Baxter Springs news., 1918-11-22


this was a very grave offense against
the English board OF trade laws. the
maximum penalty being fourteef
years imprisonment. did not wisf
10 incur this risk. therefore would
not listen to the entreaties OF the
young negro, explaining to him the
penalty of the board OF trade laws
Upon hearing this. q cunning look
which at the time did not appear sig
nificant TO me, came into his eyes, and
he told me that II I would stow hin
away, "see how easy II will be FOL
you" He would do oil Of my work
and all would have to do would b
to sit on the superstructure and lie,
my feet hang. ! thought this wal
worth rlsklng fourteen years for. sG
fell In with the plan, Bill objecting.
The ventIlators had been unshippet
while the coallng was going on. ant
were lying aft on the poop deck
Watching our chance. we sneaked aft
and hid the little fellow In one Of the
ventllators, warning him, upon pain
of death, not to make sound until the
ship was well under way. To say that
was nervous Ii putting 1t mildly.
We cleared St. Lucia and were soon
ut 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 q few minutes he
came rushing forward with terror In
his eyes. As he passed the galley I
stopped him and asked what was the
matter. All he could gasp out was
"Mary Of God, q 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 stowaway by the ear. The little
negro was bowling blue murder. and
the curses Of the mate snapped like
wireless message. Luckily for me the
mate stopped ut the galley and said'
"Keep your eye on this black skunk
until can take him before the old
man." For five minutes put all my
power Of entreaty Ointo my voice and
prayed the stowaway to stick by me I;
to swear that he came aboard Of his
own volltlon. He promised to do so.
Then the mate came after him and
took him before the captain. During
this fifteen minutes Of interview i
lived in an agony of torment and sus-
pense. The little fellow came back
with q smile on his face and ! knew
things were all right. He told me that
the captain had shipped him at shill-
ing a month for the passage. For two
days he was detailed to help me In
the galley, and ! lived the life OF q
prince. We nicknamed him Monday"
the day that he came on board. HIS
real name was Charles Tasima Benn.
On the fourth day, Monday. after
peelIng bucket of spuds, while ! was
reading and smoking. threw down
his knife and, with a cunning leer. In
a commanding tone told me to get
busy and complete the task; that he
wished to rest. I started In to 'bull-
doze" him, but he simply held his
hand in my direction. fingers extended,
and in q majestic voice informed me:
"From now on, work for the Amerl-
can will not. tell Meester Captain
American Monday slowed away. Mees-
ter American to preeson 60 fourteen
years British government" i nearly
tainted. From that time Bill and l
were Mondays abject slaves. We
even waited on him personally. Any
article In my possession that Monday
desired was his for the asking. The
steward wormed the secret out Of
Monday. and was also his slave. Bill
and / spent 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-
rlble. The pork was rotten; In. fact,
on the head Of one # the salt pork
casks was stamped Inspected 1SSS."
The crew were on the verge Of mutiny.
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 big hole
in the side Of the ship, and only quick
and efficient work by the carpenter
and crew saved us from sinking. They
dropped huge sail over the side, COW
ering the hole. The boats were put
over the side and we expected the ship
every minute to founder. Next day we
we're towed into Punta Arenas, and
after two weeks the ship was again
made seaworthy.
At Talcahuana we shipped % Span
iards, or "hOmbres," as We called
them, to work the cargo. This doubled
my work, and I prayed that would
die. 1t was nothing but misery to me.
/ must have peeled eleven million bar
rels Of spuds; in fact, / never turned
In before six bells at night, and had
to turn out at six bells In the morning.
After touching at 13 ports on the
west coast, dlscharging our cargo, we
left for q little island called LObas,
where we were to take on a cargo OF
guano. While working this cargo 1t
was misery for everyone on board; the