The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1904-02-12
HooDoos IN THE NAVY.
Cruiser Olympia Reckoned Unfortu. /,
nate i'm Her Christening, But.
She Made a Record.


nate i'm Her Christening, But.
She Made a Record. s.
81 wasn't surprised any when read
of that big dent that was put in the
bottom of the cruiser Olympia when
she went aground the other day"
said an attache of the navy depart
ment, who used to be chief petty Off
Ger in the navy, to a Washington Post
reporter. 1.-The Olympia was hoodoo
ship from the day of her launching.
The young woman who tossed the bot
tie of champagne against the PROV OF
the Olympia on the day of her launch
ing missed fire-that is to say, the bot.
tie didn't BREAKFAST as the bottle that
the young woman raped against the
battleship Maryland failed to break
when the Marylands unsuccessful
launching was pulled off. and when
anything as ominous as that hap
pens at the launching of navy
ship, the old-time fatfeet have way
Of shaking their heads and of mutter-
ing evil prophecies.
proved all of the bad prophecies that
were uttered against her, and the first
year of her career was series of bad
accidents. l helped to put the Olympia
into commission for the first time, at
the Mare Island navy yard. On the
very day that she went into commits
sion she was the occasion of the death
of naval officer
HE wasa fine young chap from Nor
folk, a naval constructor named
Armistead. The Olympia was being
warped into the Mare Island dry dock
to receive the final coat of red lead on
her keel. Armistead was standing at
the top of the dry dock, superintend-
ing the docking, when the loop of
three-inch hawser suddenly snapped.
The knot caught the young naval con-
structor alongside the head. He fell
down, and he never moved again.
never saw man killed so suddenly
except with bullet.
"a week or so later the Olympia
started down the coast of California for
her first machinery trying, warming
up and compass adjusting cruise with
the full force. Her point Of destfna-
ton was San Diego, where there was
big flower fiesta in progress. The
Olympia was sent to San Diego at the
earnest solicitation of the California
delegation in congress, who wanted to
give the San Diego flower fiesta a sort
Of official and deep water tone. On
the run down the coast a couple of sea-
men got their legs caught in the loop
of cable that was being wound up
on steam windlass, and the four legs
of the two men were cut OFF as clean
as If they'd been on the operating
table. One of them died. Al
ION the up-trip to San Francisco
from San Diego we had bit Of drill
on the smaller guns. Small charges
were fired. One of the guns shot back
upon the instant of her firing and
knocked the gunner into shapeless
pulp. Then it was found-after there
had been gunner killed, of course
that no oil had been placed in the re-
coil cylinder, so that the gun couldn't
have done anything else but bob back
and kill whoever happened to be in
the way of it.
"a number of minor incidents hap
pened on board the Olympia before the
finish of that dinky little two weeks
cruise down the coast although don't
recall that any more men were killed.
But she gained the immediate name OF
being hoodoo, and the crew that had
been shipped especially for her de-
serted in whole battalions-went over
the side like rats from leaky wind
jammer-so that two or three almost
before the Olympia was ready for the
real deep water. Lieut.. Tommy
Phelps, who was the navigator of the
Olympia of that first cruise of hers
down the California coast, was re-
heved man when he finally brought her
into Mare Island again. He hadn't
slept ten minutes during the cruise fol-
fear that the Olympia would go on a
bunch Of uncharted rocks somewhere
or other. and he seemed to be as thor.
oughly convinced as any of the men
for'ard that the Olympia was DOOMED
to be hoodoo
"And yet, after all, this hoodoc
business doesn't hold together with the
most perfect consistency throughout
ships whole career. For example, the
ship that had the honor of carrying
George Dewey on her quarterdeck
while the BATTLE Of Manila was on
couldn't have been such a terrible
hoodoo. after all; and it was the Olym-
pia that stole through the gray dawn
of that May morning in the van of the
American feet, with her captain all
prepared for the fray and waiting for
those quiet but memorable words Of
Dewey's: You may fire when you are
ready, Gridley.'"
How Japs Play Ken.
In its most widely practiced form
the basis of the Japanese game of ken
is that the fully outstretched hand sig
miles paper; the fully closed hand, q
stone; and two fingers alone extended,
the root hafnC cIosad ocisoorr Each