Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-01-05

Tho shells weren't falling far behind
now. slamming up with lazy splash:
they were skipping and bouncing on
tho water. knocking spray aside. as
they passed by US and fell ahead.
l learned something then that j
hadn't known before. You can see a
shell fired like that. In the beginning
they came at US. dark spots as big as
a pca--fivc feet tall. on end. they were,
with their cartridge casing meas
urcd them on the raider As long as
the Slade was beyond tho maximum
range we could sec them wabbling and
then plunginS into tho water, thick
end first. And VIC could soc them as
clearly when they came lively and
sang past US.
The man at the wheel was Rus
sian Finn. At every shot he duckcd
and dropped the wheel. like Il new
soldier under rifle fire for the first
time
And the rest of them didn't have any
time or thought TO laugh at him. 1t
was no joke to them now.
Nine shells they fired. and uncom-
fortabiy close they got. why we
weren't hit. Lord knows--and what
she'll would have done to that cargo
of copra: 1t would be like match
TO celluloid.
Nearer and nearer they edged. and
the Stars and Stripes hanging limp
over us in the breeze. so at last there
wasn't any hope of getting away in
the darkness. and there was nothing
to It but hcavc 10 or bc blown TO bits.
1t was dark when tho ship came
abreast. FIVE or six ship lengths away,
on the starboard side Of us. There was
a moment of stiffness, and we heard
voices from her above the rustic of
the waves. They were voices giving
orders to clew UP tho sails and bring
the ship TO six ship lengths away.
And they were German voices. Then
l knew our goose was cooked.
Who the strange ship which sailed
faster than the wind. was still had
no definite idea as she lay there.
scarcely more than q biscuit toss from
us In the dark. but certain it was that
she had ovcrhaulcd US for no good
OF ours.
She put of motor boat. and in
few minutes the X. c. Slade. from
Sydney TO San Francisco with copra,
was formally prize Of the German
commerce raider Seeadler. with prizo
crew Of ten aboard under Prize Officer
Prciss. and the German ships doctor.
who fell to promptly on my Scotch
whisky.
Are there any wounded aboard?'
the doctor asked and while he took
my answer that there was none with
out comment. il was clear he wouldn't
have been surprised if there had been,
and except for tho work it would have
given him, wasn't especially overjoyed
that there weren't
CAPTOR OyERHAULS PAPERS AND
THEN ORDERS SHIP DESTROYED
Meanwhile tho prize officer was
rapidly overhaplins my papers. When
he had asccrtained who we were and
what we had. he informed us we we're
captured and that the Slade would he
destroyed.
So much for the formalities: they
didn't take long.
And then the Germans turned to tho
matter of utmost interest 10 them.
after the professional business in hand,
and they first question was:
Have you any potatoes"
We had half a ton of them, and good
potatoes they were, but the question
raised doubts among us as to what
We had to face on the Seeadler.
ALL EAGER FOR NEWSPAPERS
TO HEAR OF WARS PROGRESS
Even before we were rounded up to
be taken to the pirate on the motor
boat, the Germans, officer. doctor and
men. were hunting for newspapers and
magazines-for everything that would
SiNe lHeii "oFu OF the war 6 progress.
This hunger Of theirs was more in
teresting than the stomach hunger
And after they had taken glance
at the latest doings in Europe and In
the naval and submarine warfare what
do you think they grabbed next-and
that with zest OF 4 youngster after
a new toy?
The funny papers.
There they were, pirates by all the
nj
schooner they had done their best to
sink when IL seemed darkness would
let her escape. and their first thought.
after finding If they were stin at war.
were of "kartofels" and comic supple
ments.
One great fellow, with ham hand,
and the hair Of gorilla. stood in the
light from the galley. and all grimy
as he was and with the sinking OF
many ships behind him, he guffawed
and chuckled and snickered and nudzcd
his fellows over the doings of Polly
and Her Pals.
COOK STAYS BEHIND AND
SERVES EGGS BOILED AND FRIED
or all hands. only the cook was
left on the Sladc, and from what he
said afterward he got less slcep that
night than the rest of us. The Ger
mans had come upon tho SHADES eggs.
Nt'' ~ 'Hn time peiHS funny papers,
potatoes and everything else was for
gotten. Eggs-they had an appetite
for them after weeks of eggIess cruis
ing-a passion! All night long they
Kept at the cook, like children, giving
him little chance to turn over and
less 10 sleep. Never less than one in
the half-hour they called him TO cook
egss; eggs fried. boiled, scrambled.
bacon ana eggs, ham and eggs--every
them and some that he couldn't.
y got sick OF IT," nc told me "T
started in once TO tell 'em I'd give ,ono