Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-11-05
Tramp Steamers Cook Adopted
by Balloons in Africa.
Rescued by Boats C7cw-Later He
Disappears and is Believed to
Have Answered to the Call
of the Wild.

New York.-Here is a yarn for your
Hhiskers, mate. Believe it or not. but
all the officers of the British Tramp
Midair, which few days ago was iy-
ing over in South Brooklyn, are willing
to take oath as to it's truthfulness.
They declare that the strange events
IS related by Second Mate Brownlee,
acting as spokesman for the rest, are
Just as they happened.
1--WE had cook" began the second
mate, Il say had for he is not with
as now. But this hero cookie, who
was Hindu, was the best cook we
ever had. 1t took US some time to
get used to his countenance, for never
did man wear such a mask for a
face as that Hindu boy. And it was
because of this face Of his'n that
brought about this strange adven-
ture
I'VE touched In at Zanzibar. on the
West African coast. and the cook and
three of the Lascar crew went ashore
in search fsome herbs that they
use for making medicine for them
selves. Well, The day wore along,
and no sign or the cook and the
Lascars.
THE old man finally got worried
about not having q cook, and told me
to take a couple o. men and go find
cookie. We started out toward the
Jungle, thinking that the cook and the
Lascars, having get tired picking
herbs, curled up and went to sleep.
Just as we arrived on the edge of
the jungle we saw thu two Lascars
who had accompanied the cook run
ming toward us with their eyeballs
sticking out of thei rheads.
1t seems as how the cook and the
two Lascars were searching about
for herbs when they heard loud
chattering about them, and when
they looked up they saw about 40
balloons sitting in a row and watch
ing them
The balloons were particularly in
terested in cookie. And / might say
right here that cookie was the near
est approach to a baboon in human
form that | have ever beheld He
was that missing link Darwin was
looking for The balloons did not
pay much attention to the two
Lascars
Suddenly the leader of the balloons
ran over and took hold of cookie and
began to yammer away in baboon
lingo. All the other balloons came
over to cookie and completely sur.
rounded him. They paid no atten.
ton whatever to the two Lascars.
When the Lascars tried tc rescue
cookie the balloons went after them
like fury
THE next morning we started out
a big party to find cookie. Into the
jungle we went for about FIVE miles,
yelling our lungs out. Finally far in
the distance we heard an answering
shout and knew that we were near
ing the kidnapped one. Finally we
came into clearing in the jungle and
there in the center of an admiring cir
Gle of balloons sat cookie. In front
of him was a pile of nuts and fruit
that those balloons had gathered and
brought before him. Cookie was a
sort of baboon king.
He had found that they would not
hurt him, and the baboon life sort
of appealed to him. We had TO sail
into those balloons right smart before
they would budge/ an inch, and got
cookie by the back of the neck and
started back .Gr the ship.
1T was not long before all the Of
ficers on the ship were wishing that
we had left the cook with the balloons.
He got SD he didn't care how he
cooked ally more Those balloons had
spoi'e' lin sure. He felt of great inn
portance, and the old man decided
he would get another cook at the first
port we made
We'll. we put in up the coast bit,
and that very night cookie went over
the side and disappeared He never
showed up again. and we didn't make
any effort IN find him We have como