Carrizozo outlook. [volume] (Carrizozo, N.M.) 1910-1945, 1918-11-29
CHAPTER 1.
In the American Navy.

w hUC NHVCllSdU INaNys
My father was n seminar, so, nat
urally, all my life ] heard n great deal
about ships and the sea, Even when
! was n little boy. In Walston, Pa, |
thought about them n whole lot and
wanted TO be n sajior-especially q
sailor In the U. s. navy.
You might say ! was brought up on
the water.
When | was twelve years old ! went
10 sen as cabin boy on the whaler
Therlfus, out Of Boston. She was an
old squnre-rigged sailing ship, built
more for work than for speed. We
were out four months on my first
cruise, and got knocked around n lot,
especially In n storm on the Newfound-
land Banks, where we lost our instru-
ments, and had n hard time nnvlgat-
ing the ship. Whaling crews work on
shares and during the two years I was
on the Therifus my shares amounted
to fourteen hundred dollars.
Then | shipped as flrst.class helms
man on the British tramp Southern
down, n twln-screw steamer out of
Liverpool. Many people are surprised
that a fourteen-year-old boy should be
helmsman on nm ocean-golng craft,
but all over the world you will see
young lads doing their trick at the
wheel. / was on the Southerndown
two years and In that time visited
most of the Important ports OF ECU.
rope. There is nothing like a tramp
steamer II you want to see the world.
The Southerndown Is the vessel that,
In the fall az 1917. sighted n German
U-boat rugged up like n smiling ship.
Although l liked visiting the foreign
ports. / got tired OF the Southerndown
after n while and ut the end Of a voy-
age which landed me In New York l
decided TO get into the United States
navy. After laying around for n week
or two ] enlisted and was assigned TO
duty as n second-clnss fireman.
People have said they thought I was
pretty small to be a fireman; they
have the idea that hremen must he big
men. Well, l am 8 feet TN inches In
height. and when ! was sixteen I was
just as tall as l am now and weighed
1853 pounds. ! was a whole lot husk-
Ter then, too, for that was before my
introduction to kultur In German prls-
on camps, and life there II not exactly
fattening-not exactly. ! do not know
why II Ia. but II you will notice the
navy flremen-the lads with the red
stripes around their left shoulders
you will find that almost all OF them
are small men. But they are a husky
lot.
Now, In the navy. they always haze
q newcomer until he shows that he
can take care OF himself. and l got
mine very soon after l went into I'm.
Gle Sans service. l was washing my
clothes In a bucket on the forecastle
deck. and every gnrby (%sailor) who
came along would give me or the
bucket a kick. and spin one or the
both OF M. Each time l would move
70 some other place, but ! always
seemed 10 be in somebody's way. III
nhlly l saw a marine coming. / was
nowhere near him, but he hauled out
OF his course to come up 10 me and
gave the bucket a boot that sent II
twenty feet away, at the same time
handing me a clout on the ear that
Just about knocked me down. Now,
] did not exactly know what q marine
was, and this fellow had 30 many
stripes ON his sleeves that | thought
he must be some sort OF officer, 90 I
just stood by. There vas n gold stripe
commissioned oiicer) on the bridge
and ! knew that II anything vas
wrong he would cut in. 80 ] kept Look