The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-23

seconds later he was in the buggy and
driving oil with one arm around Cynth,s
waist, the cark gone from his bosom as sud
ueh as lime ULCERS crew lays art ior
grog when the word is passed.
And we found all of them a heap exact
ing out there in the grain belt. With the
outfit we had an old shellback Of DO suns
mate who's been going up and down the
world IN the frigates ever since the days OF
the old Ticon' and propeller wells, and
this old jack was constituted the Bureau
OF Information to handle the applicants
because he'd promise them any old thing
that they'd ask for
But. look a-here, mister, l reckon I'd
GIT seasck, never havin' been on tn water
In nothin but skift before, an I've heard
tell that seasickness Is pizen bad, the
shutters 'ud say to the old heavy weather
timber 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, con-
fdentally, herding the doubtful ones into
corner SOS to get better crack at them.
i We been goin' to sea, man and boy, in this
line packets, ever sence was the size o
pup-skate on the Chimney coast, and every
time that I've put of to sea, durin' all o
them, wears, I've been a-gettin' sea-sick-
horribe sea-Sick-sick as a ships dog that
chewed two pounds o lye-sicker' a royal
marine doubled-iro in tn brig after a
our-days' Gibraltar shore eave-and that g
a null plenty sick, matey. I'm a-tellin' you.
And cause why have | been sea-sicl
every time I've gone to sea durin' all O.
them years? Cause why? Cause at the
break o tn foe sic on every American man
o'-war there's hundred gallon scuttle-butt
"a scuttle-butt matey. il a oask- filed {
TN brim with champagne for all O. tn hands
tor'ard that suffer from a-sckness,' and
here the old shellback would poke them
jorially in the ribs and wink roguishlv at
them. That's cause why always git hor-
ribe sea-sick wen 60 : sea-s omethin'
horrible and who wouldn't with that there
hundred-gallon scuttle-butt standin' there
at the break O tn fo'c'sle, filed t tn brim
with foamin', purlin', seethin' Fren, h
champagne water, tn spigot all ready t lie
turned on, but ony t be touched by them
o IN men for ard-perticler the new men
for 'ard-that's got tn sense { git sea-sick-
hey, who wouldn't, matey'
1T may sound pretty raw, but nine out of
ten OF the b'goshers Of the corn-shucking
section gulped that one down lust rs it
flowed from the face of the eathery old deck
prowler, and I'll bet that II ere are some
OF them rubberng around yet on the ships
to WHICH they've been assigned for the
chamrhgnc-fil scuttle- butt for the sailors
that suffer from the sickness OF the sea-
Most OF them too, wanted quite whole
lot for consenting to hold up their hands
before the recruiting officer They were
particularly solicitous az TO the kind OF
uniform they would be required to wear
In little Missouri town a big, raw
boned hired man, with climbing motion
of the feet when he walked that nd make
you think OF the grape-dancers in the dago
vineyards, clomped upstairs to the office,
| and, without removing his headgear or
in any other way recognizing the shipping
officer, he slouched over to where one of
IN 70 tFNtf NHV.
He placed big thumb on the picture of
chief petty officer, a chief bo'sun's 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, ef 60 f'r sailor with
you fellers do git suit o clio es ies' like
this-a-one { wear right off?'
Pretty forehand remark, that, when
you stop to think that it takes a seventh
son born lucky with caul all the way from
ten TO twenty years to get a chief petty
officers rig-out on his back in this mans
navy! I've been with the outfit eighteen
years and I'm still wearing the bell bottoms,
even II have got crow on my arm.
We'll, 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 p'inted out 'ud
5ilt you, ali well an ROOO, IL ii De yours.
-Four sets o tn same, with tn cap thrown
In f'r tn askin'. But that kind o. uniform
hain't got no sword t go with it. Now.
you II be wantin' of sword t. go with your
uniform, won't you, messmatet
The hired hand reckoned that sword
added to the uniform wouldn't hurt none,
but, he said, with great positiveness he
want a-goin' to- wear no loose blue
shirt tucked into them baggy wide-bot-
toned trousers jes' like common, ornery
sailors and ef he could have, right of,
the uniform that he'd pointed out in the
picture, wy, all right-mebbe then he'd
ship, and, then, mebbe again he wouldn't
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 up and
come back dozen times or so. he was
duly shipped as n coal HEAVIER and liked
east to one Of the receiving ships with a
carload of the corralled ones
"Td like to We been standing by near the
receiving ship pay office when the jack
o'-the-Dust tossed that hired man O slop
rig of Government straight bluejacket
toys. III bet months tobacco that he
looked rs sore and abused as stranded
dogfish In a quicksand
EIOYERS nE pREV