Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1899-10-24
JIB-DOOli FN) DOLPHIN Striker.

What I've got against her? Well,
what I've got against her is that she's
one of these straight-nosed boats cried
old Ephraim, whom he used to call The
Rover" when We six men met every
summer at that little fishing port on the
granite coast of Maine.
Ephraim was laying down the law to
us, sitting all arrow on the veranda OF
the postoffice-also grocery and notion
store
You just look out there and see how
sudden and ugly she comes to an end
like. A ship ought to rise out of the
water at the bow with nice slanting
sheer. But that isn't all there is to it,
either. It's matter of utility, too. You
see, those straight-nosed boats have no
bowsprit; neither jib-boom; no, nor dol
phin striker
And what's the harm in that, Uncle
EphraimT l ventured to ask.
Harm? plenty of harm. There is no
luck without a jib-boom and dolphin
striker to sea-gOing ship, young man.
Ihlnk that's superstition, Ell! Say, do
YOU know the meaning of them terms
Jlb-boopl and dolphin striker?''
L had to admit that these technicalities
were little obscure to my mind.
Wei. then. I'll tell you. That spar
that sticks out ahead of the bowsprit on
a regularly constituted Christian ship,
that's the JibboOm, and the dolphin strik-
er Is the other spar that comes down
underneath, pointing to the water like.
as II 1t would strike any stray dolphin
that might rise on top of a wave under
the ships bow. ! GU see yonder up-to-
date gunboat Of Uncle Sam, with her
nose going up and down out of the wa
Ter like the corner of a house She
hasn't any use for bowsprits and the
like
Now, | hold that the old-fashioned
sloplng sheer Of the cutwater belonged to
the old-faShlOned Yankee clipper, and if
we have to get about by Steam these
days, we ought to hold TO that and the
rest that goes with 1t. out of respect to
our fathers. But what [ was going to
tell you, 1T seems to me that the blessing
of Providence goes with a clipper bow
and regular dolphin striker | could
give you instances. Yes. and then you
youngsters would go off and smoker be-
hInd my back, and say your Uncle
Ephralm had some tough yarns in his
locker, l have no doubt
on want just one for q sample. eli?
Well, I'll risk it.
I've got to go away back to times be-
fore I v-as born. It didn't happen to
me, tbs thing; but the man it did happen
to, knew him very well, and he told me
more than Once-aye, more than dozen
times. He was a lad along about the
year 1910. and he wasn't born on this
side of the Atlantic, like you and me,
but the other side, at a place called
Lowestoft, which is ON the English coast.
That was why he got into those difficult
ties which I'm going to tell you about.
He ran away from his home over
there-I don't know why-and he shipped
before the mast of whaler that came
out of Nantucket, down there on the
Massachusetts coast-a regular ship
rugged Nantucket whaler Then, when
hi ,cbi1a 0lo,
the southern seas, below the line, on her
way to the southern whaling grounds,
there came another tail ship in sight, and
she flew the British blue ensign, which
showed that she belonged to the blue
squadron of King Georges navy. The
British used to have three squadrons in
those days, and they called them the red,
the white and the blue
80 this Britisher hailed the Yankee
ship and ran close along to windward Of
her, taking her wind, of course But
the Yankee skipper he held on, just hoist.
ing the stars and strlpes-thirteen stars
and thirteen stripes only in those days
and, dipping in civil manner to show
that he knew what was what. Then
the Britisher, having two long rows of
guns pointing out of his broadsdes, being
frigate, fired a shot across the bow of
the Yankee whaler. That meant to say
that the Brltisher wanted to talk on par
ticular business to the American ship.
and the American, not being armed, of
course had to bring to and wait his lord
ships orders.
Say, l dare say some of you Young
fellows don't quite see nowadays what
made us Yankee boys so darned keen in
that war of 1912. If you'd been aboard
a Yankee ship like-like this boy I'm tel-
ing you about and had a blasted British
officer come aboard and muster your
crew to see if you had any of King
Georges natural born subjects sailing
with you. just because he happened to be
short-handed and take off half a dozen
of your best hands in irons, why, per-
haps you'd understand better.
THAT was what they were after with
this same whaler I'm telling you about.
And the skipper, he knew it. just as well
as if he'd seen it IN print The Lowestoft
lad was standing looking over the wealth
er taffrail, and he says, / guess my goose
is cooked now. The mate of the whaler
says, Yes, my lad, If those Britishers
hear you talk two words with that
have you in their long boat as sure as
pixies isn't boOkhooks. Shall [ hide,
sir?' says the lad. That's none of my
business says the mate. If you're 60
ing to hide. don't tell me where to find
YOU that's ALL. And the mate turns his
back and walks off and the fo' castle lad
sinks down below.
well. the frigate sent her long boat
on board the whaler and took half a doz-
en- Irish seamen. While the two ships
lay to- the frigate drifted stern toward
the whaler and the Yankee lads could see
the name on her stern in gilt letters, with
his gracious hghness King Georges lions
and crowns-'H. NJ. S. Peacock.
''Oh. you think you know that name
Ell? Hold on till | tell you about that
Lowestoft lad. No, the Britishers didn't
get hin1-not much.