The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-01
OCEAN BRINGS THEM OUT.
Travellers Expose Their Weaknesses on
Shipboard.

human nature" said the captain of one
of the big ocean liners the other day.
there isn't any other business that
can give one in twenty years the eX-
perience in reading character that
man can get in six months as officer of
one of the popular trans Atlantic boats,
and he won't have to neglect his duties
to get it, either, for there is something
about the sea that relaXeS people and
lets their true nature shine out
Il have carried more freaks across
the ocean than one could find in all the
dime museums of the country put to-
gether 1t seems to me that there is no
type of civilized creature that doesn't
some time or other find its way IN
board boat for Liverpool, from the
thin-legged dude with the sloping fore
head, who always wears gloves on deck
and changes his clothes four times a
day, to the little earnest-faced girl mis-
sionary who is going to waste her youth
and sweetness in trying to convert Hot
tentots in some outlandsh place in
Africa
Failing in love, however. is sub
ject on which a sea captain can give
points to most anybody. There is some
thing about the sea that beats spring
all hollow in making a young mans
fancy lightly turn to thoughts of 1--we.
1 can tell from the droop of a young
is going to fall in love itn FOR the Wy
age. On a trip l had a bet with the
mate that on the first day l could pair
off half dozen couples who would be
promenading the hurricane deck in the
moonlight on the fourth night out, and
l struck it right in every case but one,
and that particular girl was so seasick
that she couldn't come IN deck. In
finding out hidden affinitieS seaman
can give cards and spades to any mat
rimonial agent above ground. There
are several happy families who invite
me to dinner with them nearly every
time l am in New York on the strength
of their match having been made on
board my ship.
Though the seaman always has a
soft spot in his heart for lovers, they
are not nearly as interesting to tie
student of human character as some of
the other types of ocean travelling. The
captains bette noir is the man With
the weather-beaten face who Sc Ems 10
be crossing the sea with the sole pur-
pose of watching the log AMI givily the
captain advice as to tie best way of
sailing the ship. If the log posted up az
noon on the main compionway shows
10 miles less than schedule time, the
self-appointed adviser seeks out the
captain and suggests hauling up the
sheets. Stumbling has no effect on him.
Another ubiquitous type is the man
who prides himself on the fact that he
is never seasick. He is aggressively
and provokingly well when everybody
else on board is helpless and i'll, and he
eXpatiateS el0quently on his theory of
eating as much as possible on all &C.
casions as a never-failing preventive.
| He is particularly vivid when picturing
the joys Of beefstake and onions to pale
and Squeamish ladies who have man.
op6 IN Grgcr themselves deck AFTER
days of misery below stairs.
"On every trip there is sure to be one
girl whose special vanity is pair Of
beautiful feet. She is generally very
plain otherwise, but the happy combi-
nation of a rather short skirt and
windy deck gives her a chance to dis
play her good points. She wears the
finest shoes with the highest French
heels, and it's wonder that she doesn't
fall and break her neck, but she man
ages somehow to glide over the most
slippery deck and take her favorite
position, with one dainty foot slightly
| elevated on the lowest rail and the
breeze blowing her skirt away from the
other trim little ankle. The prettiest
| girl on the ship isn't in it with this
| girl as far as the young men are con-
cerned
In marked contrast TO the girl with
| the feet Is the amateurish p1lnnSt Sne
| is generally a pretty girl, with melting,
soulful eyes and white hands. Her
nails are always manicured to the
| queens taste. She generally begins her
| operations by reading the palm OF an
| other girl in some conspicuous posl-
| ton where she can be seen by every
| body on the ship. There is something
| particularly fascinating about PALMS.
| try On shipboard. Whether it because
| ocean travellers regard themselves as
| being at the mercy of fate or whether
| the enforced idleness of a sea voyage
makes them glad of any diversion
which at the same time stimulates
! their egotism, l have never been able
to determine, but the paln1istry girl is
the most popular creature On board UNI
til she has gone through the entire LIST
of hands, and on a crowded ship that
| process takes several days ] have had
| my palm read by every amateur palm
ist that ever travelled on my ship, am
some of their flights of fancy would put
a professional fakir to the blush. Or
the voyage the sibyl told me that
| was to have four wives and be the
father of nine children. On the way
| back to Liverpool there was another
| palmist girl and she told me that
was to marry for love, be left wild
| over early in life and spenl the resi-
of my childless days in rining faithfully
for the lost ones. l didn't tell her any
| lnl1lS ABOUT my SSCOul NilS siltu Ioul
| children in Liverpool, aad | didn't give
her away to the other pas5e l9ers Wht
floeked around her all day long.
Another distinct type is the return
| ing Cook tourist, who has done th'
whole continent of Europe and touched
Africa, all in six weeks. This persoc
talks learnedly of midnish. in the
Coliseum, the color etfeI ) of AlGiers
the beer garlCns of Germany, the beau
ties of the Louvre the grandeur o.
the Jungfrau, the beef eaters of thu
Tower of London, the odars of STAN
boul ann the miseries of tie Englisf
channel all in one breath. He or sht
give Bayard Taylor or Richard Burton
pointers on Inc acquisition OF Inysler4
Gus tongues, aid IL they are of a poeti'
turn of miul their lisquisItirns arr
thickly sprintl@d with quotations fran
"Childe Harold" and Robert Browning
Then there are, of course, the mar
Tied people who travel n pairs. i
doesn't take much experience 10 detec
that a certain loving couple ere goins
to Europe on their wedding tour. There