Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-02-21
MASCOTS
OF FLEET


Patrick Spite, San Juan, Brooklyn
Bill. Canarsie, Harlem Mike, Hobo,
and Nutmeg H., in convention assem-
bled. bade an official farewell to the
Atlantic Coast when the Atlantic feet
sailed from Norfolk.
Patrick Spite, Nutmeg H., and the
others are some of the famous mas
cots Of the Atlantic fleet, and al
though there is no way of telling,
there Is not a sailor on board any of
Admiral Evans's big fighters who
does not believe that every one of
them knows exactly what the cruise
means to the Atlantic fleet.
The sailors are just as careful of
these mascots as they are of the
magazines, and there is not a man
among them who would not have a
funny feeling about his heart If any
thing should happen to any one OF
these little animals, whose presence
on board they consider one of the
surest guarantees of a successful voy-
age to San Francisco.
On the day before sailing one of
the sailors on the Connecticut took
census Of the mascots that are gong
to the Pacific, and he found out that
the sixteen battleships have on board
about twenty-five goats, one donkey,
thirty-two dogs, two pigs, and a doz-
en- parrots. These are the mascots
of Admiral Evans's mighty armada,
and an interesting lot they are.
AT the head of the list stands Pc
dro Of Guantanamo, admitted by all
the sailors to be the smartest goat
mascot in existence. Pedro, they
say. can do anything a dog can, while
as for goats they declare none ever
existed with half the intelligence Of
that of the Virginia's famous mascot.
Pedro. it will be remembered, is the
goat that is fond Of waste paper, par
ticularly mail. and he is known
throughout the feet as Capt. Schroe-
der's waste basket"
Nutmeg H. of the Connecticut, sue
cessor of the intelligent little animal
of the same name that died on board
the flagship Connecticut when that
vessel was in New York, is too young
for diploma, but he is learning, and
by the time the fleet reaches Magel-
leu he will have become a full-fiedged
mascot in good standing, so say the
sailors Of the flagship.
Patrick Spite, once the mascot Of
the cruiser Galveston, it is said, was
kidnapped from that vessel by the
men of the Maine. Once upon a time
Patrick got into print as the goat that
ate a box Of matches and then drank
pint of benziDe. The matches went
off. so the story goes, but, strange to
say, the benzine did not explode, and
Patrick Spite is today as healthy and
well groomed mascot as there Is
to be found in the feet.
Culebra Bill is a native of Cuba,
and was brought to the United States
by Chief Boatswain's Mate Stanow,
when Stanow was on the cruiser Des
Moines. Bill is now on the Louisiana.
] Brooklyn Bill, as his name indicates,
! comes from the borough across the
river from Manhattan. He was once
the property of the armored cruiser
Brooklyn. Bill is fond of paint. can
digest nails, and smoke pipe. He
is on the battleship Minnesota, the
flagship of Admiral Thomas. Bill
travelled over $4,000 miles as the mas
| rot of the Rrooklyn
San Juan, now the official good
luck provider of the battleship Yer
mont. according to tradition, was on
the Olympia during the battle Of Man.
lila, and that is why, the sailors say,
he is hard of hearing. The noise of
the terrific firing made by the guns
in that engagement. they say. affect
ed his eardrums. Harlem Mike, also
a New Yorker, Is on the Missouri,
while Canarsie cavorts about the
decks of the Kentucky Hobo is be-
loved by every man on the Kearsarge.
OF the dogs, every ship has from
one to three, while the ships that
own pigs are the Alabama and the
Connecticut. The Alabama is also
the owner OF the donkey. It was re-
ported that Blithers, the ladder climb
ing dog, was on board the Kansas.
This is a mistake. Blithers is now
at sea on the torpedo boat destroyer
Hull. Last summer when the Hull
was in New York Blithers was stolen.
A week later the sailors say, "he
found his way back"
One of the sailors on the Connecti-
cut was asked what would happen II
all the mascots were washed over
boat.
I'VE would turn around and 60
back home" he answered, "but no
such thing is going to happen, for
our mascots don't stay on deck in
rough weather.
L