Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-11-24

| women. with huge baskets OF coal on
'hc'r heads. passed up the forward
gang plank. dumped their load of coal
into the open bunkers. ana left the
snip by the after gangway. Before
leaving tho ship tho fourth engineer
gave each one a little brass check
| which later on she would turn in to the
coalinE company for an English penny
| While the women wcro working, the
men would sit around the dock smok-
ing cigarettes
The natives at st. Lucia had a great
appetite for salt pork. I soon got wise
to this fact and traded about half a
barrel OF pork for lines. guava jelly.
| bay rum and alligator pears II the
steward or cook had caught me
would never be writing this story.
The women threw tho pork into their
dirty coal baskets. and upon reaching
inc dock gave 1t to their husbands or
sweethearts. who would Immediately.
without washing it. dcvour it, They
spoke in jibbering patois which l
could not understand. Some OF them
could speak pretty good English. The
KIDS averaging from seven 10 fifteen
years. were running around naked, or
diving off the dock for pennies which
we threw overheard.
Takes Stownwny.
| About two hours before sailing from
st. Lucia. little fellow about fifteen
years OF age came to the entrance OF
| the galley. and in fair English told
BIZ and me pathetic story OF in
| human treatment which would have
| melted hearts OF stone He wanted
| US TO stow him away on the ship. |
was agreeable. but Bill warned mo
that this was very grave ofrenso
| against the English Board of Trade
laws. the maximum penalty being four
teen years Imprisonment. did not
wish to incur this risk. therefore would
not listen to the entreaties OF tho
young negro. explaining to him the
penalty OF the Board of Trade laws.
| Upon hearing this, cunning look,
which at the time did not appear sig
nifcant TO me, came into his eyes. and
he told me that IL I would stow him
| away, see how easy it will be for
YOU" He would do all of my work.
and all would have TO do would be
to sit on the superstructure and let
my feet hang. thought this was worth
risking fourteen years for. SO fell in
with the plan. Bill Directing all the
| time.
The ventilators had been unshipped
while the coalinG was going on, and
were lying aft on the poop deck.
Watching our chance, we sneaked aft
and hid the little fellow in one OF the
renttlators. warning him. upon pain of
death. not to make sound until the
ship was we'll under way. To say that
1 was nervous is putting 1t mildly.
We cleared st. Lucia and we're soon
| at sea. The Islands of Martinique.
st. Lucia and barbados were tiny
gray dots on the horizon. when an
Italian sailor, Louis Maranto, went aft
to ship the ventilators. In few
minutes he came rushing forward with
terror in his eyes. As he passed the
galley l stopped him and asked what
was the matter. All he could gasp
| out was Mary of God, a devil ees on
da ship" "One-eyed Gibson" seeing
his terror. went aft with him and soon
we could see him coming forward
leading our little s.owaway by the
ear. The little negro was bowling
blue murder. and the curses Of the
mate snapped like a wireless message
Luckily for me the mate stopped at
the galley and said, Keep your eye
on this black skunk until I can take
him before the old man." For five
minutes put all my power OF en-
treaty into my voice. and prayed the
| stowaway to sticlt By me; TO swear
that he came aboard OF his own Volt
ton. He promised to do so. Then the
mate came after him and took him
before the captain. During this fifteen
minutes of interview lived In an agony
! of torment and suspense. The little
FELLOW came back with a smile on his
face and knew things were all right.
He told me that the captain had
shipped him at a shilling a month for
| the passage. For two days he was de-
tailed to help me in tho galley. and 1
named him Monday" the day that he
came on board. His real name was
Charles Tas' Benn.
His Stownwny Strikes.
On the fourth day. Monday. after
peelinS a bucket of spuds. while l
was reading and smoking. he threw
down his knife. and. with a cunning
leer in commanding tone. told me
to get busy and complete the task
! that he wished TO rest. l started in 10
"bulldoze" him. but no simply held his
hand in my direction, fingers extended,
| and In majestic voice informed mo:
From now on. work for the Ameri-
can l will not. ] tell Meester Cap
tain American Monday slowed away.
Meester American 10 preeson go four
| teen years British government"
nearly tainted. From that time Bill
and were Mondays abject slaves.
| We even waited on him personally.
Any article in my possession that Mon
day desired was his for tho asking.
! The steward worined the secret out of
Monday. and l was also his slave Bill
and l spent n life Of hell on board.
After getting into the tropics, lime
| juice was issued daily to the crew to
keep away scurvy. The food was hor-
rible. The pork was rotten; in fact.
on the head of one of the ualt pork
casks was stamped inspected 1883"
The crew were on the verge of mu-
tiny.
| Then we reached the eastern en-
trance of the straits and 1t was blus-
terry and cold. The captain ATTEMPTED
to negotiate the straits one bright
moonlight night. After about three
hours the moon disappeared and we
went on the rocks, knocking a big
hole in the side of the ship, and only
quick and efficient work by the car
penter and crew saved us from sink
ing. They dropped n huge sail over
the side. covering the hole. The boats
were put over the side and we ex-
pccted the ship every minute to foun-
der. Next day we were lowed into
Punta Arenas. and after two weeks tho
ship was again made seaworthy
At Talcahuana we shipped twenty
EIGHT Spanards. or ''hombres," as we
called them. to work the cargo. This
doubled my work, and prayed that
j would die. 1t was nothing but mis-
cry TO me. l must have peeled eleven
million barrels Of spuds; in fact.