The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-04

ged-he passed the doctor without any
spects for a deck swab, and he was snip
ping as n landsman-when, at the last
minute, he made a brush out.
81 reckon the silo-and-ensilage sport
with the cark in his midrin said, kind o
dreamy-like, when we began to glide him
into the Office to tack his name onto the
onct more-Cynthiana knowed this mornin
that l was about t take this fateful step,
an eff she sees that I'm downright desprit
an mean il, wy, mebbe she'll
SAVED BY A SIGN
Again, it was the miserable little Main
street upon which the recruiting headquar-
tiers was situated that robbed the navy of
as waggish and straw-haired a Hank as
ever played ring-around-rosy with the APP
ple-cheeked girls at a huskin bee. Our
nearly shipped candidate espied a neat
looking buggy going by with whitehead
girl driving the nag hitched to it at slow
jog. The girl was looking up sort of ex-
pectantly at the recruiting office windows.
"Our prankish one made one of the open
windows in two slides, poked his head out
and called out to the girl:
Hey, Cynth', I'm jes' goin t sign now
| say, Cynth, shall sign or no?
1.-THE girl in the buggy put forehnger
| in her mouth refectively, and then she
shook her head from side to side.
hopping away from the window and making
| for the stairs, L don't want t be no sailor
Cynth' says it's all right and two seconds
| later he was in the buggy and driving of
| with one arm around Cynths waist, the
| cark gone from his bosom as sudden as
| lime-juicer's crew lays aft for grog when
] the word is passed.
And we found all of them heap exact
| ing out there in the grain belt With the
| outfit we had an old shellback of bosuns
mate, who's been going up and down the
Il uarld In ha ri f6o C1n
| the old Ticon' and propeller wells, and this
| old jack was constituted the bureau of in
| formation to handle the applicants, because
| he'd promise them any old thing that they'd
| ask for.
| GLIDING THE BAIT.
but, look a-here, mister, 1 reckon I'd
| git seasick, never havin' been on tn water
in nothin but skift before. an I've heard
| tell that seasickness is pizen bad the shut
| fiers 'ud say to the old heavy.weather tim
| Der shiverer before making up their minds
to ship, and then the old jack would look
/ at them in surprise.
| Listen yere, matey,' he'd reply, conf
dentially, herding the doubtful ones into
| a corner. SOS to get a better crack at them,
I've been goin' 10 sea, man and boy, IN
this line O. packers ever sense / was the
| size o a pup-skate on the Chimney coast,
| and every time that I've put off to sea,
durin all O. them years, I've been a-gettln
dog that chewed two pounds o lye-sicker n
| royal marine double-ironed in tn brig
after four-days' Gibraltar shore leave
| and that's a hull plenty. sick, matey, I'm
| a-tellin' you.
land cause why have I been seasick
them years? C Cause se w N Cause at the
| break O. tn fo'csle on every American
| man-o'-war there's hundred-gallon scut-
tle-butt-a scuttle-butt, matey, is a cask-
| filled t tn brim with champagne for all O.
| tn hands for-ard that suffer from seasick-
ness and here the old shellback would
| roguishly at them. That's cause why L
| always git horribly seasick Wen / got t
sea-somethin' horrible-and who wouldn't.
| butt standin there at the break O. tn
| fo'c'sle, filled L tn brim with foamin',
purlin', seethin' French champagne water,
tn spigot all ready t be turned on, but
| ony t be touched by them O. tn men for
ard-perticler the new men or'ard-that's
got tn sense t git seasick-hey. who
TT may sound pretty raw, but nine out
| of ten of the b'goshers Of the corn-shuck-
| ing section gulped that one down just as
1t flowed from the face of the leathery
old deck prowler. and I'll bet that there
| are some of them rubbering around yet
| on the ships TO which they've been as
| signed for the champagne-filled scuttle-butt
| for the sailors that suffer from the sick
| ness of the sea.
Most of them, too, wanted quite a whole
| lot for consenting 10 hold up then hands
! particularly solicitous as TO the kind of
| uniform they would be required to wear.
HE WANTED A UNIFORM.
'1n a little Missouri town a big, raw
boned hired man, with climbing motion
| of the feet when he walked that ud make
you think of the grape-dancers in the dago
vineyards, clomped upstairs to the office.
and without removing his headgear in
any other way recognizing the shipping
officer, he slouched over to where one of
the fancy uniform pictures was hanging.
He placed a big thumb the picture Of
| a chief petty officer, chief DO suns mate
with an anchor and eagle rating badge on
the blouse sleeve of his watch arm. and
he inquired of all of us in general:
Hey. mister. eff l go fr sailor with you
fellers do | git suit o cloes jes' like
this-a-one L wear right of?'
Pretty forehand remark, that, when you
stop to think that IL takes a seventh son
ten to twenty years to get a chief petty
officers rig-out Oh bis back in this man S
navy! I've been with the outfit eighteen
years and I'm still wearing the bell-but-
tons. even If have got a crow on my arm.
well, the shipping officer grinned. and
the old shellback who acted as the bureau
of information nodded the turnip-hoer into
the next room and said to him:
'Messmate, If you honest think that
there uniform that you pinted out 'ud suit
you, all well an good: it'll be yours. Four
sets O. tn same. with tn cap thrown
in fir tn askin. But that kind O. uniform
hain't got no sword L go with it, Now.
you'll be wantin' of sword L go with your
uniform, won't you, messmate?'
1.-THE hired hand reckoned that a sword
| added to the uniform wouldn't hurt none,
but, he said. with great positveness, he
want a-goin' 10 wear no loose blue shirt
| tucked into them baggy, wide bottomed
| trousers. jes' like common. ornery sailors,
and eff he could have right off, the uniform
| that he'd pointed out IN the picture. wy.
| all right-mebbe then he'd ship. and then
mebbe again ne wouldnt-he wanted TO git
| that uniform question made clear fust.'
| THE bureau of information made that
| all right with him, and. after the mixer
| had hesitated and reneged and passed II w
| and come back dozen times so. he was
| duly shipped as a coal HEAVIER and hiked
| east to one Of the receiving ships with a
| carload of the corralled ones.
| I'D like TO We been standing by near
the receiving ship pay office when the
Jack-o -the-Dust tossed that hired man a
| slop rig of government straight bluejacket
togs I'll bet a months tobacco that he
, looked as sore and abused as a stranded
| doghsh on a ouicksand.'