The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-02-15
SHANGHAIED WITH HIS
OWN ANXIOUS CONSENT


u came to the next morning with
what looked to me an idea worth its
weight IN uranium wabbling around
IN my puzzled and baffied top wheels.
The L. S. crusier Philadelphia had
been III the harbor eff Honolulu Tor
several months and she was getting
ready to run BAGS to the Mare Islar0
Maynard, near San Francisco, to 20
into drydoek to have her bottom scrap
ed
why not return to San Francisco
with her as man-eiwar' S man2
i knew the engineer 8 yeoman of
the Philadelphia, who was that very
morning weighing coal for the cruiser
down on the Honolulu waterfront. L
hustled into my clothes and went right
down to have a heart to heart with
him.
lie was good people; but he hated
TO take a chance, and there WASH t of
course any chance of my wanting him
70 take chance. All / wanted him
to do was to fetch me bluejacket s
Uniforms the next time he came off to
the beach from the ship. | would do
the rest. That was easy, he said. and
wouldn t involve him. Presently ha
quit his coal weighing job to go off to
the Philadelphia to join the engineer s
gang s mess for dinner, and after he a
finished his dinner he secuted around
among the firemen below and dug up
one of them who had spare blue
la'ket Uniform. He wrapped it up in
an unsuspIcious looking parcel. and
handed it TO me when he hit the beach
from the cruiser s steam cutter.
"The Philadelphia was to up anchor
for the up voyage early the following
morning, and my only chance to do
anything with my frame-up was to get
aboard of her somehow that night
With an officer of the deck on watch,
and corporal or two of the marine
guard at the gangway, and a couple of
boys of the anchor watch wide awake
and swapping yarns, it's about as easy
to get aboard man-o war, even in
the middle of the night, as it is to
get out of Sing Sing-unless you go
over the for ard anchor chains.
"That's how I made it. | rugged
cut in the bluejacket S blouse and bell
bottoms a little while before midnight,
strolled nonchalantly down Beretania
street without anybody recognizing me
in that outfit, hailed a sampan, told
the sampan man Ia been absent with
out leave for week and wanted to
get aboard the Philadelphia without
reporting at the stick SOS to have a
good sleep in my hammock, instead of
being chucked into the brig for break
~ - hoA
pan man could pull as softly on the
oars as Ysaye can pull on the E string
of his fiddle when he puts the mute on
the bridge, and a cat on the to gallant
70 C sic eouldn' have heard rippla
as he pulled alongside the for ard an
ehor chains. I went up the chains hand
over hand without making a souLd,
gained the to gallant 70 e sic, slipped
through lot of bluejackets who were
corked off on that deck on account of
The heat of the nignt, and slid down to
the starboard alley of the berth deck,
where, discovered by nobody, / Topped
down to wait for morning.
When all hands turned to at five
0 clock, I slipped down the fire room
ladder without being flashed by soul
of the half-awake crew, and gained an
empty coal bunker. Then it looked
good to me. Nothing could hurt me
much if I got clear of Honolulu IN
that coal bunker of the mano war. ]
scroonched down there. as it seemed to
me. for hours, while frenlen and water
tenders and coal passars, getting up
steam, chartered and cut up all around
me. | kept my foot on the steel sill
of the door, however, to see that the
empty coal bunker where / was hiding
shouldn t be locked on me.
"Of a sudden | heard cessation OF
the talk by the black gang, and then
I recognized the voice of the chief en-.
gineer. ID played billiards with him
about week before.
"Let s have a look into these empty
bunkers to see if everything is trig in
'em,' I heard the chief engineer say
to the machinist who was accompany
ing him on his final round of inspec-
ton before sailing-and there | was
all ready to be beached again! And il
broke just that way. My bunker door
was the first one pulled open by the
machinist, and | stepped right out anc
saluted, seeing the game was up. The
chief engineer, who was my friend ano
fair. leaned against a stanehion anc
roared himself black in the face at tht
sight of me. He was for summoning
several of the other officers below tt
have look at me in my bluejaeket
l:g. but L told him if he did tha
d throw coal at him. But they haf
to see ME when I went above to bt
put in the steam cutter for the beach
ing, and it II be long time, ! reckon
before I hear again such an outburs
Of almost hysterieal roaring as thos'
| whelps of young officers of the Phila
delphia broke into when they saw nj
shutting across the deck from the en-
CINE room hatch to climb into thu
steam cutter
"That IS when I pulled the teeth to
getEer and made the big VOW and yum
that it wasn't going 70 be the Land O
the Always for me, even if [ had t,
get myself shanghaied. I arranged t.
be shanghaied that evening
"There were ten or twelve shor
handed ships in Honolulu Harbor-
short handed because the big strike O
the Sailors Union of San Francisco
| was on at that time. ard Californi:
| seamen, who mostly figure in the trad
IF sbinS that touch HawaI; vrarllE3 In ,