The labor world., 1903-10-24
By ALBERT SONNICHSEN.
Able Seaman.

olulu much you will have heard
Of Trig Olafsen. But perhaps
l. you are stranger there. Then
go down to the docks some
Sunday morning when the seamen are
loaf1ng about the gangways and ask.
They will sing you the saga of Trig
Olafsen 1t will come couched in lam
s1age hideously profane, but no mat
tor, you will learn all about Trig
Olafsen.
Perhaps, if they are in a good hu-
NOR, they will tell you OF Trig Olaf
sens long swim with liberal criticism
of the ways of Providence in preserv-
ing the morally unfit. For Olafsen's s
notoriety as Il hard case bucko mate
equals his fafne as a swimmer
II you should ever meet Trig Olaf
sen YOU will understand why he is
feared. Big Of body, arms like thighs,
Snarled and hairy; lion-like head on
IL pull neck, Il tawny mustache droop-
ing over ponderous jaws and hair Of
the most fiery hue-such a man is Trig
Olafsen. Sailors on the west coast will
rule or be ruled. Trig Olafsen has new
er been ruled in spite Of many efforts
on the part of insubordinate crews to
subdue him. A crowd of Irishmen tried
1T once on the Island Queen. but Trig
piled into them and smote with the
mighty arm of his Viking forefathers
lhose were the days when Dave Kala-
kauas banner tioated from the palace
towers and from the gaffs of a dozen
good sailing ships. Trig Olafsen was
m;i-~ OF the Hawaiian bark Aloha, then
III the sugar. lumber and coal trade
coal from Australia with Puget Sound
lumber.
FROM = S;:i?n''* point of view this
was an 'Gc''l r'1H. and the Aloha was
11rst-r1'c SH;D ior living and easy
to hand . h1't her crews invariably
l"ft ut liz" cad o: eac:l passage. Few
made IL i"ll trip. AS they didn't stop
10 collect their wages, the owners
found it profitable to retain Trig Olaf
sen in their service. Eut on one trip
they almost lost him.
The Aloha had cleared the doldums
and had barely caught the northeas ST
trades. 1t happened in the morning
watch. about five o'clock. The wards
were braced sharp up on the port tack.
and if the Aloha was making ber
course, that was about all The mate.
shifting the wind, to take prompt ad-
vantage Of amy favorable cnanee
kept faithful watch by the weather.
mizzen rigging. The men were inst
taking coffee when the breeze ban1ed
aft Il trifle. Instead Of waiting unit,
they had finished Olafsen gave the or
der to square in Il bit at once,
Slack away your spanker sheet !"
he ordered next.
y man did so. but the block on the
Doom Jambed. The mate leaned over
the railing to overhaul the sheet. Sud
denly it cleared. and the boom shot
out with jerk to leeward. The mate
had been leaning against the boom
SO naturally he went with it, but NOT
having wings, he fell, and q minut .
later was shouting in the ships wake.
Inc mates watch was made IN
partly of Melbourne larrikins and
PARTLY OF Frisco roughs, an unwhole-
some mixture. Olafsen had not been
very courteous to them on the trim.
ana they remembered it now of all
times Inc ship was making good
SIX Knots, and even had the helmsman
Drought her into the wind, It would
nave taken good hour to pick up the
mate. 6ut the wheel remained I'M
sh1tted and the Aloha sailed straight
on the men coiled up the ropes, and
soon the shouts astern died out in rhe
hiss of the wake.
But 1t wasn't to save trouble that
they paid no heed. An hour later the
man at the wheel cast loose life buoy
and roared out: ="
"Man overboard."
The captain came ON deck. all. hands
were called, the ship was hove tn and
q boat lowered. They spent an hour
hunting, but of course it vast likely
that they would find man dropped
six miles astern. -, = = 3:
a. week later. the Aloha came into
Honolulu and officially reported bo., 81.
mate lost at sea. y S..
The Aloha hauled UP alongside the the
railroad dock and began dischamrgyinrigs ii yir
IL lel,s cargo of. coal & ere = were en-
;ployed on deck manipula atng b tons