Mexico weekly ledger., 1900-08-02

I
His control stops with the shore,
Upon the watery plain the wrecks are
all thy deed;
Nor doth remain a shadow of mans
ravage-save his own.
When for a moment, like a drop Of
rain,
he slnds into thy depths with bubbling
groan,
Without a grave, unkneIled, uncoi-
fined and unknown.
oh, 1t is glorious to stand out on the
upper deck Of the good ship and let
this wide ocean remind you of the
boundless love and power of God and
to feel safe and secure because you
are his child.
Let me briefly 40 | can try to pict-
ure to you life, as l see it, on our
ocean steamer. This good German
steamer Trave is ass feet long, beam
4s feet, depth IS feet, tonnage 5,262,
horse power 500. She has a working
crew of 226 ahd carries on this trip SIG
passenger; total on board, 745. Our
captain is a fine old German GENTLE
man and all the crew speak German.
Our passengers are made up mostly
from Christian Endeavor people from
the states Of Pennsylvania, Massachu-
sstts, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland and
Missouri. We are nearly all OF us
Christian people and form quite q
community ont here to ourselves,
away from all communications with
the outside world. We have no mails
or daily papers and do not concern
ourselves about the petty a~nnoyances
of you people living on land. We are a
mutual aid society and as pilgrims are
helping each other along the way.
All ssIfshness Is banished from our
midst, and no formal introductiona
are necessary to acquaintance. To-
day we have decided each one to put
ASS - bs- aasa@ and k~sse nRnn ea~
coat or dress 60 that each may know
the other at . glance. 1t lie interest
ing to see the spontaneous groupings
OF eongenial spirits about the decks.
We, Of course, first know our room
mates and meal-mates = four in g
room and ten at a table.
Ihave with me two fine young men
from Lexington, KY, and n old
gentleman from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Anne has two ladies from Burgin, KY,
and one from Lexington, KY.
Following lie 3 list Of the provisions
taken on board the ship in New York
before starting:
Turkeys, $40 pounds.
Chickens, 1850 pounds.
Capons, $50 pounds.
Ducks, $50 pounds.
Salt meat, $500 pounds.
Oranges, 5000.
Lemons, $500.
Ice cream, $50 bricks.
Canned goods, 5000 cans.
Sugar, 2,4OO pounds.
Geese, $50 pounds.
Pigeons, $50 pounds.
Prairie chickens, 1850.
Beet 10000 pounds.
Eggs, 1900.
Ice, $1,000 pounds.
Butter, 1850 pounds.
Potatoes, 400 bushels.
MILK, 700 cans.
Cheese, 1900 pounds.
As to q dining we are somtimes
together and sometimes not-query.
So far, l am happy 10 say, ! have been
able to keep my feet and my dinner.
Indeed, / may cay personally, except
for the first hour when / came aboard
the ship, / have been a happy man. II
shall not attempt to describe my feel
ings that first awful hour. / had lost
my grip containing all my clothes,
was sweltering in the heat of New
YORK harbor, felt that ] would sufo-
cate In the chip and was nearly per-
ished for q drink OF water. "Water,
water, everywhere, and not 3 crop to
drinki" Obi how / wished / was
back in Mexico with wife and child
rem.
As / CROPPED my way along the dark,
narrow passages deep down in the
snip, in utter despair, seeking my
baggage, ! stumbled over my "gsther-
iem-slrn that DR.. Palmore gave me,
and | was happy and have been the
haPpiess man on the ship ever since.
We have a regular Chatauqua Of
eur own with two or three lectures
every day from distinguished men
aboard such as Amos Wells, Doctor
Babcoek, Of New YORK; DR. Patter-
son, Of Philadelphia, and others. On
Sunday We had a sort OF experience
meeting, each oue giving some lesson
drawn from the sea. / don't think I
ever 90 fully felt the power Of the
goodness Of God and my utter de-
pendeDee upon Him.
Nothing has impressed me 90 deeps
~ In this ship life as to go on the
bridge and watch the officers. Be-
sides the captain there are four on
ceEs constantly on duty. The quar-
termasteF sits At the wheel with bis
eye fixed on the compass -Four hun-
dred feet from him in the rear bottom
Of the chip the delicate machinery
that moves the rudder responds to
every turn Of this mans hand.
Back and forth, night and day, with
out cessation, one ofthe officers walks
thls bridge, looking out In every d.
~reetion, occasionally using bic spy
eiass, peering oct Into the far distance
for other ships. Each day on The
bulletin board we are gives the Local
ton Of our fbip, The latitude and lon
gitnde, and the distance from shore.