Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-06-21

I might be-and the index of them tailed
out-they did not show prominently az
the mead of such q ships mpa
Like all men in the merchant marine
he had been bred in the oughest
school, but unlike his successful
brethren he had not graduated later on
10 the smooth things of a well manned
passenger liner. For his sins he had
remained the pitiful knockabout skip
per, a man with knife edged words al
ways ready on the lip OF his teeth, a
leaden whistle in n jacket pocket and
a lsthal weapon in the other.
He was an excellent seaman ana
| navigator, a man capable of going an
entire voyage without taking OFF his
clothes or enjoying one watch OF regu-
lar sleep. Taking into account these
qualifications, it maY be understood
that while in command at sea ne
| credited himself with the powers of q
| czag and was entirely INSCRIPTIONS in
gaining ends which expediency or his
! owners laid down for him, and though
not physically powerful he had the
pluck of a dog and an unholy reputa-
ton for craftsmanship. For the hand
ling OF such q menagerie of all nation
scroundreldom and incapacity as bunk
tu III lile SLCdIllSAlp l. OlN NAC nv ~
ter man THAI Owen Kettle breathed in
either hemisphere.
The crew signed their marks on the
articles at the shipping office in the
Sailors home and went grumbiing TO
get rid of their advances. Later most
of them turned up on the steamer, some
with their worldly goods done up in
dunnage sacks, which look to the un-
initiated like pillowslips, some appar-
A-.Tv ->--A--t~- .-~tltnr hrnf thu
squalid raiment they stood up in.
There was not one of them dressed like
a sailor, according to the conventional
idea. Yet most of them had made their
bread upon the seas since early boy
hood, which shows what conventional
ideas are sometimes worth. They were
most Of them oldish men and
even older han their years.
The engineers came on board early,
for the most part in scrubby blue serge
and sour black temper. They grumbled
at the messroom in broad Glaswegian,
prophesied evil Gin advance) about the
capacities of the mesSrOom steward
and ships cook, dumped their belong
ings into their various rooms n
changed to apparel more suitable for
tail twisting in the unClean regions be-
low. Then they went on duty, quar-
relied with the donkeyman who was
liidNl lS SlCCbItl lOI Nllc "lllNliNo III pIo-
ceeded to split up their crew Of fire.
men and trimmers into watches and
apportion them to furnace door
unkerS
The three mates. the boatswain and
the carpenter were also on board be-
times, most of them large headed with
recent libations and feeling cantank-
erous accordingly. There vas a small
general cargo being shipped for New
nNI4aA -rI { b <rawrA hoo xr>AtI 80
fcers ease to find occasional acid fault
with the stevedor's crew or the crane
men on the wharf, but for the most part
they shuffled about the decks in easy
slippers, attending to the various ship
duties in massive sneering silence.
Patrick Cambel came into the chart
room IN the bridge deck, closing the
door behind him. "A CHEEKY, amiable
crowd you've collected" he said.
Aren't they?' replied Captain Ket-
tie from a sofa locker. They're just. a
terror Of a crew. You wait till we get
to sea, and they start on mischief. My
mates a cur. He wouldn't stand up to
a Chinaman. And the rest of the after
guard is much of a pattern, picked that
way on purpose Oh, 1 tell you, Mr..
Cambel, that l stand alone, and l shall
have my hands full. But let EN- start,
the brutes! I'll haze them. It isn't
81 lN" vi NC" poi y III with ilC
You're going into 1t with your eyes
open anyway"
ooh, don't you make any error" said
Kettle. Il know my Job. And if l warn
you it's because you'll see things for
yourself and perhaps Join In al them.
/ don't go and tell everybody. Not
much. They think ashor I've got a
real soft thing on this time. Why, do
you know, Mr.. Cambel," he added, with
a thin, o III grin, my old woman want
ed to come with me for the trip She
said 1t was so long since she's had a
Whit Of outside air that now I'd such
a tidy steamboat under me she couldn't
miss the chance Yes, and she said
she'd bring one Of the kids with her
that wanted to be a sailor, like his
daddy. / tell you she was that took
on the idea she'd heal no refusal, and
had to write a letter to owners and get
them to wire back a No she could read
for herself. It'd ooh we'll set to music,
that tale, wouldn't 1t? Sort Of jumpy
| music, you know, with a yo-heave
hsmbug chorus to 1t, same as all
sailors songs that you hear In the
halls"
Cambel shrugged his shoulders.
What can you expect at the price?" he
asked. This isn't a s12 a month
berth, and you've thrashed across
Atlantic In a worse ship for less"
Don't you mistake me-" retorted
Kettle. I'm working for full value re-
ceived, and there's many an old sailor'd
like to be In my shoes If he only knew.
I'm not grumbling at the berth, only
when a mans on a racket Of this kind
it's a bit hard on him to have a wife
and kids he's fool enough to be fond of.
It's an ugly amusement lying to them
like a play actor when you know It's
ten chances to n you'll ever see
English mud again That the way it
cuts, though l suppose you'll think II
all a sailors grumble. Perhaps YOU
aren't a married MANI"
No, I'm not"