Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-01-15

Penang and other oriental ports. All
but two of the crew were good Amer
lean senmen, the exceptions belng Pie.
tro and Demetrio, two natives of the
Levant whom I had been forced to
ship much against my will to iill the
place of two old and trusty hands who
failed to turn up when the crew an
swered the roll call. They had cashed
their advance notes and had been de-
coyed from the straight and narrow
path Of virtue and rectitude by the
superior attractions Of grog and tobac.
co. the rocks on which poor sailors
split.
Here, Pompey. 6ll our glasses and
bring us some of those Burma che
roots" interjected the captain. Those
cheroots were precious. l never could
find out where my old friend got them.
We lighted UP, and the old sailor con-
tiDued:
"These two Levanters were not pre-
possessing specimens of humanity.
You know the breed-snaky vermin
that are neither useful nor ornamental
aboard u Yankee ship. They had been
shipwrecked on Minot's ledge, and
good Samaritans had entertained them
Hospitality, and the good New England
diet of pork and beans had filed out
their starve Quilted dago sides until
they were fat and sleek as November
porkers. l kept my eye on the pair,
but could find no reason for serious
complaint against them. They behav-
ed pretty well until we reached the
line, when two young men from Bos-
ton, named Gears and Crowninshield,
whom was training to be sea captains
when their time should come, com
plaincd that the two Levanters had
robbed them of several shirts which
they had washed and hung up to dry.
Now, wouldn't tolerate theft
aboard my ship. made the .dagoes
bring their sea dunnage on deck, and
I overhauled 1t. There, sure enough,
were the shirts. The Levanters swore
that the boy had given them the shirts.
This was lie. Of course, SO had the
thieves seized up. and the bo's'n gave
them n .devilish good lambastine with
length of ratline stun until they
howled for mercy. t-,.i p.
But, bless you, you1 can't stop a
dago from playing his low tricks, and
before we were out OF the southeast
trades Sears and Crownlnshield came
to me with another complaint against
them. A couple of fine flying fish had
come aboard one night and were pounc-
ed upon by the foreigners. Instead of
asking the cook to fry them for break
fnst they tackled them on wooden PAN
els, smeared them with a mixture Of
oil and tar and sold them to my young
sea captains (who had more dollars
than sense, being sons Of rich Bos-
tonians) for IS each.
"Of course the fish, instead of being
proof against the tropical sun, soon be-
came offensive. and the boys, who had
been deluded with the idea that they
had acquired valuable curios, came to
me crying for justice. forced the
swindlers to. refund the money and
strung them up again. You know what
a thief is thought of, aboard ship. He
might just as well be in the northeast
corner Of hell, with hurricane blow
ing from the southwest. he gets seven
bells knocked out of him, and serves
him right! 90 asI Ps ~
i'Nothing happsnaditn particular un-
I'll we got we'll south imp the track of
the westerly gales..ii1 was anxious to
make fast passage, as the Alert, n
famous Boston clipper, was racing
against me. For that reason the Hal
loween was driven as hard as she
could stand A heavy westerly gale
struck the ship, and my policy was to
make the most of itIe' Accordingly we
reduced her to close reefed main top
sail, whole foresail and fore topmast
staysail and let her scud. My ship
steered like boat, and l was per-
fectly easy about her
"Of course II the Halloween hadn't
been an exceptionally easy steerer l
| would have hove to until the gale abat-
ed, but the wind was too precious to
lose. She didn't yaw much, and two
helmsmen had little difficulty in keep
Ing her tolerably straight on her course.
The grenter the press of canvas the
better she steered. 1t never occurred
to me that there was possibility Of
her broachlng to or being brought by
the lee. In that event dismasting
would have been inevitable and
foundering possible In the mountainous
sea then running.
at was higher than / ever before
had seen in all my long experience. To
landlubber perhaps the scene Would