Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-03-28

Still preparations were made for
his majesty's arrival, and the next
morning about $50 he was hoiste
aboard in large cargo net by the
port forward crane" while the band
played that old familiar piece, "He
Was Sailor" His party followed,
but came aboard over the starboard
galley. After being given all the1
honors due him, he was presented TO
the captain" on the quarter deck,
and from there he marched forward
to. the large tank made for that occa-
sion, where each man in turn got his
shave ana was then introduced to the
tank, where he was pretty near drown
ed before the inmates let go of him.
After the members finished with each
man he was pronounced a "trusty
shell back" and given his papers.
None of the officers applied to the
captain for protection, because, be-
Ing smart men as they are, they saw
how useless it would be to attempt
resistance against such hostile band
as they were. So each of our super
iors in their turn got the same dose
as their subordinates.
After our arrival at Rio" | sent
my Zine" paper to you by the way
lof New York and my expectations are
1t will arrive at its destination with
little damage. Then | trust you will
take excellent care of it, as an ex-
lperience of that kind is a priceless
lone, and by having the paper on hand
when another such occasion happens
lalong it would render me "trusty
lshell back rather than a poor land
lubber."
Had Thrilling Experience.
A few days after passing the Line,
we had very dangerous experience
1t happened during the night while
everybody was in dreamland, except
the watch that was on deck, and |
happened to be on that watch. Hav.
ing the II to watch, which is prop.
J erly called the mid watch" | was de-
tailed as the ''starboard lookout" for
two hours. Those hours are from II
to 2, and must be stood on the star
board bridge within sight and hear
ing of the officer of the deck The
, duty of lookout" is to watch faith
that might be on the horizon. At
+, night his duty is to watch for lights
| or anything visible in the dark When
this man sights anything he imme-
diately halls the officer of the deck
who asks him few questions as to
what position it lies in. Then quarter.
| masters and signal boys are made
busy with telescopes and binoculars,
which bring the ships, or land in
plain view. In time of war. man
caught and found guilty of wiifully
deserving this station can expect to
be severely punished, but in time of
peace it is not such serious offense.
Nevertheless a court martial may be
inflicted upon the offender.
AS said before the honor of being
lookout happens to be mine on this
night. and as no ships or land hove
in sight and the night being quiet
still, except for that constant roaring
foam under the bow, my thoughts be-
gan TO wander back to -. Well,
you can guess. And l had many
were not drawn taught.
AS my watch was moving on to-
ward the end. loud cry broke the
silence. 1t came from the upper deck
which was just below where | was.
Ii was a very loud Cry and the man
that gave it seemed to be in awful
pain. The officer of the deck, hear
ing the cry, hailed the boatswain's
innate on watch, who was below, ask
Il: 4 1,
was, and when he asked someone be
low the cry was the one we had long
lexpected. 1t was, Man overheard
Without a doubt there has been no
quicker move made on this ship since
| have been on it. than that night.
| A gun was fired to ;et the rest OF
lthe feet know of the event The en-
gines were stopped, the life buoy
dropped, the call of man overheard
was sounded on the bugles, and the
llifeboats were being made ready to
be lowered from their davits. A
drenching tropical rain started its
deadly work, and the southerly trade
winds began to rise.
When the fleet knew of what was
going on, all searchlights were put in
action and trained in the direction
of the supposed man overheard.
had % minutes yet to stay at my post
but the unusual excitement put new
life in me, and the bugle was hardly
lsounded when | was on the quarter
deck and jumped from the deck as
it slid from its davits. There were
five of the lifeboats crew absent. who
Iplobably found it hard to arouse from
their peaceful slumbers, but we had
enough men there to man the boat
Through the rain and wind we made
for the lighted lifebuoy which was
floating with 16 powerful searchlights
playing on it. When we got within
100 yards of it, mountainous sea
rose in front of us and would have
capsiZed us had not the coxswair
given the sea rudder quick jerk
which threw the boat beam on to the
sea. We were at quite distance
from the ship by this time, and thu
sea was getting stronger. and by the