The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-01-19
WHY SAILING SHIP
WAS HOODQOEO
Rabbit Foot and Bracelet Made
Vessel Turn Circles in
the Atlantic.

I
stanch British bark Howard D. Troop,
signed Wm. Garner as cook of his YES
sci for the voyage to this port from
Liverpool, Captain Durkee felt that he
had besides the prospect of fine voy-
age across the Atlantic, rafting good
chef. Captain Durkee has not changed
his mind ON the latter subject, but the
fact that he had the worst weather a
deep sea skipper could possibly get
on his most recent transatlantic voy-
age has made him skeptical on the
subject of good cooks with an assert
| ment of mascots IN their train.
Garner had not been to New York
for 20 years when he set foot on Amer
lean soil at Tompkinsville, Staten Is
land, today. When Captain Durkee
rummaged about Liverpool somewhere
along October Is for good cook,
George offered himself for the post of
dispenser to the wants of Captain Dur
kee, his wife and his crew at the pre-
vailing wage and also with an assert
ment of unfailing good weather mas
cots thrown in.
GIVE sailed the seas for 80 years,
spoke Garner to Skipper Durkee, ''and
| have picked up on my travels many
| little things that have proved good mas
cots to me in my wanderings all over
| the world. This rabbit foot, for in
stance, never leaves me, and | have
! yet to see the bad day at sea on a
] ship upon which me and my rabbit s
foot are passengers. Then there IS this
bracelet from a tattooed lady of Sa-
moa. l got it when fearful storm
was raging, but as soon as it got into
my possession the elements Gained
down and sunshine took the place of
whitening lightning flashes.''
While Captain Durkee does not place
any faith in mascots he liked Garner
and was, perhaps, slightly impressed
with the earnest manner in which his
new cook-tob be described the efficacy
of his charms. At any rate, William
Garner became cook of the Howard D.
Troop on Friday, October 16, and the
very first day his excellence as a chef
de cuisine was evident to the Captain Is
mess as well as to the crew.
/ On Saturday, October Il, the How,
ard D. Troop left Liverpool in tow
but had to anchor over Sunday in q
dense fog off Holy head. On Monday
morning the tow down the Mersey was
continued, and when the tugboat
dropped the line and the Howard d
Troop was set to a course almost due
west everything looked roseate to Cap
tain Durkee and his mate and crew
All things considered the skipper be
lieved he would make Sandy Hook il
about Is days with his ballast of 1000
} tons of salt and $50 tons of shingles
Almost from the time the Howard
: d. Troop came off the southwestern
corner of the Irish coast things wen
wrong For two days the bark laid {
course that would eventually lead he
to New York, but then she was blown
out of her course SO that it took five
days to make up the lost distanc,
again. Captain Durkee said hare
things softly under breath-for hi
wife was aboard-and hoped for bette
weather
When the bark had been exactly twt
weeks out from Liverpool she had twice
, described circle in the Atlantic ant
was about one-quarter of the way acros
the ocean. Then Captain Durkee wend
ed his way to the galley amidships ant
addressed the cook.
"Let S throw that rabbit S foot over
board,'' said Skipper Durkee. His sug
gestion did not meet with much enthu
siasm on the part of the chef and tn,
rabbit s foot continued to dangle from
its string over the galley entrance.
= 14 Il. ~
vember, a Sunday-it showed, hailed
rained, blew great guns, Numbered anc
: lightened and did everything else il
the undesirable weather line.
When Captain Durkee looked for Thu
rabbit s foot the next day while thu
cook was attending to the dishes il
the cabin he did not find it, and t,
this day Captain Durkee has not dis
covered the 'mascot, - Cook Garne
knowingly displayed the charm as h
stepped ashore on Staten Island today
, From the first of November unit
Thanksgiving Day the Howard D
, Troop described a crazy path over tn,
Atlantic, finally bringing up under tn,
lee of the Long Island coast, off Mon
tauk Point, on the. evening of Novem
Der 26. Captain Durkee thought tina
he would have no further trouble il
getting into port in good shaper~but il
l this he reckoned without Cook Garner
the rabbits foot, or the bracelet from
!, the tattooed lady of Samoa.
3 1t took exactly 10 days for the hi,
r bark to work her way from Montaui
Point to Sandy Hook. During these /,
e days the route described and marke,
e in the chart by Captain Durkee re
e sembles the chart of a weather prophe
e showing the rise and fall of the TEN
perature. 1t zigzagged up and down an,
: sideways. 1t reached from Montauk to
:, seemingly, half way down to Bermuda
d thence to Barnegat, thence to Babylon
}. and again to the easternmost end o
n Long Island. Once in a while the bari
+, would go over the same course twice
and all the time Captain Durkee locke,
hard toward the galley, where Cool
Garner was contentedly watching TO
the American shore and peeling hi
= potatoes.
: Captain Durkee dropped anchor of
Tompkinsville today exactly so dav
! from Liverpool, where he had expecte,
to do it in eighteen. On the vovap
he lost pet cat that died from ennui
a pet monkey that got dizzy poing ave