The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-07-03

l don | want to meet any more
 It was in Philadelphia where I joined the old packet about May 1884. and you can bet your last dollar that I wouldn'. have signed on in her if I could have got anything else. But being short oi money and the boss of the boarding house talking very pointedly about the big bill I owed him. thought I had better get to sea again and chance the | ghosts.
 The night before we were to sail. the boss invited us all down to the bar almost every sailors boarding house has a bar attached to the premises He told us to order what we liked, but he took l good care we didn't order much He had special brand of whisky for those l who were going away-a man who could stand three glasses of 1t and still remain sober would be wonder. If 1t did not have >he required effect the boss would l have your glass "doped" by one of his satellites when you were not looking. If that failed, you got a tap on the head | with a sandbag.
 l Well, it didn't take him long to knock us off our legs. The majority of us had not seen whisky, let alone tasted 1t, for fortnight. so we imbibed as freely as We could to brace ourselves up and get i ready for the ghosts of the Savannah.
 
 to the poison, and I had just a faint recollection of his men carrying me out I and dumping me in a cart along with | the rest. From that time until we were alongside of the Savannah my mind was a blank.
 hTe ship was lying down below Phila- delphia. at place' called Point Breeze. | loading cases of paraffin. We were taken down to her in the tug that was to tow us out, and we arrived alongside of her in the early hours of the morning; n | fact, day was just breaking. l We were all bundled together in the stern of the tug like a lot of pigs It was the tugs whistle that awakened me, blowing to attract the attention of those on board the Savannah. extricated myself from among the arms and legs of my future shipmates, and crawled | clear of them to my feet
 l There were two of the boarding house | boss's men with us to look after us and see that nobody got away, and I knew they wouldn't hestifAte to use their re- volvers if we gave them any trouble. | I looked up at the old packet and com | menced to take stock of her. She was one of the funniest old hookers that ever carried masts. Anybody with half an I eye could see that she had been a double decker at one time or other. The top 1 deck had been taken off amidships, the | forward part being left on for a fore castle head and the after part for a poop | She was one of the regular "old timers and built of wood from truck to keelson. | We were hustled board of her and mustered aft to be counted and viewed | by the mate. Then We were sent for | ward to the forecastle head to take the | tugboat's towline on board. When this was fast the old ship was cast off from the wharf and we commenced our voy. age, the tug heading us down the river. The captain, chief and second mates and the cook were all Germans. The cap- tain and chief mate were exceedingly nice men and treated us excellently The food. | too, was a lot better than I had received | In other ships. and, taking things all to- | gether, I decided I was in g. very com fortable ship, ghosts or no ghosts. The crew-myself and the company who had come down in the tugboat-were the most cosmopolitan crowd you ever | clapped eyes on. I think we represented pretty well every nation under the sun. There was only one English speaking | sailor among us beside myself His | name was Dublin, and we immediately | chummed up.
 l Dublin and I were in the starboard watch-the one that went below to sleep
 
 | midnight we were reused out. and the port watch took their turn below. | When the lookout and wheel were re- | lieved, and everything about the decks was quiet. Dublin and I commenced to | scout round for a comfortable place tc | have smoke and a little chat together | We foraged around until we came to the | carpenters workshop. which was amid ships and within easy hearing of the poop, where the second mate was pacing up and down.
 | We decided that this was just the | place for us, for if the second officer issued any orders we could eaesily heaI | him So we sat down on a bench GOV cred with chips and shavings.
 Now for a comfortable smoke" says IT.
 l Hold on," said Dublin. i've had bette, | close that door first. If the second mate | sees the flare of a match here he'll know somebody is having a smoke, and hell hoist us out of it.''
 l All right, then. close it. ? said. set. ting myself comfortably on the bench | "I don't suppose we shall be required tc trim any sails tonight; the wind seems | pretty steady
 "t'll only shut the door while we light our pipes," said Dublin; then I'll oper 1t again" So saying, he proceeded tc close it.
 The door, like the ship. was old-fash. ioned It was one of those affairs that
 slide back in the casing of the bulkhead, and the paint of many years made II hard to move.