The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1899-02-06
HER ERNAMEATTHE TOP
~. S. s. BROOKLYN" WENT AeoV
~. M. s. SPHINX"

y HEROIC ieHt hN muStnt ny @nt1f
of uncIe SANS old Time Jack Tar
That Thrilled the Hearts at n wboI.
ships Crew.
There was once another Brooklyn
the forerunnor Of tho present armore
cruiser, but the old Brooklyn, which
during tio civil war. gained the name
Of the Butcher Shop, had nc resem
blance to the floating fortress that
hurled destruction into the feet of Ad
miral Cervora.
The old ship bore great spread Cf
canvas and had but auxiliary steam
power Her lofty masts and creaking
yards would seem singularly ont of
place today, but they served their pur
pose in their own time. Her open deck
with double row Of muzzle loading,
smoothbore guns looked like scene
from medieval drama, and when she
went to sea the Tapping of the sails
and the snapof the cordage were not an
unwelcome lullaby to those who slept
beneath her cool white decks
This old Brooklyn sailed one day
from New York, bound upon a rowing
cruise and came in time TO the Azores
islands, whence she sailed for Lisbon
and Gibraltar and, passing through the
Mediterranean aud the Suez canal
steamed slowly down the scorching Red
sea. A stop at Alden for a day or two
made her ready for a journey to he
Persian gulf, but when the gnlf Of
Ormaz was reached the skipper thought
TO take look at Muscat, aud so The
course was shaped for the capital Of the
son Of Abraham, whose forefathers for
hundreds nay, thousands, ot years. had
been sheiks Of the desert.
In all her journey the good ship had
entered not port where the proud
cross of ST George could not be seen
from the staff Of British man of war,
but here at Muscat il was thought that
at least our flag would be the only token
of western civilization in evidence. But
IL was not so for, as the Brooklyn
rounded a high promontory that mt
in the little harbor, there, lying at an.
chor, was seen the English gunhoat
Sphinx with her milk white flag float
ing above her.
Musoat had much that was strange
and weird to interest the Americans,
but neither the palace of the sultan,
with its double wall, between the two
parts Of which are kept the tigers
whose duty il is TO guard the palace at
night, nor the imperial barems grim
exterior, nor the gorgeous apparel of the
sultan himself had half the attraction
for the westernera that the grim, sheer
face of the promontory that shuts in the
harbor had; for there upon the bleak
wall Of this towering height were
painted the names of many ships, and
high above them all, In place that
seemed inaccessible were the words,
III. NJ S. Sphinx"
The men of the Brooklyn stared at
that name day after day, until IL seemed
burned into their brains, and the spirit
of emulation grew within them.
The night before the Brooklyn was
TO sail for Persian waters there were
evidences OF q secret movement among
the crew, and after the night had fallen
still and black boat pulled off from
the vessels side, and with muffled oars
made rapidly for the shore. 1t carried
many things Of various sorts, and among
them a lantern, whose tiny glimmer
those on the ships watched with bated
breath as It reached the shore and slow
ly began the ascent Of the promontory
Now it would disappear and then gilt
ter again like a star of hope and COM
fort, and so il went slowly on. ever up
and up the face of the outlined precipice
The hours dragged slowly by, and it
was far into the night when tired
boats crew clambered slowly over tho
Brooklyns side and dropped exhausted
into their hammooks for a short sleep
before the call Of "all hands" in the
morning.
The Brooklyn sailed away just az the
sun began to show above the eastern
horizon, and as she swung upon her
course and stood for the waters of the
open gulf cheer burst from the throats
of the whole ships company For there,
IN great letters of white that caught the
warmth of the rising sun, far above the
name Of her majesty's ship Sphinx, far
above the highest name Of all. could be
seen the legend ~. S. S. Brooklyn. "
And there today. looking down upon
the tiger guarded palace and the harem
Of the sultan, ever before the Arabs and
the Beloochistanese Of the tiny sultan
ate, still gleams the magic name that
Schley and Cook once again made ia
nous and that shall endure in history
when Musoat itself shall be forgotten.
Washington Post.