The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-03-17

and not crazy, could have her. So, my
girl stayed home.
Now, wasn't so far gone that didn't
have sense to ship two Yankee mates
buckos of the worst kind. Know what
Yankee bucko is? No? Sign out o.
New York this fall and you'll know. He's
a cross between a prize fighter and a loco
motive. l got those two mates abo RI
in the dock fore the crew came. One
was Black Dunkherst o Cape Cod.
shipped him chief mate. Tother was
mister" johnson o. Boston. Mister was
his first name. he said, and he never mad
any other. Both had bad records and
regulations, and neither had conscience,
as far as l could see. But they re
the men needed in that ship, and / didn't
care. They both said they had wives
ashore, and wanted to bring em along;
but l knew better, and wouldn't have it.
Wasn't specially moral man myself, but
l. didn't want to stand alone, the only
bachelor in the ship.
Must have been 5000 people on the quay
to see us haul out into the stream. All
Liverpool was takin about the honey
moon ship and while l Tailed off the crew
sixteen couples-at the capstan, that
lunatic of an owner stood on the poop,
proud as Billy-be-dam, bowling and scrap
ing to the crowd ashore.
Now said I wasn't a specially moral
man. as men go; but 1 was too moral TO
countenance that crowd of brides at the
capstan. Three or four old girls, who
looked like ex-barmaids, might have been
lawfully married to the men beside them.
but the rest were cruisers from Waterloo
road and the dance halls Of Paradise
street
1 hadn't picked the crew-the crimps
did that for the owner. And, on the
whole, they'd given us pretty good
crowd o. men; but the weemen-O, LORD.
After all, / was glad my girl wasn't
along.
We'll, we cast off and began warping
down through the docks with the big hy-
draulic capstans they had there, and as
I the Two mates were competent, / went
below with the owner to settle up affairs,
and the crowd ashore followed along the
sea wall.
| Down below, knew by the sounds. that
we had got 40 a broken-down capstan, and
would have to use our own amidships
We were warping stern first, and heard
Mr.. Johnson sing out to some one ashore
to make fast the stern line, and TO the
men forrard to heave away the capstan
! lively; then I heard the biggest hullaba-
loo l ever heard-a woman screamin' ana
/ $500 people ashore yellln, and that second
mate o. mine shouting as loud as he could
to "heave away my DULLES and clear this
| woman" We ran on deck.
Now, this is what had happened. She
was Nova Scotia built ship, with low
poop and a cabin trunk with alleys The
poop rail was about as high as your mid
| die, and there was a chock for the stern
| line on the taffrail and a pair of small
! timbePZheads-lik our lake schooners
have-on the poop rail just at the for
! rard corner OF tne house. You see the
! stern line would not lead from the chock
/ a.. dol ~
without chatting the house, so Mr.. john
son had thrown che blight over the tim
! ber-heads on the rail, and that would
make the line lead slantingly through the
I alley from the inboard corner aft TO the
out board corner forrard.
Now, there was a woman standing In
that alley swappin' billingsgate with some
! one ashore, and as Mr.. johnson sang out
to "heave away" he kicked the line close
/ to her heels, and up It came, taut, to a
level with the rail, and 1t lifted that wo-
mans clothes with IL, and squeezed her
digit. Then as tho men hove IL In, IL
| began to saw, and saw, and saw, TIL It's
| q wonder that woman wasn't cut In two.
/ o, how she yelled, while that wet six
/ inch hawser ground past her and dragged
| her tighter into the angle, and all the
/ time Mr.. Dunkherst on the foreoastle
deck was lookln' every way but aft pre-
tendin' not TO see, and Mr.. johnson was
| singln out to "heaye away, and clear this
woman" He was GRIMM like Che
shire dat when / got on deck and made
'em surge the line. Then she got clear
OF Il. stu yellin and ran down the cabin
stairs. She was a sh0ckin' spectacle Ih@t
/ line had carried away oil 'midship fasten-
lngs. and everything came down by The
run when the pressure was on. sent
some wesmen down With her duda ana
I they fixed her W.
That was the nrst trouble, but IN two
J minutes Mr.. johnson had ~ lick the WOO