Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1899-02-02

have observed that merchant skip
pers, almost without exception, says
the Church Gazette, have great dis
like to having parsons aboard. once
wished one pleasant voyage. pleas
ant voyage!" he retorted, savagely,
That's likely, amt it, when there's
three parsons shipped, and one of them
bishop" Here his feelings became
too much for him, and he called to the
steward to refill the glasses. was not
surprised to hear that the cylinder COW
er blew off in the bay. Sitting in my
club one night, skipper came in. I
shook him by the hand and hoped he
had had a good voyage. "Voyage,"
he replied, in heartrending tones,
don't call it that. I never had such
dogs time in my life. Got two par
sons aboard at Sydney, and another
at King Georges sound, and blame me
If two missionaries did not join at Cor
lombo! Sooner than sail with five
parsons again, I'll break an arm or a
leg, and get put ashore" To see the
prejudice in all it's glory one must
talk to the masters of ocean tramps.
have known in one case in which
skipper feigned serious illness sooner
than take command when he found
that five missionaries were booked as
passengers, and two of them ladies.
AS it happened the ship had partic-
ular]y bad voyage, and the unlucky
missionaries had more than one very
near squeak for their lives. Once a
case was quoted to me as showing
great presence of mind and seaman
ship on the part of the skipper. The
ship had a couple of parsons aboard,
and, as the crew expected, the voyage
was disastrous. The misfortunes Gull
minated in the decks being swept and
three men washed overheard. One
was parson, who ought to have been
below. After this, the weather sud-
denly abated, and the ship came safe
to land. remarked that the parson
ought to have been under matches.
"Ahs" replied the old sea dog who told
me, "Cap'n S. is a good man. He
talked it over with the mates, and
there seemed nothing else to be done.
So they got him up on purpose. Bet
ter one man than the whole company,
and the parson ought to have been pre-
pared, while it warn't in reason that
the whole crew should be-" I was in
a ship down the coast, and one night,
when chatting with the shipper, he
said his vessel had never had a serious
mishap. This is how he accounted for
it: "The ship is beauty" he said,
land as soon as she was launched I
foresaw the necessity of her getting a
bad name among parsons and such
like. AS luck would have it, on her
first voyage missionary shipped. All
the other passengers left at the Can
aries. OF course We had bad weather,
and We had a bad voyage. men
toned it to the chief officer and he
tipped wink to the steward, who, I
fancy, said word to the cook. When
We put him ashore he was as thin as a
herring, and he made lot of COM
plants and threatened to write to the
owners. All said was that I hoped
he would do his duty to the poor
heather as we'll as had done mine to
my owners. But he talked ashore and
he wrote to his society, and my ships
been avoided like the plague by par
sons ever since, and that's how it is
I've been so lucky" Shippers have
told me that, danger apart, parsons are
not desirable passengers-they inter-
fere so much. One told me that the
wife Of one clerical gentleman insist
ed on holding little religious conversa-
tions with the stewards and the crew
and giving them tracts till he nearly
had mutiny. At length he found her
trying to improve the moral condition
Of the steersman, when he threatened
that if he caught her abaft the funnel
again he would put her in irons, after
which she subsidized. I have often had
ludicrous stories of parsonic interior
ence told me. One man gravely re-
monstrated with the skipper for work
ing ON Sundays and wanted him to
send all the men aft for service.
The skipper told him he was quite
welcome to hold the service, and that
the sailors who were not in their
hunks or otherwise engaged might go.
"Dia they?" asked. "I'd like to have
seen them!" he replied, grimly; I'll
kept them too laundering busy. The
parson waited an hour and half, and
as no one went he gave it up and never:
tried again"
He Knew Her.
City Editor-Here, this won't do.