The Jersey City news., 1904-03-18
pose and he appointed a day for the r,

f ~ - aPPe1iitSo q uaJ AOA titC "
ception.
You should have seen us fellows get
in and holystone the decks and polish the
guns and brasswork till the old ship
looked like a nigger's heel going TO cleo
tion-v The Olympians chartered little
side-wheeler, Ella Anderson, that plis
between the ports of the Sound. to carrs
the people back and forth from the tow
to the ship. They came attired in eii
manner of costumes. ranging from those
Of the early colonial periodsto the latest
fashion of that day.
after the officers had escorted t.,
visitors about, and the sightseeing 49,
done. We were called aft to haul the guns
off the quarterback to make room for
dancing. A tarpaulin was spread out
to serve as a screen between the visitors
on the quarterback and the men on the
forecastle. Then the orchestra struck up
and the dancing began. The orchestra.
by the way consisted of banjos, vioIins,
and aceordeons.
I'VE were hidden from view by the
tarpaulin The Eliza Anderson was made
fast to our ship on the port side, and
party of fifteen men was made up then
and there to go aboard the visitors boat
on foraging expedition for some of the
good old stuff. You see we didn't get
liberty as often as the sailors do nova
days, and there was great longing
among the men for this commodity. All
the men of the tender We're enjoying the
dancing, and we quietly stole aboard the
little boat in Indian file until the leader
of the expedition discovered locker. 1t
was in narrow, dark passage, and all
waited in breathless silence for the first
man to break open the locker and see if
the stuff was there. de found demi-
john and took the first gulp out Of it
himself, and passed it to the next man.
Each one whispered to the man ahead to
hurry up with the drinking and pass
along the jug. Each man took good,
long drink before he took the jug from
his lips, and BY the time it reached the
last man on the line there was mighty
little left for him. Then the men sneaked
as quietly as they had left back to the
Saranac
Every man declared that it was prime
stuff, and each smacked his lips over it.
We turned in, and sometime during the
night the visitors went home. Early in the
morning the Eliza Anderson came along
side our ship and the captain from the
wheel house hailed US Boat ahoy!
" Hellor answered our coxswain
How many of your men are dead
this morningr inquired the captain Of
the Anderson. Our coxswain answered
that there was none dead Then the
captain began to say things about us in
language which would be shocking to
people nowadays. Part of what he said
was:
What kind Of l--- men have you
got there? What kind of T stohachs
have they7 They boarded my boat last
night aud drank two gallons of lamp
fluid, and | had to come up III the dark
for there was no oil left for the lanpss
"Well. that's the kind of men there
were in the old navy. That lamp fluid
was pretty tough stuff. The first man
who tasted it knew what it was, but he
had been caught and he passed it on to
the next man without squealing, and the
next passed it on to the next and so on
down to the fifteenth man not one welch-
ed or squealed. Each took his medicine.
Some Of them were trile sick the next
day, but none Of them died from the ef-
fects,"