Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-03-19
STORIES OF THE SEA-
Quenching a Blaze In a Hurry on
Board a War Vessel.
PRANK OF A TRICKY MASCOT.
There Were Lively Times on Deck
When the Big Monkey Got Himself
Mixed Up With Hot Pitch and Gun
Cotton and Took Trip Aloft.


Mixed Up With Hot Pitch and Gun
Cotton and Took Trip Aloft.
We were making passage from Nor
folk, Va, to Lisbon, Portugal, In the
United States steamship Alliance. 1t
was shortly after 4 o'clock. had just
gone to my room for pipeful of to-
bacco when the sailmaker came to my
door with scared face. SCOT any wa
ter I'm your room, Mr.. Du Bots" he
said.
"Yes; here's a pailful."
"For Gods sake give it to me quick!
The sail rooms afire, but don't say
anything! I'll have it out In min
ute!
l handed him the pail Of water, but
was not going to take any chances OF
a fire OH a man-of-war with fifteen
tons Of powder not six feet away, so
I ran to the ships bell and rang the
fire alarm as furiously as / could. In
less time than it takes you to read this
hand grenades were being thrown and
water was pouring into the now sti-
fling mass Of burning canvas. Men
jumped in among the great bundles OF
furled sails and passed them out, and
when one could not endure the smoke
any longer another took his place. At
last the danger was over, and | began
to look around and take stock OF the
affair.
I had often wondered what / would
do In case Of fire on the ship. l
would save my watch. A watch Is
never used at sea, so 1t hung from a
hook over my desk. would be sure
to take along my best girls picture,
and there were few other little be-
longings which must not be parted
with. Well, when the thing was over,
what had 1 gathered together? Not
my watch, not my best girls picture,
not anything that had thought /
would, but I had filled my pockets
with extract Of beef and nothing else
Dumb instinct, not thought Of any
thing but of something good to eat In
dire extremity.
How did the fire start? The sail
maker whose duty it is to keep the
sails in good order, is privileged to go
to the sail room at any time, but he is
supposed to always carry a peculiar
lantern, consisting of a common candle
set In a globe of horn, sufficiently
opaque to give enough light for his
needs there. The candle does away
with any danger from oil that might
be spilled and catch fire, and the globe,
being Of horn instead Of glass, pre-
cludes possibility Of breakage. This
time the sailmaker, desiring a little
more light, had taken out the candle.
1t had dropped from his fingers away
down into the blight Of a furled sail.
and the cloth had caught fire. There
was q terrible mess Of burned and
smoky sails in there, and they were
all hauled up on deck and spread out
in the sun to dry and to find out just
what the damage was. In the bottom
of the room on the floor one of the
men found the stump Of candle and
put 1t In his pocket. The sailmak
was a favorite on board, and tho.
GERS never found out how ~ m.e
started. They thought they ~.
The captain broke the s,.a Dr.,
that is, reduced him to the So .ttor
he couldn't prove anythe. 90 ai.es
a week or so he restore 'hiii 10 Ills oiu
rank. n
We came near ing "- 49, ,nan
once. and, wlileet inight nav o'e"
very serious itSas really runny'
We had sesNal hundred pounds of
orn ootto,,g board, and. fearing that
=, 80 ,,,,,,ht tve gathered dampness. the
gnnner,s gang got up the cases from
4hn ,gazine, pulled 1t all out ard
srsof 1t on the warm decks far aft in
~, sun to dry. Away forward the
Datswaln's mate and his gang were
busy with tar pots and ropes putting
some of their stuff in order.
We had on board a mascot III the
shape Of monkey, one Of the largest
I have ever seen. He would stand
quite three feet high, and lie was the
very Old Nick for mischief. He WAS
great nuisance, that monkey, and must
always be doing what be saw any OF
the men doing.
We'll, Mr.. Monkey saw the men with
the warm tar, and nothing would do
but he must have Il hand In the JOB
literally, so he ran forward and dipped
his hands into the pot and In minute
was all besmeared with the sticky
stuff then he bolted aft rs fast as he
could scamper and rolled in the gun
cotton. cot himself well covered with
It and ran aloft into the rigging. Sail
ors have saying. 1.-THE devil to pay
and no pitch hot but the pitch was
hot this time, and the condition was
actually appalling. Some Of the men
ran after him. but it was impossible TO
catch him. He was too shrewd for
that The gunners gang gathered up
that gun cotton as men never did SO
fast I'm their lives before and put 1t
back into tie cans. for had that fool
monkey dropped from aloft into 1t he
would have blown the ship to king
Com come. They got It out Of the way
without disaster. but for several hours
that creature sat up there picking gun
cotton from himself and throwing II
overheard. As said. the episode
would have been cOmical had 1t NOT
been fraught with so much danger. 1t
mirht hive been "anOthnr sea myS-