The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1902-09-25

IL has often struck inc as bcing a
remarkable circumstance that IN
nine cnsss out of ten. a maus sue.
cess IN life ia not found la the ca
recr he originally chose for himself,
but In another and totally dilcrent
one. That mysterious poser, force
OF circumstance" IN dnuhtlesn 70.
spouslble fer this. and no better
illustration for my urmlnent could
be found than my own cas-, J be-
lievc my father intended that /
should follow the medical profession,
while my mother hoped would cpirr
the church. sdy worthy uncle, Cipt-
farfeid. the eminent solicitor Of Lin
coins Inn Fields. offered me my
articles, and would p8ssibly have
eventually taken mo isto partner
ship. But I would have pone of these
things Ny one craving VIVA for the
sra. II could not spend my life
upon salt water, existence would
base no pleasure for me. Ms father
threatened, my mother wcpt. Uncle
Cluitcrfield prophezicd ell sorts Of
disasters. but remained firm.
"very WE'LL" raid my father, when
he realized that further argument
was hopeless. "Einnc you must 90 20
sea. go TO sea you certainly shall.
But you muRtn't blame me II you
fad TINT the life d not exactly what
you anticipate. and that you would
more"
willingly gave this premise. aad
q month later left Liverpool az an
apprentice on the clipper chip Maid
Of Normandy. Appropriately enough
the captains name was Fairweather,
and he certainly was a character in
his way In fact the whole ships
company serc originals. Had ms ia
Their searched all England through he
could mol have discovered a Eet Of
men, from the captain to the cooks
mate, who would have been batter
calculated to instil IN Z young mans
heart distaste for Father Neptune
and his oceans. In the number Of she
various books Of the kea ] have en-
eonntered VIA oRn entitled. "A
Floating He'll" When reading IL I
had not expected 20 have the mis{or-
tune 90 be bound aboard q vessel %
this type. Il wHs my Iot, however.
to undergo the experience. We ear
ried three apprentices. including my
self, each of whom had paid a large
sum for The privilege. 1 was the
youngest. The eldest was the aOn
of country parson. a mila. decent
lad, who eventually dcasrted and be-
eame 3 houxe-pAinter In tho South
Island of New Zealand. The next
was washed overheard when we we're
rounding the Horn on our homeward
voyage. Poor lad. when all was said
and done he could not have buen
much worse of. for hisalifr on board
was dlsgrace 10 what i sometimes
erroneonaly called "human nature"
In due course, as we cleared for San
Francisco. and long nsforp we
crossed the hae, was heartily tired
OF the sea. In those days. few years
ago an Il Ia, aaIiors were not 40 wen
protected eyen as they are now, aud
on a long voyage aboard sailing
ehip II was possible for good deal
10 happeE that was not Jagged, Aad
much Of which was forgotten before
the sesSel reached is home.pert
again. When ] returned from my
FIRST voyage my family inquired how
] liked my profession. aud with ell
truth, ] informed them that I did
aol IKE Il AZ all. and that would
b. willing to have my iadrntnrrs can-
snied ard 10 return fo shore life
onca more. II I might be SO permit
led. My father sGniled grizzly. aud
seemed to derive considerable satis-
fection fran the fact thss he had
disasses from fine outset.
NO. be said, "you hare hade year
bed, my lad, and now yoa must Tie
spon Il. There Il ssh considerable
portion Of your apprenticeship 10 be
served. and II will be auitc 9ooa