The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-02-19
L0CALPE0PLE ENJOY
TRIP ACROSS PACIFIC

Although the trip was very stormy,
the local people who joined the party
of ShriaeTs for 3 launt Of the Orient
aboard the Northern Pacific Steamship
Company's Steamship Minnesota. en-
loved their journey across the Pacific
Tie Glacier received Monday morning
the following letter1rCm A. ID. Moe:
Friday. Jan. 9. 1914.
When We got up this morning We hat
passed the l60th line ana found the
earth hsd slipped q cog ard droppeC
thursday of the calendar for it wal
Wednesday night when we went 10 bed
this losing Of a day made \. j. Jae.
ger, of Portland, d victim Of his owr
joke lie agreed 10 give a champagne
dinner on Wednesday" evening If tie
captain would tell Us some cure for sea.
sickness. lhe captain came through.
This happened the second night cut,
when the average run We were making
would have carried as Tuesday night
10 the point on the earth's surface
where tie beginning Of the d5y is reck-
oned. But stiff northwest winds caused
Us - lose time and Wednesday found
us a day behind. Jaeger tried TO bluff
it out and wsn,el the captain, whose
word Is law, TO declare ~ ednesday
10 be thursday" but there was
nothing doing. A court martial was
held ard Jaeger found guilty. lie was
dumped upside down, the money shaken
out Of bis clothes and he WAS shout Il
be put to torture when he gave in. A
fine champagne punch was served In
the dining room at his expense.
While 'the sea has been rough, we
are having very favorable weather for
this time of year. The first day out
was ia a heavy sea, with thes hip IN the
trough Of the waves, which affected
fully 10 per cent. Of the passengers.
The weather is too cold for much
pleasure on deck, but nearly everyone
tries to walk a mile during the day.
We are fortunate in having a mis-
sionary aboard who has spent ii years
in the Philippines and last evening he
gave fine lecture on the Islands. He
also preached TO as Sunday morning,
and the collection taken up was given
TO the sailors widow and orphan fund.
So far the trip has been without
much incident. but we are getting we'll
acquainted aud having good social
time. The entire boat has been turned
over to the Sbriners and the Great
Northern has done what it could to ar.
range for comfort. This is the largest
passenger list the Minnesota ever car
ried-all being first class passengers
and having everything in common.
he only steerage passengers are 40
cinnamon being depOrted by the state
OF Oregon, with custodians aboard.
The wireless station on board gives
us daily news of important happenings
by posting bulletins, and we can visit
the station any time between 10 and g.
For two days we have been in COM
munica,ion with both coasts at the
same time connecting with Seattle,
Astoria and San Francisco on the west
coast, and Japan ports and Shanghai in
the Far Last. Numerous wireless
messages have been sent to our friends
we left at home, and one from the
Hood River party should have been de-
livered to the Glacier yesterday morn
ing. We were then in sight of the
Aeutian Islands. A few whales are
occasionally seen, and except for a
glimpse of mountains on the islands,
the scenery" OF the trip has remained
unchanged.
Wednesday, Jan. Ia.
This is the first pleasant day for
some time, We should, have been at
anchor In Yokohama today, but are
still /, 600 miles away. There has been
no let up OF continual high winds and
storms. We passed through several
snow storms and two gales that ragged
with velocity Of 70 miles per hour.
Waves would break over the big ship
and the spray shoot up SO feet, while
many cabins with windows on the
windwafd side received showers of
spray If the windows were opened the
least bit. One night a wave broke over
the stern and water foot deep rolled
off the deck, breaking loose an iron
railing. The wireless aerials were also
broken loose and we were without
communication all night. Many Of the
passengers were nervous and slept but
little, yet the good ship rode the gale
with as little trouble as Commodore
Deans ferry across the Columbia in
ordinary weather. We have lost time,
however. The first five days out we
averaged nearly 800 miles a day, but
have been making only from 1913 to 200
day since. Today, however. we are
on schedule time and should be in
Yokohama sometime Saturday night.
While the Minnesota is a slow boat, it
is the most comfortable and safest
boat on the Pacific.
Entertainments every night, games
on deck when the weather is fit, and
social times inside, keep the time well
occupied The cfowd aboard is excep-
tlonally line no r0wdyism, no drunk
enuess or bad behavior of any kind.
One of the enjoyable evenings was a
Kangaroo court. AT the noon meal,
called "Iiihn', which is Jap for lunch.
an announcement was made that sell
iOus charge had been made against the
captain, Sheriff Mimic, of Salem, who
rs with the Chinese being deported, had
ooiled his coat, put on slouCh hat,
handkerchief around his neck and with
guns and hand cuffs strapped to him,
pat the captain under arrest The in.
dietment was, Stealing a half hour
each day from the ships time, purloin-
ing and feloriously converting to his
own use one whole day known as
Thursday, Jan. 9 :, abducting Mime
A'Nb AAtitl AIahNltt llNlbubClNR HOE 10
the bad sWels of the Paclfc, with the
result that she became unbalanced, un-
steady and in danger of becoming a
holy roller.
Several bright lawyers aboard made
court proceedings in the evening ex-
ceedingly witty and interesting. Con-
siderable time was taken in choosing a
jury mostly women and cross ques-
tiuning Of witnesses caused so much of
an uproar in the court room that
Judge Neptune" threatened to put us
all in irons in the hold for contempt of
court. a verdict Of mot guilty" was
returned, but II developed that some o.
the women Jurors had been bribed
with chewing gum A new trial was
asked for. The judge, however, over
ruled the motion aud discharged the
defendant.
Sunday, Jan. Is, 1914.
Land was sighted early this morning
when we passed lighthouse ON an
island of the Japanese coast. 1t sure
looked good. a couple of hours later