Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-03-31

u
tell about how far west we are, and
which will determine our approxi-
mate latitude. / am inclined to
think we are well to the west of
Cuba, and not many hundred miles
from the Mexican or Central Amer
lean coast"
II entirely agree with you," said
Mr.. Morton. 81 kept as close watch
of the direction taken as possible
Monday was cloudy, but / am sure
that on that day and on a part of
| Sunday we were going in a westerly
or southwesterly direction. / figure
that we ran about 124 hours on
fairly direct course to this island.
The Sharks course was cratic only
when Capt. Waters was avoiding
other craft. Now, if we averaged
| 90 miles an hour, that would make
total of 2,4s0 miles. 1t may be 100
miles either way from this esti-
mate"
Sidney produced an atlas from the
library, and all pored over the map
of North America, as if demanding
a solution of the puzzle from the
tinted page.
"You will not solve the problem
| of where we are at by gazing at that
map" said Mr.. Kent. "There are
| thousands of islands in the West In
dies which are not on the map, and
we may be in any one of Them
Here is something that may be
of service to u.s." said Mr.. Morton,
who had been absent for several
minutes. Il took a notion to ex-
anime the room occupied by Mr.. Hes
tor last night. and found this on
the dressing case
Mr.. Hestor unrolled sheet of ma
Mia drawing paper containing a
well-executed map labeled "Hesto-
ria" 1t was spread out on the din
ing table and examined amid much
excitement.
Here is what Hestor named Nor
tor Bay" said Mr.. Carmody, point
ing to the pear-shaped lake, land
the black L is the bungalow. Here
are the hills which surround the
lake." said Mr.. Carmody pointing to
the shaded portions of the map, back
of the bungalow and around Morton
Bay"
This is not complete map of
the island" said Sidney Hammond.
ut is merely detailed map of the
immediate surroundings of the bay.
There is the reservoir he spoke
about, and here is the brook which
passes the bungalow. Let's see if
we can find any other map in his
room"
A thorough search revealed none.
They then proceeded to make care
/ full study of the map, but it threw no
light on their position on the broad
surface of the globe. All that the
map showed was the contour of the
bay, the course of the brook to the
reservoir, and little to the west
of it, also the location of the bun
/ galow and the small island in the
! bay. There was no scale, and the
waters to the east were designated
by no name.
For all that this map shows we
may be on the NOON" said Mr. Kent.
"All that we know is that we are
alive and well, and somewhere in the
tropics. We may be east or west or
north or south of Cuba. For all /
know we may be off South America y
We'll, we can consider this later"
said Mr. Morton. Lets get down
to business. 1t would not be right
for good Americans to do anything
without an organization, and | move
that Mr. John NJ Rockwell be made
chairman, and that Mr.. Sidney Ham
mond act as secretary. All in favor
of the motion say 'aye!'"
4 There was Il chorus of ayes in
which Mr.. Rockwell joined with a
laugh.
i Gentlemen" said Mr.. Rockwell,
II have presided at many meetings,
and with varied success, but this is
the most interesting and perhaps the
most important in my experience.
will make formal speech when
we are out of the woods; or more
PoPeiiJ perhaps, OUT ol lne ocean.
What is the pleasure of the meet
ing?"
In my opinion, Mr. President"
said Mr.. Morton, "our first duty is to
change the name of the island. Its
present name is distasteful to me.
move you sir, that in view of the
character of the men who now inhab-
it it, that we call it Social Island
The motion was carried unanimous
ly amid applause in which hoci
of parrots and cockatoos joined.
Now, Mr.. President" continued
Mr.. Morton, 1T occurs to me thai
there are three divisions of work that
should engage our attention. The
first is our sustenance during the
time we are compelled to remain OF
this island. 1t can be classed under
the broad head of housekeeping The
second is a thorough exploration o.
the island, and us careful an est
mate of our whereabouts as posi-
Bile. The third is to plan and provide
means of escape. | move that the
president appoint committees to su