Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-04-25

~ the north Alaskan coast
49, EEyS call him Notices" be-
VA ISL cause as a matter of fact
al he has no toes.
fS$% Cockney would some
lz%2fS/ times tell grim tales OF
49, whaling OF of the deeds
of heroism and bravery OF his com
rades-not as real deeds of valor, but
as ordinary occurrences of the great
north and in the manner which the
men Of the north have of telling OF
such happenings-but when one re-
ferred to any part that he took In
these adventures, he would suddenly
become quiet, and unless you lmme-
diately launched on another subject,
would unceremoniously take his leave,
to pace up and down the whaler deck
with Antoine the harpooner,
He was much averse to talking OF
himself, and. though you might glance
inquiringly at the stumps of his feet,
which had been taken off at the In
step, and vaguely wonder over the
marvellous trip this little fellow scarce
" FIVE feet tall had made when he
saved the ship and lost these parts,
not word would ever fall from his
lips which would lead you to know OF
the terrible suffering he endured on
that occasion Yet every whaler of
the Behring and Arctic knows the
story.
l had the story from several with
variations.
The ice completely blocked the Beh-
rieg straits and the blows foretelling
the winter storms were piling the
foes one upon the other The whaler
captain was spending his most anx-
ious moments, as failing to break
through that So mile barrier which
separates two great continents means
that the winter must be spent within
the frigid confines Of the dread Arc
tic, and that meant something which
even the iron heart of whaler did
not care to contemplate.
The Norwhal had her nose over the
stretch of the wind-swept distance ant
failed I'd find lead which would NEAR
the return to civilization Short o
food baylng .nresisioued for nno .Nti
only, theycaptain faced a winter preg
nant with ominous hardships and per
Ills. To escape the driving foes in the
Arctic, the captain threshed the ole
whaler back over the yet clear watel
and made eastward to the mouth o
the Mckenzie river where he coulC
go into winter quarters at Hersche
island.
And there began the winter whicl
tore the souls from men, made beast
of brave men and heroes Of towards
which tore down the barriers Of disci
pline and officialdom and made fore
castle and cabin one.
The food was nearly gone when tn
preparations for winter were CON
pleted, and the rations were cut t
quarter Even on that, the capital
figured it would last but a few weeks
The time fast approached when tn
food would reach its end. The capital
turned this dread fact over in his min
and he thought of caribou on the mali
land to the eastward The almost u.s.
lessness of attempting to obtain thi
!. was too evident to him, but this coul
be the only means of surviving unit
spring and the return of the sun. Bl
that was miles away over trailless IL
and he had obtained but five dos
from the Eskimos Those he had /
tended to use as food at the la
moment.
The day came when the captain liz
ed the stores and found that, even
biscuits and salt beef, there was b
enough for two weeks.
Then Cockney, who had been thin
ing Of the hideousness of starvatic
left his bunk in the forepeak a
fought his way over the clogged dec
aft to the captains cabin. He h
wintered in the Arctic before, /
when the vessel was out for two
more seasons and plentifully 81
piled with food, and he knew the s
rounding country He had hunt
the caribou, and knew where
find them.
"Cap'n," said the little man blunt
81 want to go for some caribou
The whaler captain gravely surv
ed him. 1t was Cockneys duty abof
the ship to remain in the ,row's.n
with the captain when the boats w
out and signal at the sight of
whale The captain thought of t
and the hardness which Cockney /
always shown.
81 can take those five dogs and
Sled" Cockney began again as
captain regarded him in silence" 6
know that coast, All want /!
rife and plenty of ammunition {
big Jim Hall out of the foc'sl. Fl
the biggest man aboard the ship.
guess the strongest, Wen br
back the meat"
The captain arose and placed HI
on the shoulder Of the smaller N
He paused for moment and a 1
light fared in his eyes
"Cockney," he said slowly, a
NOR of emotion thrilling his voice.
there is a man aboard the ship
could do as you say, l believe it
you. You have my consent, the