St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1916-12-16
A Rough Voyage Followed
by Exciting Times
in Oil Field.
OH. TANK OF ENGLISH
COMPANY GETS AFIRE
Explosion of Tank Gauss a
Race for Life by Navy
Boys and Mexicans.

AAy AO3A -.
In reply to our request for a
weeks extension in New Orleans, we
received order to sail t, Carmen,
Mexico, and. naturally. We weighed
anchor. We made splendid time n
the river, but on reaching the s+uif
we ran into heavy sea. The wind
carried away our foretop mast NJ
one was hurt, tho it fell about live
feet from where was lying. being
treated to that distressing really al
sea voyage to is overiloWiny full
mes. Sea-si cl.ne4s is no respecter
of persons. From Capta.n--and he
was some sick-to the last man-xe
gave Up to the sea the things Of re-.
cent date. 1t comes upon YOU sud
deny and before you Can make up
your mind a.; to what 1t Is anl whas
you will do, You already know, ard
are already 1oiLg. ! was about the
stiffesl-no i'm 1erest-case aboard,
ate mates would solicit!ous|y ask #
wanted something to- eat they
would get fc: reply a DEMONSTRATION
on my part that was already too
full!
However, Richard is himself"
again, with new higor. After getting
repaired-I mean the sh'Lr--we sail
ed for ProGreso and encountered an
other gale and driftel around~24
hourte before we could make any
speed ahead. This seems to be our
destination. It seems to be q busy
place q several large ships are lay
ing ont here where we are, about
three miles from land, because Of
shallow water. The latie:: makes It
very lonely as we can see none OF
the activities or shore and W. don't
get ashore very often. \ party Of
officers went across the :sthmus 70
the west coast abou. wher. Uncle
C's. plantation Is. should have
been a very prnrd man 10 have been
with them-but It iSd't for We suns
to have pleasure trips ins3 ths coun-
try. We arc short manned ana
work over time. T1tS division is
shy about eight men, which puts ex-
ira duties ON us As :oxwa,n Q. the
gfg-commenly known as the life
boat-which is my particular stunt
to keep clean and in goOi c..nditicn,
l have to do deck work, shipping,
painting around deck. stand anchor
watches and At gun dad se-'e n
different capacities. AL tae work
goes ON the same as II we had q full
ships company.
Our usual days program goes
about as follows: Rising hour is 6
O'Clock, and between and $50 we
have coffee end q smoke. At $3.50
turn to goes, aud decks are scrubbed,
paint wiped or, which continues un-
TIL Z, when everything is dried OF
and awnings hauled out, fresh water
drawn for a bath ana everything
completed by 40, then PIP, down
for eats hour. Between 1880 and
.S:15 no one Is suppo5e1 to do any,
thing but eat, smoke and rest, how
ever there is usually sometn.ng TO
be attended to, until > C'c.oc< when
al get ready for quarters At /? -
quarters sound and everybody IS
mustered. This is the hour when
we get our rating as wash ladies'
and "seamst-ess," likewise toDscriaI
and toilet niceties are motel, or rath-
er their absence is commented IN by
the inspecting officer. The lrill cal
goes. We start with fire control.
which consists of setting gansite,; by
different ranges and reflections, in :
structions coming from chart house
through voice tubes. Thea comes a
particular drill in which W. FIRE at 4
device. rigged upon gun ana regu-
lated by e!ectr'eity-the same as mr.
ing at an enemy-tho not quite so
thrilling, perhaps. At .o.,;0 We get
retreat from drill call The ne,t
hour is spent in the ships work. At
IL pipe down fer dillec, for wh'ct
there is an hour. From o'clock
until 1870, which is laundry hour.
The deck where this rite is perform
ed has to be in perfect order 4: 6
o'clock, when it's eats .;oil, we nay
rig up the screen and have movies or
otherwise entertain ourselves, ia get
our hammo cKs and look Ger good
Place under the awning, in case it
rains, as it is too warm to sleep be-
low decks. Seldom Is :ha m0notony
broken and never so tremendously
40 last Sunday night, Nov. H.. Ne
were being treated 10 e tropical
electric storm, which means some
rain and some lightning! At one
o'clock we we're shocked by a terrible