The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-11-22

spray, managed to steer a course
10 tho c0mDanionway, and dragged
myself TO the upper deck. A saiIoE
was In the galley and had started d
fire. The ship was rolling. pitching
md iurching. In that galley It sound
"a like a bombardmcnt. Pots and
pans were rafting ia their racks; a
few OF them had fallen out. and were
chasIng each other around the deck.
/ Cold and miserable, crouched In
the corner, keeping myself from fall
| Ing by holding on to the rail- In front
Of the stove.
The sailor took compassion on me,
and mnde the tonst and ten. How
he did II was marvel to me, but
later on became very expert my
self.
Following the ''life lines. on the
upper deck. OF last managed to reach
the bridge with my pot Of tea and
two slices Of toasted bread. There
were two men at the wheel. In the
darkness went up to them and asked
for the mate. They did not answer.
4
smack on the back which made my
teeth rattle, and that dreaded. gruff
voice of the mate reached my ears
through the wind: damn you, you
hell's spawn. keep away from the men
at the wheel or Ill throw you over
l the SIDE"
mumbled my apologies, and fol-
lowed the mate into the chart house.
He greedlly drank the ten, and In
about four bites disposed Of the pieces
Of toast. The toast was soaked In
sait wnter and lnwnrdly wished that
4 Ii would poison him; In fact prayed
that the ship would sink with all on
board. Such IL seaslckness.
managed. somehow or other, to
make my way bacb to the galley, and
met my superior officer for the
trip, the "eookic" He was about FIVE
feet nothing IN height; a shriyeled-up
Welshmnn about forty-fiye years old
He reminded me of mummy In the
Museum Of Natural History In Gem
tral park. If he had ever smiled |
am sure that his face would have
cracked It seemed frozen into one
perpetual scowI. He gave one look at
me and let out howl.
"Blawst my headlights, an this 'ere
lpointing to mel Is what I'm to work
with on this bloomin passage. I'm
lucky, am, not arr, I amt" He
looked like some gorilla. The rolling
OF the ship affected him not In the
least. He seemed to sway and bend
with every movement OF the ship.
The next two or three days were
horrible nightmare to me. How /
lived through them do not know. I
had deadly fear of the cook. AS
soon as he found out that could not
even boil water without burning 1t he
started M 10 make my life a misery.
He had habit of carrying huge
butcher knife Ia his belt. Between
meals he would sit down on d bench
and constantly feel the edge, at the
same time telling me what an expert
he was at carving, Later on found that
there was reason for his carrying this
knife. He and the crew were at dag
ger points, he never daring to go for
ward except In case of necessity, and
then he was careful always to carry
his butcher knife. Down in my heart
realized that IL the occasion should
arise he woulds not be backward In
demonstrating his art of carving on
his opponent. That Welshman was
no better cook than / was, and the
crew soon became aware of this fact;
hence their hostility.
The Cnshko was Cline juicer,"
sailing under the English flag. The
skipper was .llme juicer," the first
mate 'hlue noser,n the first engineer
Scotsman, while the crew was com
posed OF Spaniards, Italians, Square
heads, Films, Swedes and Russians.
The bos'n was Irish. and firm be-
lever In Home Rule. A worse gang
OF cutthroats could hardly be con-
ceiyed nice. polite bunch they were.
Believe me, Bill and had our troubles.
Bin and were the only two Amerl-
cans on board. The engineers ness
man was Prussian, Karl Tatzner by
name. | nlclSnamed him Fritz" He
was only twenty years old, but was
clumsy strong as an OK and about six
feet tall.
After weathering the gale we at last
came into the Gulf stream. and Off the
coast of Florida 1t was warm and
pleasant,
found that my duties We're to peel
I spuds. wash pots and pms and be q
regular "fetch and carry" for the cook,
My Office hours were from six bells In
the morhing (three o'clock) until four
bells at night (ten o'clock. / was
sfeasy and filthy at all times. having
nothing hut salt water to wash In. and
this would not cut the grease. I'm
had II much easier than had muir
der In my heart and vowed TO Jump
ship" at the first port we put into.
After nine or ten days we came
alongside at Castries. st. Lucia. Brit
lsh West indies, 10 coal ship. AT this
port the men believed in woman suf-
frnge. Long lines of haif-naked black
L xrnuAan with hut~A haStsafe 40 sool IN