The Topeka state journal., 1905-12-07

: oil Kansas ave-, Topeka, Nan.
Ind. Ph,
Captain Smith is a very pleasant man.
and turns up everywhere at all sorts OF
unexpected moments, but he is busy
and the passengers are afraid of him;
no one seems to be very intimate with
him He told me last night tnat ne
greatly admired z. H. Hartman, VINO
crossed with him the last trip, ahq 1r-ls.t Ina
all the passengers admired MN 4hese
captains Of industry can be very agree
able when they choose to be.
Tl1,ine fish began appearing To-Day
fish about the size of a Deer cfeeh
chub which is able to jump out OF the
water and fly twenty or thirty Iee1
with the aid of peculiar looking WiIlgs.
ono fell ON the steerage deck IN the
afternoon, and attracted as much at
tention from the bored passengers as
whale would attract
Dorothy. one of the missiOnary's lit
tie girls. today struck another niue
girl who looks like Ruth Blair, and 1
wanted to shake her. The Missionary $
children do not improve on acqualhl-
ance- thew are the worst children 1
ever knew. Possibly it is due to the
fact that their mother is not Well, ana
their father has been assigned to the
lob of saving the Chinese. There are
several Chinese children in the steer
age. and they are well behaved. The
nnissionary's wife spends most Of her
time in a steamer chair, and looks
very frail. Dorothy said to a man to-
day. a man who had a heavy beard:
Don't you ever shave 2 A woman
sitting near was much amused at the
-1,.- nv
her: you don't shave, either, do
you ?" AS the lady has a pronounced
mustache, it was an embarrassing mo-
ment: more embarrassing to the lady,
possibly than to the gentleman. That
was what she got for noticing" the
nlissionary's children: you don't dare
pay any attention to them, or they will
soon be riding over you.
Speaking of the fact that a little
girl on the ship looks like Ruth Blair
of Atchison, one of the lady passengers
looks exactly like Mrs. John NJ. Gro
well.
A piece of deck gossip: At san
Francisco a man came aboard who had
been drinking heavily for a month. He
drank good deal while going down
the bay. AS soon as the ship began to
roll the passenger became sea sick.
and. after three days, he found he had
entirely lost his appetite for strong
drink.
We had a fire drill late this after
noon. The big whistle was blown. and
members OF the crew came running
from everywhere, and lined up on the
two sides of the upper deck, near the
boats. The officers stood among the
sailors carrying revOlvers in their
belts in case of a wreck and panic,
you have, of course, read how the Of
ficers preserve order with pistols The
| sailors looked pretty awkward to me.
sit around a good deal. and try to
decide what callings the passengers are
engaged in. Like all men, I think
can look at a woman, and tell ali about
her but like all men again. of course,
I can not. Men are a good deal alike,
but am gradually discovering that
women are not; every woman seems to
live by rules more or less her own.
Eleven hundred miles west of Homo
lulu. we Will encounter the Midway
Islands. a coral reef only a few feet
above the sea level, where a cable sta
ton is maintained. All cable messages
from japan. Manila. etc, are relaid
there, and the cable operator has lived
in the lonely place three years His
wife. two assistants and several ser
wants accompany him. The United
States maintains twenty marines at the
place. There is a good spring Of water,
but no Xegetauons the surface OF the
main island Is covered with sand but
the cable operator manages to keep "A
few goats. Captain Smith visited the
place with the Siberia on his last
Trip anchoriug outside. as the harbor
is very shallow. When the siberia
anchored there, it was the first vessel
the cable operator had seen in five
months You have noted III travelling,
lonely railroad stations, but have new
er seen anything equalling in loneli-
the 1fn station the MIDWAY
Islands. This cable operator lives
nearly three thousand miles from his
nearest. neighbor. in the middle Of the
Pacific ocean. Occasionally he secs
supply boat once in two months, but
affeuer he sees nothing save his own
reflection in the mirror for five months
at time
BY the way. Captain Smith is MAX
ing his ninetv-fouTtfa trip across the.
Pacifc. He has rounded Cape Horn