Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-12-10
Gloss
(By Lewis r. Freeman, In the December Popular
Mechanics Magaxine) ..

CBy Lewis R. Freeman, In the December Popular
Mechanics Magaxine.)
There had been distressing accident
| in the afternoon snd the shadow OF 1t
brooded deep over the ward room that
evening. It Was one of those swift little
sea tragedies which cut into the even
course of Grand Fleet life every now
and then ~ the beam of suddenly open.
ed and closed searchlight slashes the
darkness of winter night.
The survivors had been picked up and
were returning to the ship In . drifter.
They were In good deal OF shiver
from their half hours immersion when
they came aboard, but otherwise none
the worse for the experience. hot baths
and supper put them quite to rights, and
presently they drifted into the ward
room and pulled up by the fire.
Something started them all to talking
about Joss" and though every one Of
them who tried to define it in words
flouudered helplessly, yet the stories
they told were all illustrative and In
culcative of the fstalistic doctrine OF
you'll get yours when the time comes,
whatever you may do to avoid 1t, but
not q second before" can we'll under.
stand, as I heard young but highly ex.
perienced officer declare, that "Jos.
sistic" philosophy of life 10 the only one
under which man can compose him
self for regular sleep in q sweeper mine
layer, or any other kind of craft where
you're playing Cross tag between Kingdom
come and high explosives" II JOSS has
made no appointment for you, you are
al right even II your ship blows up or
the heavens fall but II be has, you'll
jump into the sir or dive into the sea to
keep It. To what lengths be will 90 In
this particular respect 10 sttested by an
incident told by the ward.room fire that
night. It was . young lieutenant re-
GENTLY come to us from mine sweeper,
who spun the yarn, and have since
verified II 10 every particular.
"Speaking Of Joss," be said, "rsminds
me of the way the cards were stacked
against poor old &, the skipper OF
first mine sweeper was In. She was
one of tho new sloops, built especially
for the job, and about as near mine
proof as ship OF that kind can be. X
used to say that he reckoned he was %
safe on her as be was at home in bed.
Now that We have these nets rigged
fore and aft to cctch us before We strlke
any thing bard be said, i can't see that
we're running much more risk than the
lady in pink tights when she loses her
grip on the flying trapeze at the top OF
the circus tent. It We come down on
the ship 1t will mean only . bit OF q
jig-a-jig In the net; II We miss the ship
hard slap from the water 10 the worst
to be feared
II remember distinctly that 1t was the
very next run after that that Joss step
ped In. I was aft at the time, and be.
low, so that the shock Of the exploding
mine We had run into was my first In
timation of anything wrong. was
thrown against the side OF my cabin
with an awful bang, for the jar
seemed many times sharper than had
felt In either Of the two smaller sweepers
in which had been mined. There
things had eventuated just about a.
K had forecast they would-tust
about, but not quite. just ss he had
antici ipated, too, be himself was thrown
oieanly into the air and deposited light
" In one of the nets that had been
spread for that purpose. ! started for
ward and when I reached the wrecked
foc's'r, ber skipper was clamberiDg
across the net. Just In time saw that
bis legs were dragging Imply behind
the trunk ho was dragging up the side
of the net by ,clswing with the hands.
We lifted him out as carefully as we
could and laid him on the deck.- he
was still conscious, but went into
swoon from which he never came out,
just after he had managed to tell me
that something small and hard had
plugged him while he was In the air.
It's right here,' he said in failing
voice, laying q weak hand on bis ab.
domen. He was dead before they could
carry him below, and 1t Was not until
after No had returned to port--slowly
bat under our own steam-that We
learned, - tho result Of post mortem,
that the head of rivet had pierced his
body ut about the diaphragm and rested
against bis spinal column. For sheer
Joss, could you beat IL? Poor old K
and thst rivit head bad 40 appointment
to foregather up, there In the air, 20 or
thirty feet above the bridge Of his new
mine sweeper, and because nsither OF
them were able to get up there on their
own, joss sends that. little packet OF
Hun T. N. T. along to provide the
necessary motive power. II either OF
them had been the hundredth OF
second behind or ahead Of time, they
would have missed tho connection. But
they were there to the d0t-Joss never
slips up on bis oohedules."
b