Evening star., 1901-02-09
HAD LOTS OF NERVE
Did This Young Man Who Enlisted
in the Navy
WHEN he WAS BROKE IN EUROPE
Visited a Man-of-War After He
Had Deserted.
AN AMUSING SITUATION

century, 10 star reporter, was young
fellow wio shipped aboard our packet as
landsman on the Mediterranean station.
Belport's near enough to his name. He
came aboard the ship at Naples, logged
out to the limit, and was received at the
gangway with a whole lot of ostentation
by the officer of the deck The officer of
the deck didn't lay himself out so much.
however. when the young fellow announced
that he wanted to ship. We were short
handed, and so the officer of the deck took
the young chap to the executive officer.
The first luff' tried to talk the young fell
low out of his idea of donning the blue
jacket and uniform by telling him of the
hard life a seaman has of 1t in the service.
and all of that sort of thing. but the swell
boy was determined to get on the bell-bot-
tom pants, and that was all there was
about it. He had been cutting out a pretty
swift clip fof himself for a couple of years
on the continent, it seems, including quite
a few attempts to jolt the bank at Monte
Carlo to SmithereenS, and had finally gone
broke in Naples. His folks in New York
had declined to respond to his cabed APP
peals from Naples for more coin, and SO,
as he told the exec utive officer, he had de-
cided to try a three-year whirl of 1t in the
American navy. AS he was hardy, we'll
built, strengthening lad of twenty-five or
three, the first luff' couldn't do anything
else but turn him over to the surgeon Tor
medical examination with flying colors, and
two hours after coming aboard he was
standing up at the break of the fo'c'sle,
logged out in his blues. and smoking
short clay pipe with all the comfort in life
Made the Best of 1t.
"The Belport boy was game, and he never
made whimper over the hard and nasty
work that landsmen in our navy have to
perform. He quickly made himself well
or,1 fhe
end of about ten months he was promoted
to the rate Of ordinary seaman. All of this
time the ship had been prowling around on
the Mediterranean station, all hands hav-
ing bully time of it-I wouldn't mind hav-
ing fiagon or so of that Chianti right now
but about year after young Belport
shipped the ships cruise in those waters
was up, and she was ordered back to the
United States upon the arrival of her re-
lief. Now, it was no part of Belport while
in the service to show up in bluejacket uni
form in the United States. 1t was all right
several thousand miles from home, where
he wasn't liable to meet anybody that he
knew, but he had a strong natural objec-
ton to coming back to this end of the
route and having the fellows he knew
dance around him like Indians and guy him
out Of his government stralghts. He found
that a lot of US old-timerS had been per-
mitted to transfer to the ship that was
coming out to the station to relieve US. and
he put in his application for transfer
Such transfers, however, are only granted
to old shellbacks in the service-the young
fellows are not supposed to have any pref
erence AS to stations and are required to
go along where their ships are sent. So
young Belport's application to remain on
the Mediterranean station was turned
down. He cabled to his folks in New York
and asked them to try to fix up his trans
fer in the Navy Department. They did try,
but even with their big influence they
couldn't win out on the proposition. The
Secretary refused to grant the transfer,
and the young man was notified that he'd
have to return with the ship to New York.
WELL our relieving ship got in, and
about two dozen of US old-timers took our
ditty bags and boxes over to her. Young
Belport watched us going over the side
with envious looks, and he said to me at
the gangway, When this packet gets up
her mudhook for New York 1 know one
ordinary seaman that's not going to an
swer to his mess number
Failed to Come Back.
"Well, two days before the ship was due
to get under way for the United States
she was then in the harbor of Algiers-
young Belport got liberty, went ashore
with batch. and forgot to come back the
next morning. He was the only missing
man of the liberty party. The skipper sent
the Jimmy Legs and the top sergeant of
marines ashore to dig him UP, and the
usual reward was offered the Algiers gems
d'armes for surrendng him to the ship
but young Belport was so safely under
cover that they couldn't nail him, and the
ship upon which he had shipped came back
to the United States without him.
about four months later the relieving
ship to which l had been transferred was
living in the harbor of Villefranche, and
the officers were having all kinds Of fancy
society doings with the swells ashore. One
bright morning the skipper and couple
of the Junior officers went ashore In the
steam cutter, and when they came back,
bafo luncheon. thew had a WhOl6
cutter load Of swagger young American
folks with them-seven or eight pretty girls
and a couple of duennas, and an equal mum.
ber of young American bioods. AS chle1
ouartermaster, l stood at the gangway.
watching 'em come over the side, ana II
let you picture how l was knocked all OF
a heap when the last young fellow to come
over the side, in the trail OF the pretty
girls. screwed his face up into the most
deyiiish wink imaginable. when he caught
nv eye, and l saw that he was Beiport:
He had on all the clothes that were NJ
to wear and sure was the topplest ana
best-looking young chap in the crowd.
In Another Role.
"Well. the visitors went aft and had
luncheon with the skipper, and after that
the old man took them on tour OF the
shin. Young Belport walked at the right
hand of the captain (who, if he had recog-
nized the galley lad, would have been COM
PEELED by the regulations to clap MIN mo
the brig in double irons IOT ueSeTtioHl, anu
the tremendous interest that he simulated
in everything that he saw was something
funny to witnesS-and |. in my rate as
uuartermaster, had to witness 1t all. for
followed the party over the ship to answer
the shippers questions. never want to
go through another ordeal like that. les a
wonder | didn't bust. Every time that
Young fellow saw that he wasn't being OBJ
served he'd wink at ne or make an awful
grlmace at me, and then, quick as a flash,
he'd turn to the skipper and say, Aver
thas's a most extraordinary piece of
mechanism, that gun, isn't it?' or some-
thing like that Then the old captaind
20 ahead and explain the mechanism In
great detail, while young Belport would be
making monkey faces at me behind his back.
The dickens Of it was that all of the cou-
pie of dozen of old-timers who had trans
ferred to the ship with me had recognized
Belport, and they were all over the ship,
grinning at my predicament, during the
tour.
.Aw-er-let me awsk you. captain,
about the-aw-enlisted shawps, y'know,'
said Belport to the skipper when the tour
of the ship was nearly over. Sad lot. eh?
Unruly gang-aw-I suppose?
II came darned near falling down when
the young devil winked at me then, and
the skipper went ahead and defended the
enlisted men.
No wonder They Chuckled.