Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1917-09-20
A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD IN
WAR Time
BY URIAH S. JAMES.
(Cnntinnedl

Tor the rules Of International welfare or
for the laws Of humanity, the fact that
we were on a neutral vessel plying from
one neutral port to another, did not
seem to have a great deal of effect in
allaying the fears of the passengers.
AS we all stood there huddled togeth-
er waiting for this curious craft to come
near, there were some very pleasant
topics being discussed, namely: Which
is the quickest way to put on life pre-
server? What is the longest length of
time person was ever known to live
without eating? Finally some joy
killer spoke up, Eyes, even if we do
not lose our lives, it's no fun rowing
around out here for three or four days
in one of these small boats waiting to
be picked up
The excitement by this time was
quite intense and lady in the crowd
was becoming hysterical. "Oh, John,
what shall we do if they sink this
boat?" she implored her husband. We
all waited for Johns reply, which was
not slow in coming. What do we
care, Mary" he said convincingly, 1--WE
do not own it, do WEI" This joke very
likely was cracked for the first on the
ark, but under the circumstances SCUM
ded exceedingly funny and John receiv
ed round of applause from everybody
present. Anyway, it broke the tense
ness and in the meantime the first Of
ficer informed us that the approaching
vessel was an English coast patrol.
1t was very evident it was making
directly for US and in a few minutes it
was but short distance away and had
given us the signal to stop. This being
Immediately done we soon discovered
that the other vessel had come to a
stop and was lowering life boat with
several persons in it. This boat was
rowed over along side Of ours and two
English officers came on board bag and
baggage. Their duty was to take us
into Kirkwall, which is a small port
located in the Orkney Islands on the
north of Scotland.
l noticed they had their full set of
hardware along and plenty of ammuni
tion, which | presume was to aid them
In getting the Captain into an agreeable
state of mind should he refuse to follow
their instructions. They had also
brought provisions and as [ had noticed
no scarcity of food SO far on board
asked one of the officers why this was
necessary, and he explained by saying,
"These men are really trespassers for
whom we are not obliged to provide" :"
a seat at the first officers table and
they all seemed to be quite chummy
during the remaining two days which
it took us to reach Kirkwall.
Kirkwall is a natural harbor entered
by passing through long strait over a
mile in length, which narrows down to
before the final entry to the harbor is
made. 1t is guarded by gate stretch
ed across, to which is anchored mines
supported from the surface by buoys.
1t takes some time to gain admission
but when you do finally get in it is a
very peaceful spot surrounded on all
sides by hills, and there is not ripple
to be seen on the water. The city itself
is small and apparently very old. The
harbor is body of water about equal
in size to that of Lake Menona at
Madison.
We arrived here at about 700 p. M,
Just before dark, and came upon deck
the following morning [ counted some
thing over thirty five vessels of various
kinds representing number of different
nations, as could be seen by the flags
they were flying. However, what look
ed best to me was a large freight boat
that had dropped anchor on our right,
but short distance away, on the side
of which was huge painting of "Old
Glory" and just above was painted in
large letters New York" On the left
lay the steamer Nordam of the Holland
American Line, which had carried me
safely from Rotterdam to New York
after the war broke out; so 1 felt that
even though | was long way from
home was still among friends.
We lay here thirty six hours and dur
ing this time the cargo, mail, passen-
gers, baggage and passports were exam
ined by the English custom officials,
who proved to be very courteous and
did not put us to any great amount of
trouble.
The Captain also gave his dinner
while here and told us of some very
interesting experiences he had had dur
ing his life on the high seas. When
dinner was finished the dining room
was cleared for the dance, which was
taken part in by the majority of people