The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1900-02-15

some very good optimistic articles? II
meant it and hope you will continue
to contribute to our little MIRROR, for
it is privilege that every one of us
should appreciate and do our little
best individually to keep up. But at
the same time / do not back down one
jot or title from what said concerning
the treatment that the majority of
sailors receive in our merchant marine,
in fact [ was not able to paint the sub
ject black enough in such a short
article, let alone deal with the miser-
able existence they endure in shipping
from less enlightened countries than
our own; and to show you that l am
capable of using sarcasm as we'll as
you, l will answer your article in the
same strain as you used, except that
have taken it as joke and bear no
malice.
Tit for tat, Yorktown, and slang for
slang. [ have never been bitten by
anything more harmful than a young
calf or a sucker and you know they
have no teeth, so of course [ suffered
no damage, although 1 will not vouch
for their not hurting themselves; nor
have [ ever been taken in by any one
than hog-faro gambler or a few
pettifOggers and have no doubt you
have experienced loss by tackliDg
their sure games yourself.
No, [ have never had the ecstatic
delight of shipping on down easter
sailing vessel of the ridiculous type
you mention although have no doubt
but what they exist; for that matter I
have never shipped on any sailing
vessel as seaman, but have had, as L
said, peculiar experience among many
classes of seamen. l could have en-
listed in the United States navy at the
tender age of ten years and half; and
since that time have had opportunities
of enlisting at Newport, R. l., Brook
lyn, N. Y, Hampton Roads, Va, San
Francisco, CAL, and Erie, Pa; so you
see could become Jack Tar without
suffering the vicissitudes experienced
in the merchant marine and there is
more chance of becoming a master in
the merchant service by serving in the
navy first. l would advise you to get
an unabridged dictionary or a cooking
receipt book and find out the COM
ponent parts of plum duff because you
have done the culinary department a
great injustice by referring to our
imitation of suet pudding as plum
duff. Plum duff at its worst is plum
pudding and at the present moment as
[ pen this, there is a tickling sensation
on my tongue and [ have had to stop
several times to dry the saliva trickling
ont of the corners of my mouth from
the tender recollection of the fine big
plum pudding mother used to make
for us at home. Setting that aside,
you should never compare the good
treatment of man who volunteers
his services with that of an involun-
tol VI q pCIiOIOSlCcll
Yes, we are all we'll aware of the fact
that there are two sides to story and
sometimes more, and that nine times
out of ten. if man has political
prestige equal to captain in our
navy, he is almost always able to
squash any charges brought against
him and 1 ask you in that common
sense you give me credit of having,
who is going to push the charges of a
common Jack Tar against his captain,
when it took the combined press of
the United States to put an insignifi-
cant naval constructor like Carter in
prison for simply stealing little
money Yes, discipline is very neces-
sary and especially so aboard ship; but
never get it into your sconce that
human being can get so low in the
scale of existence as not to appreciate
kindness or so low that we should be
unnecessarily harsh to him. This little
rambling harangue has taken too much
space and it would take many times
as much more to do this subject
justice, so with one more thought I
will end. You seem to forget in your
reply that it is only an ignorant man.