Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1907-01-10
ACROSS The OCEAN
Miss Geneveve Bafs Interesting Account Of Her Trip
Across the Atlantic Last Summer


sented' the youth, who. to al externa
appearances. differed little from the Az
crage South Dakota college graduate
7 Among the pa. sengers were twenty
seven Cook tourists One Of these wa
Miss Gertrude Wood. Denver. whom ",
had met AT Vermillion. In oh rye Of :
professor was jolly group of colleg,
boys who We're enthusiastic over tn,
prospect of ID ing Switzerland on foot
They were merry SET. and the lasI
| ounds that came family to our ears tha,
night was the refrain. 20 my darl ne
O my darling. o my darling Oh men.
tine. mingled with the dash of ocean
waves
/ The ship physician proved to be an
old acquaintance of friend Of our.. who
had sailed on the Merton two years be-
fore. He very kindly escorted a little
company Of us ever the whole ship,
This was great privilege. as the cabin
passengers cannot leave their own decks
without special permit from the
tain. The Merton, an English vessel.
go #. long and SO feet wide had on the
preceding voyage |, 200 passengers, and
could accommo late 200. On this vow.
age, however. there were but 1873 cabin
passengers and $50 steerage: also cats,
| and a crew of 10 men. We were assured
of our safety in case of wreck by finding
| on the boat deck TWENTY-FIVE ife.boats
having capacity of fifty people each.
and supplied with provisions and water.
On this deck, in a little glass pilot house,
stood the qnartermaster. his eyes fixed
upon the compass before him aud his
hand upon the wheel which governs the
rudder three decks below and at the 9th.
rr end of the boat He proved To be the
| man who sounds the bell that indicates
the time. The beginning OF each watch.
or period of four hours. is designated on
shipboard by one bell. and each succeed
ing half-honr by on additional bell. On
| this deck was the clock work. which.
when wound, caused the. fog horn to-
sound automatically every sixty seconds.
These. too. was the brass coutrivance
for holding rockets to be sent of as sig :.
mails, and the Indicator, by turning a
crank of which the captain commun,.
Gates orders to the engineer and other
officers on the lower decks, We ran
around peering at everything and plying
the good natured captain with questions.
The, steerage proved even more inter
esting. On the steerage promenade
deck there We're no steamer chairs. bat
the passengers, seated on the deck or on
parts of the ships apparatus, seemed
contented, even happy. The dingy
steerage cabins and the dining room.
with rude tables and bare floor, made
our quarters seem luxurious by contrast.
On the deck below was the ship kitchen
with its immen-e shining kettles, pre-
sided over by men cooks. We were not
admitted to the engine room, where the
stokers work in four-hour shifts on ac-
count of the intense heal.
The second day of the voyage was
Sunday and at ten O'Clock most Of the
cabin passengers gathered in The saloon
for services. AS our ewes r.,ved cnr;o,s
ly over the assembly wc m.rva,ea !,
the change 4 day Al sea had aArec,aa
Stylish suits. i,unty hats and anFv .,,,.
had given. place 10 short skirts. Tam q.
| Shanters and strjney locks Wh;,a ano
OF the college BOYS acc,mnanied !, ma
piano all Joined in 4 fami,;ar hvmn
Then passenger. Rev Mr. Howl of
! Philadelphia. gave len or fifteen min.
ntes talk on .T'he Lord is nv rod and
my staff The service. though shor,
and simple. was impressive for ,hrouoh
lit all sounded the imessan, d.s,,;no 80
i the sea. Later in the day we gathered