The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1914-09-26
81, the Siwash,
In a Wreck on Puget
Sound
BY JOHN H.. WALSH
Copyright by Frank A Munsey Co.

81 Is lying on my DUNK, Wrappeu III
my Grand Army coat His name really
amt ST; 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, he looks like old Chief Seattle.
And he treats me as an e~qual-and he
gets away with II, t~oo-though I'm
sixty-nine. That shows character.
And Sis had experienced
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, l 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 three-quarter
years. But 81 has me sewed up for
plenty on adventure. though / could
tell yarns OF my own.
But first I'm setting it down about
81, his ma and the collision OF the
Humahuma and the Stalwart. I'll tell
about myself when I've got leisure.
However. / do want 20 say in pass
ing, while l think of 1t. that ship
keeping is the most ~exacting work
there Is. You have to know the name
OF your ship, and to remember what
day is pay day. and when TO come OF
watch. ard when to go on. and | 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 I'm 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 IL IL such exacting work as I've
described that they always keep re-
sponsible men like us old soldiers on
such jobs.
or course it's a strain, and l suppose
l could not have held the job so long
II / didn't have iron nerves.
You see, l know myself that l have
iron nerves, because General Thomas
told me so when he saw me eating
bareback in a trench during the Chick
amauga skirmish. And I've needed
my iron nerves I'm ship keeping. but a
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 nee he thought
he'd try ship keeping for a rest.
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 ] have time for II, for Pm as
good d clam digger as there Is on
Puget sound. which is saying a lot,
for all the smartest men out here were
digging CLAIMS twenty years ago.
Sis ma used to have an awfully hard
time making a living, and from time to
time I've helped her q little at II, for
I've had 1920 per day right along, and
I'm a bachelor and don't need all that
money for myself.
SO yesterday, which was pay day, ]
gave her 50. and l said, "Take 81 to
Seattle and see the sights" And she
did Il.
At least she put on her pink waist
and her green shawl, and she hauled 81
down to the boat by n arm, his feet
dragging all the way.
After that / loafed around until even
ing, when | went to the Stalwart and
relieved old man Keller.
After he'd left the ship | walked
around and inspected things, as | 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 soon | moved around a little.
and when | got aft and was looking
over the rail under the stern light |
; could see young smelts In the still, oily
water. and they looked like shreds cut
out with Il knife from a silver bar
And, oh. how solemn and still II was!
You could near q gasoline boat two
J miles away humping, missing strokes,
stopping and then humping again, and
you could hear oarlocks squeaking
their course across the bay.
At FIRST Il was clear overhead, and I
could see the stars and the lights al
the navy yard. and | could hear the
sentries hail people in loud. important
: voices. And then the lights faded and
I blinked out. N by one, and I knew
7 fog was shutting In on us And tho
sounds seemed sort of mufled by the
fog.
went forward then 20 the ships
bell under the bridge. and once n min
I ute by watch I'd ring rapidly. and
Z presently Bill Paterson on the Boston
would ring, and afterward we'd hear
Bixby on the Concord.
Well. l kept on ringing the bell. AZ
: first there weren't any steamer wills
ties sounding. but after n time ! com
menced to hear n dull. thrilling ooo-h
ooh. from far away down the Mar
/, rows.
= I knew at once that this was the late
hoat from the city. the Humahuma