Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1905-01-18
LONG FLIGHT OF sEAeuLLs.
They Follow Army Transports Across
the Pacific and Back.


We are pround Of our great ocean
liners and the speed that they make.
speed which has made foreign coun-
tries ridiculously near and has brought
the nations close together. To the peo-
pie OF hundred years ago the story
that vessel could cross the broad Pa
clhc within month would seem like
the sheerest fancy of a romancer. Yet,
at that time, seagulls existed as they
do at the present day and they made
their long trips without provoking any
especial comment. Today it is looked
apon as nothing very marvellous that
birds are able to fly from America to
Asia and back again. But. if we pause
to consider it, the feat is really so-.ie-
thing after all.
These birds are especially fond of
The United States army transports, for
these ships carry many men, who, de-
MED the taste for books, which rem
ders an ocean journey less tedious. and
having limited facilities for deck sport,
take to feeding the gulls as a pastime.
When one of the big vessels leave
the Golden Gate and passes the Fcral-
lone islands n hundred or more brown
bodies with long sweeping wings leave
their resting place and take up the
l.lght in the wake of the transport.
Then some soldier who has made the
trip before says: Here come the sea-
gulls. We'd better feed them IL we
want quick passage this trip" and
many soldiers invade the stewards
premises and gather up the waste
bread and victuais.
The birds seem to know when they
are To he fed. tor they come flying in
ever narrowing circles until they are
within n short distance OF the ship.
Then the food begins to fall on the
waters, and the brown-winged forms
swoop eagerly down upon the waves
and seize what has been thrown forth.
This is continued until the food is ex-
hausted, and then the soldiers go be-
low, leaving the gulls to get away
with their food as they a.. They
never seem to rest. these queer birds.
Day after day they follow the ship,
cleaving the air with swift wings, fly
ing easily and without apparent effort.
Indeed, it seems a sthough they were
not made to rest.
On the last trip of the transport
Logan one of the gulls had its wing
muscles injured in some way and
dropped nuttcring upon the deck. it's
wide, goose-lile bill open. and strange
squawks coming from its throat. A
soldier spied it and took it to its bunk,
where he fed it daily until it became
strong again. Then he allowed it to
fly away. But the bird had not for
gotten its benefactor. Every day ii
would light on the deck and allow
none save this particular man to feed
ii. 1t followed the boat to Honolulu,
to Guam. and finally to Manila. Where
ii rested during the two weeks the Lo-
gan lay in Manila is not known, but
when the vessel turned on it's home
ward course, bound for Nagasaki, the
first day ont found this gull. easily
distinguished by fieck o. white on its
neck, resting on the stern. AS its ia
vorite soldier did not appear the gull
graciously allowed others to feed ii.
and continued its trip with the ship
until the Logan passed the Farallone
islands.
A peculiar incident was one that oc-
CURED on the Il. NJ. s. Athenian on
her last trip from Yokohama to Van
couver. Five days out 1000 miles
from land in any direction, a little
owlet alighted on the deck and was
captured by the secon dsteward. 1t
was a baby owl, a little bundle of
brown and white feathers. and it
blinked it's eyes in the daylight as it
rested contentedly in the cage which
IL.