Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-08-03


a 4 IA thing that has been pulling him for
\ years, and at last. all of sudden
suuu1zxA usually finds he has all the missing
]. !. !" !" !. ! !. !.
B@A Sd threads straight and untangled in his
BrcNSSNN palm. I have in mind the Of
E$T Tba Bowes. Bowles wasn't his right name
XXX %Hn at all, but we'll call him that, for it was
kAAfi&SH under that he enlisted in the navy,
y xa5k$ where they still speak of him the Gree
Gree Man" But that enlistment oc
kS-Q Cured later
What I am about to say now Of
Bowes' doings the West Coast is the
cumming up or what learned ut different times from
dozen people-a couple of ship captains bosuns
mate IN the navy. dozen sailormen stokers and so
on who happened to be on the West Coast when
Bowles was there Out there Bowles fell in with
old Chief Thomson, who used TO run things pretty
much to suit himself a country larger than
many European nation controlled.
thomson was a name the white traders gave
MIN. 1t may have been that Bowles though Kipp
was the name he took out there possibly Bowles
tG OF hardibered trading ancestry showed
the old fellow a few commercial tricks.
Old Chlef was at the head OF half dozen secret
societies-at least half dozen Africa is rotten
with secret societies, worse than any white country
One society old Chief Thomson made little secret Of
Africa for the Africans was what meant
There was sort of branch Of the society that old
Chief would not talk freely about; but the scheme
so twas said, was to take boys and girls especially
girls when they were young. and train them, that
by and by they would be able to train the coming
race to lead them to better things. The girls brought
up like that used to be hid in the Jungle where any
man was found he was put to death. OF this society.
old Chief was believed to be Zoah, which meant
Grand Knight, Grand Master, Exalted Ruler, Great
Mogul, whatever anybody wants to call it, and clear
on up to the 1881 degree
OF course, though talky negroes sometimes gave
out hints, all this was mostly guesswork with the
whites There never was one who really knew any
thing about them. Unless it was this same Rowles
And that was one thing they all had against Bowlps
he was making up with tho blacks against his own ;
and later when he got tangled up and they got after
him, in the Berg mystery, it was much because
of his being the side of the natives as for the
belief that he had hand in Bergs death This
Berg a steamer captain running up and down
TO the rating of his kind, and he had married. many
years before this, girl who. it was Whispered lad
negro blood in her. Traders lies.
However, this day he up the river to meet
old Chief, taking his daughter with him. The
mother being dead, she lived on the steamer with
her father Captain Berg intended only to run up to
the lagoon and back but he great gambler and
he wound up by joining in little with Bowles
and young Chief Thomson, who now back from
England. Next morning. Captain Berg's body
found by his crew. floating in the lagoon. 1t
known he could not swim and as Thomson and
Rowles said he had been drinking during the game. it
was not hard to believe that he had fallen into the
lagoon while looking for his landing.
But his daughter? She had gone with her father,
Bowles and Young Chief said and, of course, she
must have drowned with him. Well they waited for
her body to come up Put it didn't come where,
young Chief, old Chief had too much power for that
bur l}owes had to get out. Old Chief and Young
Chief together could not him. If he had not
gone, some of Captain Bergs crew-he had two or
three desperate ones among them-would surely have
killed him So he hurried away, this time to Manila,
was chief water tender at this time Of
The heavyarmored cruisers of the Asiatic squadron.
and there was an ordinary seaman who also
great tailor, and being willing to work early and
late, he used to make, OH maybe, two hundred dol
lars month over and above his pay And being the
besthearted fellow in the world he generally gave it
away again.
Well we were laying into Nacasaki one day when
Haley broke his liberty and came aboard good and
n n An1pr an
blue-jackets had taken charge Of a souvenir store
where they'd been paying seventeen prices for things
and then not getting the real article, though not for
anything Ike that did fellows begin the trouble
1t was that some Of themd made the Chinese cruise
before and so happened to know the money there,
and when this yellow chap tried to short-chHnge
them it was like sounding general quarters: There
must have been OH dozen or fifteen shop people
sounded off that day. We'll, ships party was
tove been around about there at the time and
The japanese merchant who'd lost money and
come aboard, he picked out Tailor Haley as the man
that started the trouble in his place, and japanese
policeman backed him up.
Now Tailor knew, as we found out later, that it
was chief petty officer who'd come near to put
Ting this particular merchant out of commission and
Tailor knew, too, that that chief water tender
was drunk when he did 1t, so drunk that he didn't
remember about it when he came to- Somebody had
10 go to the brig for it, and Tailor with never word
went; that is no word except to say to whiten a
little the black mark against the service, II was too
drunk at the time to know what WAS doing"
However, after summary court-martial he was
hShonorably discharged, but the stealing charge not
Tor that.
Now, knew that Tailor didn't do it, How? We'll,
faIor and myself were great chums, and the after
noon this thing happened were in tea house
with the Geisha girls dancing and sitting
legged on the mats, drinking tea while watched
EN-.
Now, casting back 10 make out why Tailor stood
for what he did, | remembcred-and there were but
few for'ard who didn't remember-that day
before left San Francisco and the sisters Of
this chief water tender who aboard bid him
good-by. And this chief water tender, in spite of
what had happened to Tailor, a good fellow.
And If he hadn't been we'd have overlooked it for
the sake of his sisters.
They certainly made prizes of the whole chief
vatertender mess. They had everything going to
DO it--looks and figure and the quick wit, and the
heart that's more than all And maybe youll
understand--Tallor worshipng on the edge of the
crowd and that chief water tender, the brother of
these girls hoping to go up for his warrant before
long DO you what it meant TO the chief water
tender and the kind of chap Tailor wasin his fourth
enlistment and still ordinary seaman
Well, Tailor dishonorably discharged, and
there he broke and blue, and ten thousand miles