The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-03
TURK AN AMUSING SAILOR.
His Happy-Go-Lucky ms a
Navigator.

New York Sun.
The Turk as a seaman Is as amusing as
he is terrible as a soldier. For every story
of Macedonian outrage by a bashi-bazouks
one about the funny antics of his seafaring
brother in Islam can be told.
A story that has become a classic among
Mediterranean sailors illustrates the Turks
Inability as a navigator.
A Turkish steamer with a native captain
put out of the Dardanelles, bound for
Trieste, Austria. AS soon as he lost sight
of land the Turkish skipper likewise lost
his bearings.
Just then another steamer came up from
astern and the Turk made signals that he
wished to speak with the stranger. The
latter, on approaching, proved TO be a
French tramp.
Where are you bound for?' asked the
Turk.
"Brest," returned the Frenchman.
The Turk asked no more questions and
allowed the Frenchman to go ahead. The
next morning the French captain noticed
that the Turk was astern and following in
his wake. When on the second morning
he still found the Turk in his wake his
surprise grew. On the fourth-the French
captain always made out that Turkish
steamer coming UP astern.
On the fifth day he let the Turk overhaul
him and asked for an explanation. By this
time they were we'll down the Mediter-
ranean toward the French coast.
why do you keep so close astern of
me?' roared the French captain through a
~megaphone.
Il am following you to Trieste" answered
the Turk.
Whereupon the French captain sent a
boat aboard the steamer flying the crescent
to explain to her commander that he was
about five hundred miles off his course and
TO instruct him how to regain il.
Wonderful to a seaman's ears are the
stories told of the small Turkish schooners
that navigate the Black sea, the Bosporous
and the Sea of Marmora. In the first place.,
1t is said that no watches are kept and that
all hands, including the man at the wheel,
not infrequently sleep at once.
There is no discipline. The sailors never
clean ship or wash down decks. This is
easy to believe. If you ever sail close to
windward of a Turkish craft one Whit from
Its decks will convince you that cleaning is
not the Turks strongest point in seaman
ship.
1t is further averred that these schooners
never carry compasses and dare not lose
sight of land. They nave captains, but the
rest of the crew are all equals. They eat,
sleep and quarrel together. and are at lib
erty TO call themselves the mates or the
sailors, as they choose.
On one ship boarded by the writer all
hands were on deck, each one dressed most
picturesquely in fez and loose colored jack
cts and trousers. Every one of them was
hideously dirty.
As we were talking a sheep came up from
the cabin, and was followed by a big cat,
which rubbed against the sheep in a most
friendly and purring manner. Chickens
were perched about on any place that of
fered a roost. A goat that had rubbed it's
whiskers into the universal dirt until they
were fringed black and white at the roots
ambled about the decks.
A visit to a Turkish man-o'-war showed a
sight quite as odd. She was a big, wooden
box-shaped craft, with a high, old-fash-
toned poop. She was anchored in the OAR
d~anelles, doing temporary custom-house
duty, so we had to board her on business.
The deck seemed to have had trouble with
a gale, but that may have been due to the
fact that the sailors were evidently trying TO
build what looked like a big coop for chick
ems. An elderly gentleman with white whis-
kers, a red fez and gold-rimmed spectacles
was experimenting the work in his shirt
sleeves.
He had a broad, benevolent smile; it took
in strangers as well as the crew. But be-
yond an intense desire to be pleasant the
old gentleman did not seem TO know much
about the work he was experimenting. Sew
eral sailors stood about in pensive attitudes,
contemplating what was to be done, but
not doing il. The benevolent gentleman in
shirt sleeves was bo'Sn, we were told.
The captain, trimmed up in much gold
lace, smoked a hookah on the poop, and
seemed to find the mess amidships ample
food for contemplation. His lieutenant, who
was fishing over the rail. pulled up a fish
about three inches long with a merry
whoop, just as We stepped on the cabin
deck. After he had baited his hook again
he turned to attend to our business.
| When they are we'll Differed Turks are
! not bad sailors. But a Turk cannot COM