The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-10-09
81, the SiWash,
In a Wreck on Puget
By JOHN II. WALSH
Copyright by Frank A. Munsey Co.

81 is lying on my bunk. wrapped l n
my Grand Army coat. His name really
amt 81; it's Tom. But ! call him 81.
which is short for Siwash-a Siwash
being a Puget sound Indian.
81 is a siwash all right, and. though
he's only four years old and he's a half
breed. lie looks like old Chief Seattle.
And he treats me as an e%qual-and he
gets away with It. t~oo-though I'm
sixty-nine. That shows character.
And Sis had experience!
Take just this collision experience
That won't come to anybody else for
ten thousand years, and here 81 has
had it before he's four.
Why, | have had enough adventures
myself. for I've been ship keeper on
the U. s. s. Stalwart here at the Sierra
navy yard for fifteen and t~hree-quarter
years But 81 has me sewed up for
plenty on adventure. though could
tell yarns Of my own.
tut hi'I ! III SSNtAAS IL uo"A "DooA
81. his m and the collision of the
Humahuma and the Stalwart. III tell
about myself when I've got leisure.
However. l do want to say in pass
ing. while | think Of it. that ship
keeping is the most ~exacting work
there is. You ia to know the name
Of your ship. and to remember what
day is pay day. and when to come Off
watch. and when to 60 on, and l tell
you it takes brains to keep all those
things straight in your mind.
Then once in a year they cOmplicate
things by putting your ship in a dry
dock or by changing her anchorage a
little. and you have to change your
habits. which is hard: And it's be-
cause it is such %exacting work as I've
described that they always keep re-
spOnsible men like us old soldiers Oh
such jobs.
OF course it's a strain, and l suppose
l could not have held the job so long
if | didn't have iron nerves.
You see, | know myself that | have
AAOA IL VCos OCNOuSV. u
told me so when he saw me eating
bareback in a trench during the Chick.
amauga skirmish. And I've needed
my iron nerves in ship keeping. but II
lot of people don't understand why.
For example, there is a gentleman
in Sheraton who digs clans with a
shovel and peddles them with a wheel
barrow. and he said once he thought
he'd try ship keeping for a 8
l laughed at him, and then ! warned
him he couldn't stand it. which was
true too. However. I'm writing about
81, and I'll write about digging CLAIMS
when l have time for it. for I'm as
good a clam digger as there is on
Puget sound. which is saying a lot.
for all the smartest men out here were
digging clans twenty years ago.
Sis MI used to have an awfully hard
time making a living. and from time to
time I've helped her q little at it. for
I've had $500 per day right along, and
I'm a bachelor and don't need all that
money for myself
. So yesterday. which was pay day. l
gave her S.. and l said. Take 81 to
Seattle and see the sights" And she
did it.
At least she put on her pink waist
and her green shawl, and she hauled 81
down to the boat by one arm. his feet
dragging all the way.
After that l loafed around until even
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relieved old man Keller
After he'd left the ship l walked
around and inspected things. as l al.
ways do. and | decided. as I've decided
every day for ten years. that the Stall
wart is still a mighty fine ship.
Pretty o o l moved around a little.
and when l got aft and was looking
over the rail under the stern light l
could see young smelts in the still, oily
water, and they looked like shreds cut
out with u knife from u silver bar
And, oh. how solemn and still it was:
You could hear a gasoline boat two
miles away humping, missing strokes.
stopping and then humping again. and
you could hear oarlocks %squeaking.
their course across the bay.
At first it was clear overhead. and l
could see the stars and the lights ut
the navy yard. and I could hear the
sentries hail people in loud. important
voices. And then the lights faded and
blinked out, n by one, and | knew
fog was shutting in on Il S And the
sounds seemed sort of muffied by the
fog.
| went forward then to the ships
bell under the bridge. and nee u min.
ute by watch I'd ring rapidly. and
presently Bill Paterson on the Boston
would ring, and afterward we'd hear
Bixby on the Concord.
Well. I kept on ringing the bell. ~
first there weren't any steamer whis
ties sounding. but after a time | com
menced to hear a dull. thrilling Ooo-h
ooh. from far away down the Mar
rows
| knew at once that this was the late
boat from the city. the Humahuma.
and that she was navigating by
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