Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-10-15

Ter to keep the company from making
any more money out of you than the.
already have. Later you give a feebl
J imitation of a man arising. and still
later you crawl out on deck to a steam
er chair. followed by a steward loade,
down with rugs and Il desire To as
Sist you at the awkward corners. TIL,
pace you strike is something halfway
| between that of a pallbcarer and 1
1 man coming home late from the club
| but you are content on the genera
| principle that it's something to be alive
at all. The deck onto which you make
| this inauspicious debut has about it al
| the color and life OF Partisan buule-
ward scene. much of which. however
you fail to appreciate at the time b.
| cause it appeals primarily to the physi-
Cally fit and not to the scientifically
| unfit. Still. it is some slight consola-
ton to be told by everyone of those
| eXasperatingly jocund people. the
ncver-sick, that tomorrow you'll feel
| like Richard himself again.
Another day and you are. indeed,
| very much yourself. a goods izei,
black cigar tops off your breakfast,
| and YOU Immediately find yourself In
the smoking room looking for some
'ne who takes an interest in odd
points" and 'bob-taiIs Pushes" II it
| isn't cards II may he a game of shuttle
board. facctiousy known as horse
billiards. This. whether you are on a
+. & .. liner going ont to India or on
| z private yacht bound for the fjords OF
Norway and the North Cape. is the
| one great game peculiar to sea travel.
Next to sleeping away the hours
| between bugle calls wrapped up in a
| steamer chair. the habit of reading as
sumcs lions share of the voyage.
| The boats on all the big lines have
| large, well-selected libraries in the
salon and second cabin, and books can
| be taken out four times Il day. Never.
| however. ask the library steward what
! - rc"d: he hopes to pass with you as a
| scholar, but his literary microbes are
Of uncertain breeding and should be
| avoided. After all pile of good maya
| zines furnish the best sea food for the
| restless mind. They can be read in
| fragments. between the acts of other
more exciting pastimes. and can be
handed over most acceptably at the
trips end to the state-room steward.
|
men the greatest privation they eX-
| p.rirnCe at sea. | once heard a man
say that there ought 10 lie n way Of
tapping the cable in mid-occan: per
! hapS some day it will come. like wire
| less teleEraphy. At any rate. it is al
| WAYS good sport to SEQ the rush that is
| made for whatever old London paper
/ the pilot may have creased up in his
pocket when he comes aboard
There is something at sea that NAH :
most persons profoundly ashamed ~
themselves. II is tho way they cat
that is after the slough of dcSpond has
been passed through. 1t is 4 law % the
sea gods that those who trespass on tEyir
domains Shall b" castrononically c"n> Nh
Sivc for two days. which Is the average
| duration OF mans humility. There are.
of course. those provokingly lucky beings
who cheat Neptune Of his dues. and
there are those who bitterly overpav tn.
tax. hut ~ a rule it il dccrecd that Tor
| a day or two man shall loathr the sm"l!
of food as h" would the fumes Of lihd'S
| After that-rcSurrcCtipn and ~ Five
meals day. at amy one of which YOU
conSllm. the equal of three AIS ashore
| Breakfast lunch ana dinner. beef tea ~
bnuillon served on the deck 1T II III The
morning. and Welsh rarchit. ale and
| hard biscuits in the saloon ut night. over
ard above which is the friendly cracker
ana cheese tin which in thc saloon and
Smoklng-ronm always has its lid Jar fer
every conner. Men have been known u
say the second day ont that the line wae
making a mint of money off of them ON
the fodder end OF its affairs, but hc -
the --LATEST Roman of them all who hash I
more than squared himself with the com
rany's Harder account long before either
Fastnet or bishops neck is sighted
/ or certain other things which everyone
| in the course Of the weeks voyage ICcls
| ,f shin
claims precedence. All consider it huge
| sport for instance. To 70 down. down.
down series Of narrow iron stairwaye
INTO the bowels of the lcViathan being
which bears You along, to -" the engines
and the stokers. II is custom. and :,
| very proper one. for tho stoker nearest
| to YOU Won enter his realm to StooJ
down and draw i white line around tho
| spot where you stand. In other words,
| you are "chalked,' and the thing eX-
pcCted of you as a gentleman. trpsuassinE
where YOU are only admitted by courtesy.
is I" fee the -tok"r. Another experience.
| IS to climb ny into the crows nest on
the the for'a mast ,whcre at night the
lookout keeps his lonely watch. From
her" You can snap a good photograph of
tn" ship from on high, and also. when in
the low fog banks. be above the fog ana
| which the ship plows along in fashion
| To delight and awe the observer. The
| Ste"rage quarters are also open to In
Speciion, but too many persons from the
going through mcnaecrie. and their
| intrusion and audible comments are the
| pcrsonitication of insult.
| Stevenson. who once crossed second
| cabin but who spent most of his time in
| the steeragc. because he found the more
| interesting types there, has written bit
ttrly In his journal OF an instance where
! some saloon passengers visited the steer
| age during the occasion of a festjvitv
| Through this merry and good hearted
scene ne writes. there came three
| cabin passengers. gentleman and two
Young ladies, picking their way with lit
| tie gracious titters of Indulgence which
| the radical in social questions and have
| always nourished an idea that one person
| was as good as another. But began to
pc troubled by this episode. 1t was as
| tonlshing what insults these people man
aged to convey by their presence TheI
seemed to throw their clothes in our
| faces Their eyes searched us an over TOR
| tatters and inconCruities. A laugh was
| ready al their lips. but they were 10
| well hammered to indulge ii in our hear
Ing. Wait II bit till they were all back
IN the saloon, and then hear how wit,ily
| they would depict the manners of the
| SteeraSc we were in truth very innn-
Gently. chccrfully ana seESiby engaged
ana thprc was no shadow of excuse for
| me sWayinS, elegant superiority with
winch these damScis passed among ms
or of the stiff and waggish glances Of
| their squire -
The stecraGc the big liners iS 4
Word IN Itself of anywhere from six