The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-07-04
Under the Southern Cross.
Manila Bay, May 90,

Under the Southern Cross.
Manila Bay, May 90, '02.
Now if you love the southern sea
And pleasant summer weather,
Come let us mount the gallant ship
And sail away together.
On April 21st at IL o'clock sharp, the
last whistle having blown, the good
ship Crook promptly cast off her lines,
and backed out into the harbor wheel
ing around past the battleship Wis
consin, we steamed down the bay and
lay at anchor for an hour off the city,
then after taking a last look at the fair
city of San Francisco we passed through
the Golden Gate and boldly out into the
broad Pacific In a few hours we We're
out of sight of our beloved America,
and soon realized that we were up
against new proposition. The Crook
is 430 feet long and about 40 feet beam
and as very heavy swell was running
we soon experienced some sensations
not common on land, politely termed
NAL de Mer." The Crook was soon
voted by all on board to be a high roller
of the first magnitude. In fact / verify
believe that the party who launched
that old soag, which sounds so melodious
and sweet, Two thousand miles inland
but has no charm or beauty for land
lubber, off the California coast, must
have received his inspiration on the
Crook The surrounding landscape not
having any charms for Yours truly
he very modestly excused himself, re-
firing to the solitude of his stateroom.
There to quietly mediate on the folly
of tempting the appetite After good
nights sleep the next morning awoke
to find that / had developed my sea
legs and what was still better, without
paying tribute to Neptune, my sea
stomach. Some of my friends for
several days were unable to keep any
thing on that organ or there abouts,
but-well their hand.
Out a short distance from land we
saw in the distance few whale also a
school of porpoise We are also &C
companied all the time by a few sea
gulls, who seem never to tire on their
long voyage AS we near the tropics
flying fish by day are very common.
In the sunlight they look about like
silver fruit knives on wings as they fit
from crest to crest of the waves. And
at night we enjoy that strange phos-
phorescent light common in the southern
waters. After one sails for two or three
weeks without any evidence of land he
begins as a rule to wonder where all
the water came from, ever changing,
vet always the same. On land we may
regard ourselves as being "some pump
kins" but set fellow down in the
middle of a pond like this, and he will
feel pretty small. How small we feel
with our petty ambitions and strivings
in the presence Of the great elemental
forces of nature One writer says that
the chief proof of mans real greatness
lies in his perception of his own small
ness. 1t argues a power of comparison
and of appreciation which is in itself a
proof of nobility. Here we have ample
opportunity for rest and recreation.
Nothing but sleep, eat, read, talk and
consult the nurses in company with
my lady nicotine" if devotee to the
weed. We also have very nice music
on the piano. We have on board four
companies of the 18th Infantry Ell route
from Porto Rico to Manila, fine rugged
fellows The cabin passengers number
about sixty-fve officers, their wives,
and few teachers of the male persua-
sion, but not school marin. We have
only about ten women in the crowd, all
married During the first week they
all looked very plain, some mighty
homely. The second week their COM
pany could be tolerated. The third
they became quite interesting and the
fourth every man vowed that the whole
bunch was positively charming.
In all our trip we have seen only two
vessels outside the harbor and those near
land. After sailing about two weeks
from Honolulu we sailed by Weeks
Island, latitude % degrees north longi-
tude 155 degrees south, not much to see
but we all crowded the deck, were more
assured of the fact that land still existed
on our planet On May 9Th we crossed
the $50 parallel and jumped to May 18th
emitting Tuesday of that week. Some
claimed to be able to see a red line ex-
tending across our course, and that the
ship bumped considerably as she crossed
over. I won't vouch for the truth of
the above as l have reputation for
veracity to maintain, having been I'M
fortunately mistaken for the chaplain
by some of the ladies on the first day
out. Believe can claim the sympathy
of the chaplain of the Sd Mich. Infantry
as / have been of necessity on my good
behavior for a whole month while he
will only have a week in camp.