Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-06-27

men ON the car ain tto58 the cooks
mate, AS ould u have been, be tier
cal cul ted to- ms Is young man
heart q distaste for Father Neptune
and his oceans y "a "a he mum Der ofsthes
y'arions boo n SEA have en-
Ecountered was sSs one EMIT tied !: liza
/ Float ting Hell Hen residing =. ST. L.
had not expected to havesthe misf Or
5tu ms bound aboard yesselgof
\ this type. III It was my lot, however
to undergo the experience, We car
tried three apprent tees, incl udi ing my
self, each Of whom had paid q large
sum tor the privilege. I was the
youngest. The eldest. was the. son
Of q country parson, q mild, decent
/ lad who eventually deserted and be-.
came q house-painter in the South.
Island Of New Zealand. The M next
was washed over board when we were
rounding the Horn on our h omeward
voyage: Poor lad, when all was said
and done he could not have been
much worse; off, for his. life on board
was a disgrace to what is sometimes
errone ously called human nature."'
IN due course, as we cleared for. San
Francisco, and long before we
crossed the; line, was heartily tired
Of the sea. In those days, few years
ago as it is, sailors were not so well
protectedfseyen as they are now, and
on long Voyage aboard a sailing
ship. it was possible for a. good deal
to happen that was not logged, and
much of which was forgotten before
the vessel reached it's home-port
again When I returned from my
first voyage my family inquired how
Liked my profession, and with all
truth, I informed them that did
not. like it at all, and that I would
be willing to have my indentures cam
celed and to return to shore life
once: more, if I might. be so permit
ted Ny father smiled grimly, and
seemed to derive considerable salts
faction from the fact that he had
prophesied disaster from the outset.
No." he said, you have: made your
bed, my lad, and now you must lie,
upon it.. There is still considera BILE
portion of your apprenticeship to be
served, and it will be quite soon
enough for us at the end of that
time to decide what you are to do.
A month later I was at sea again,
bound this time for. Sydney. We
reached that port on my nineteenth
birthday. and by that time I had
made up my mind. Articles or no arti-
cles, was determined to. spend no
more of my life on boardthat hateful
ship. Accordingly, one day having
obtained shore leave,I purchased a
new rig-outs and, leaving my sea-togs
with the Jewish shopman, I. made
tracks, as the saying goes, into the
bush with all speed. Happen what
might, I was resolved that Capt. Fair
Weat Their should not set eyes on
George Fairfax again. :.{ r :: ., { ztse=>
From that time onward my career
was strange one. became ver-
liable Observation-Disclosures A station
hand, aroustabout,s hearer, assistant
to- travelling hawker, q gold miner,
and at last astrooper in one of the
finest bodies of men. in the world,
the Queensland mounted police. It
was in this sslrious fashion that i
arrived: at my real vocation. After
considerable period spent at head
quarters, p was drafted TO q station:
in the far west. There! was a good
deal of horse and sheep stealing go
ing on in that particular: locality, and
9 large amount OF tact and ingenui-
ty was necessary to discover the
criminals. soon found that this was
Q business at which I was likely to
be successful. More than once 1 had
the good fortune to be able to bring
to book men who had carried on their
trade for years, and who had been
entirely unsupported Eventually my
reputation in this particular line of
business became noised abroad, until
it came to the ears of the commits
ISsioner himself. Then news reached
us that a dastardly murder had been
committed in the suburbs of Bris-
bane, and that the police were una BILE
to obtain any clew as to the identi-
ty of the person accountable for it..
Two, or three men were arrested on
suspicion, but were Immediately dis
charged on being in q position to give
9 satisfactory account Of their ac-
tions on the night Of the murder. It
struck me that should like to take
up the case, and with the confidence
OF youth 7 applied to the commits
sioner for permission to be allowed
to try my hand at unraveling the
mystery. What they thought of my
limpudence I cannot say, but the fact
rel that my request, after heliiI;
backed up BY. my Inspector, *fs
] granted. The case was q particular
" complicated one. and at one time
was beginning to think that I
should prove no more successful than
the Others had been. In the end,
however, Z came upon the, murderer,
who, seeing himself very neatly
trapped, placed q revolvers5to his right
temple and, before I could prevent
hin, pulled the Trigger: III. 81.