
he replied, In heartrending tones. Don't
call II that. Iy, never had such a dogs
time in my life. Got two parsons aboard
at Sydney and another at King Georges
| sound, and. blame me, II two missionaries
did not Join at Colombo! Sooner than sail
with five parsons again I'll break an arm
or a leg and put ashore
But to see the prejudice in all It's glory
one must talk TO the masters or ocean
tramps. 1 have known OF one case m
which a skipper feigned serious illness
sooner than TAKE when ne Jounu
that five missionaries were booked as pas
sengers, and two of them ladies. AS =
happened, the ship had n particularly bac
voyage, and the unlucky missionaries had
more thar one very near squeak for their
lives. Once a case was quoted 10 me az
showing great presence OF mind ana sea-
manship on the part Of the skipper. The
ship had a couple Of parsons aboard, ana
as the crew expected, the voyage was dis-
a%strous. The misfortunes cnlmlnatsa III
the decks being swept and three men
washed overheard. One was n parbon,
who ought TO have been below. After his
the weather suddenly abated and the ship
came safe TO land. ! remarked that inc
parson ought TO have been under the
matches. "Ah," replied the old seadog who
told me, "Cap'n s. is a good man. he
talked IL over with the mates, and there
seemed nothing else TO be done. So they
got him up on purpose. Better one man
than a whole company, ana the parson
ought to have been prepared, Whle IL
warn't in reason that the whole crew
should be-" -
/ have noticed that 1t was among the
officers of boats trading TO the west
African coast that the prejudice against
parsonic passengers is strongest. was
on a ship down this coast, and one night:
when chatting with the skipper, ne salo
that his vessel had never had a serious
mishap. This is how he accounted for II;
The ship Is a beauty, he SAID, "a az
soon as she was launched ! foresaw the
necessity of her getting q bad name
among parsons and such like. AS luck
would have It, on her first voyage a mis-
slonary shipped. All the other passengers
left at the Canaries. or course; we haa
bad weather and we had a bad voyage.
| mentioned 1t to the chief officer ana ne
tipped q wink to the steward. VINO, L
fancy, said a word to the cook. When we
put him ashore he was as thin as q ner-
ring and he made a lot Of complaints ana
threatened to write to the owners. All !
said was that | hoped lie would DO ms
duty to the poor heather as well as l mao
done mine to my owners. But he talked
ashore, and he wrote to his society, ana
my ships been avoided like the plague py
parsons ever since, and that's how IL Is
/ have been so lucky =.
on tho return voyage, however, as II
hammered M one mart he had TO take on
board a lady missionary whose health had
broken down. The weather was very nasty
indeed. Still the vessel arrived In the
Thames without any serious disaster
oddly enough, he was compelled TO take
out q couple of parsons the very next
voyage, and the ship got ashore and be-
came a total wreck, no lives. however. be
Shippers lave told me that. danger
apart, parsons are not desirable passen,
gers. They interfere so much. One told
me that the wife of one clerical gentle.
man insisted on holding little religious
conversations with the stewards u tht
crew and giving them tracts till they
nearly had a mutiny. At length he founC
her trying to improve the moral condition
OF the steersman, when he threatened tina
N he caught her abaft the funnel agar
he would put her in irons, after which sh'
subsidized. / have often had ludicrou!
stories of parsonic Interference told me
One man gravely demonstrated with tn
skipper for working on Sunday, ant
wanted him to send all the men aft for
service. The skipper told him he wa'
quite welcome to hold the service, ant
that the sailors who were not in thei
hunks or otherwise engaged might go
"Did they?' / asked. I'D liked 10 hav,
seen them" he replied, grimly. II KEEP
them too laundering busy. The parsoi
waited an hour and q half. and as no on,
went he gave 1t up and never tried again.
A parrot belonging to A. w. Stark
living near Xena, o., recently fell from
its perch, exclaimed, II am hurt" an,
Immediately expired. (Which is prob
ably the best thing a parrot ever did.