Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-07-21


one sixty-fourth in Cap'n Davies bark.
the Nellie B. Neither had what Is real
~ masters interest, and be III set to
work to buy an additional piece to max.
| II up to one thirty-second. The two sue
ceeded just about the same time, and
each insisted on his right to be the
| master. 1t was evenly divided. and
the managing owner said that he could
| make no division. On the quiet he sod
piecemeal to Cap'n Davies to protect
his position as master, and piecemeal
to Cap'n Davis to help him get to be
| master; this was a good thing for the
managing owner, for the Nellie p had
not been paying for long time. and
he had been thinking of having her
cut downfor coal barge. Finally Cap'n
Davies and Cap'n Davis had bought as
much of the bark as they could. and
they went in a body. the two OF them.
to the managing owner to get him TO
| appoint one or the ether master. Their
the managing owner told them he did
not have anything to do with il, since
he did not own anything in the bark.
When they came to compare notes
they had spent lot of money, and
were no better off than before; in
fact. the advantage was entirely witt
the managing owner. who had got 4
good price for property that it did
not pay TO run. Cap'n Davis had ff-
teen thirty-seconds. Cap'n Davies had
fifteen thirty-seconds also, and the re-
naming two thirty-seconds was owned
by the ships husband. South street
ship chandler. He played fair with
both shippers. He would sell hall Il.
each if they wanted to buy him out
very badly. but he would not sell al;
20 one, and thus be a party to giving
him control over the other captains in
vestment. lie suggested that they
take the Nellie q. turn and turn about.
and that's how it was that the bark had
two shippers.
The way they fixed it ND was that
when Cap'n Davies brought the Nellie
b. in from a voyage and had her dis
charged down to clean floor, he
should turn her over to Cap'n Davis to
charter and load and sail until he got
her down TO n clean floor at the end
or the voyage. When Cap'n Davis had
her in charge Cap'n Davies was not to
go aboard, but he could come down
TO the pier and find all the fault he
wanted-and that was whole lot
and vice versa. It was n caution to sec
how each of these olo shippers put the
bark into apple-pie order before they
came into harbor from a voyage. The
paint and corGaye bills. TO say nothing
of white duck, must have been some.
thing big, but the ships husband. who
was in that line of business. never LEI
on as between the two captains, so he
must have been making a good thing
out of his small interest in the Nellie
Is. The two old gentlemen were great
rivals, and it was nip and tuck be-
tween them on every point connected
with the bark, and il would be hard
TO say which was the more jealous OF
the other.
IL got so they never would speak ex-
cept when handing the bark over, and
then they were freezingly polite.
Woodworking. Cap'n Davis" was
always the form that Cap'n Davies fol-
lowed, "the Nellie b. is on a clean floor.
and think you'll not find anything the
matter with her"
Thank you, Cap'n Davies" was the
unfailing response. II suppose it
seems so to you, but have brought
broom with me; she'll not be the worse
for good sweeping. / suppose you'll
enjoy the rest while I'm gone"
Well L wish you prosperous lad
ing and quick voyage. You're get
ting old, man, and this will likely be
the last voyage you'll make in the
Nellie B., so make the most of it,"
Then they'd part, speeches. with
rage. Not content with sitting on the
pierhead day after day watching the
loading of the bark and finding fault
with everything the other skipper did,
Cap'n Davies thought he'd take a look
at the bark in some foreign port; he
wanted to see whether Cap'n Davis
saved up all his repairs for the home
port, or whether he fixed the Nellie b.
up creditable when she went foreign.
The bark had been chartered for Mel
bourne with clothespins and wooden
ware That's voyage that took her
all OF hundred days, for she was a
dull sailor, and Cap'n Davies had plen-
ty OF time to get out to Melbourne by
steamer. There he waited for the bark
to be signalized from the Heads. and
when her number was made he took a
sailboat and hurried down Port Philip
to see how the Nellie B. was looking
when she came into port foreign.
whether the bark looked better than
Cap'n Davies expected to find her, or
whether she looked worse, nobody
could say for certain. But that some
thing serious was the matter ANYBODY
could see, for the old skipper hardly
woke up to rip and tear more than
once or twice day, and that was moth
ing for him. The Nellie B. got a char
ter for London with wool, and lost no
time discharging. cap'n Davies hung
about her all the time she was in Port.
Philip. Soon after she sailed he lust
up and died. There wasn't much salts
faction in it for Cap'n Davis, for he
died, too, before he got around Cape
Horn, and he never knew that he was