Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1918-11-22

spray, udndgeu 10 steer q course
to the companf6nway, and dragged
myself to the upper deck. A sailor
was in the galley and had started a
fire. The ship was rolling, pitching
and lurching. In that galley it sound
ed like bombardment. Pots and
pans were rafting in their racks; a
few of them had fallen out, and were
chasing each other around the deck
Cold and miserable, I 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 made the toast and tea. How
ne did 1t was marvel to me, but
later on 1 became very expert my
self.
Following the life lines" on the
upper deck, at 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.
Just then 1 received a resounding
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 I'll throw you over
the side"
/ mumbled my apologies, and fol-
lowed the mate into the chart house.
He greedily drank the tea, and in
about four bites disposed of the pieces
of toast. The toast was soaked in
salt water and I inwardly wished that
1t would poison him; in fact l prayed
that the ship would sink with all on
board. Such is seasickness.
+ managed, somehow or other, to
make my way back to the galley, and
l met my superior officer for the
trip, the Cookie" He was about five
feet nothing in height; a shriVeled-up
.Welshman about forty-fiye years old.
HE reminded me of a mummy in the
Museum of Natural History in Gem
trail park. If he had ever smiledeI
am sure that his face would have
cracked. 1t seemed frozen into one
perpetual scowl. He gave one look at
me and let out howl.
"Blawst my headlights, an this 'ere
(pointing to mel is what Pm to work
with on this hloomin' passage. I'm
lucky, I am, not 'arf, I amt" He
looked like some gorilla. The rolling
of the ship affected him not in the
1oo o. -
with every movement of the ship.
The next two or three days were a |
horrible nightmare to me. How
lived through them I do not know. l
had a deadly fear of the cook. As
soon as he found out that I could not |
even boil water without burning it he |
started in to make my life a misery. |
He had a habit Of carrying a huge |
butcher knife in his belt. Between |
meals he would sit down on bench |
and constantly feel the edge, at the
same time telling me what an expert I
he was at carving. Later on found that
there was a 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
1 realized that if the occasion should
arise he would not be backward in
his art of carving on
his opponent. That Welshman was
no better cook than I was, and the
crew soon became aware of this fact;
hence their hostility.
The Cushko was q slime juicer,"
sailing under the English flag. The II
skipper was '1ime juicer," the first
mate "blue noser," the first engineer
, Scotsman, while the crew was COM
posed of Spaniards. Italians, Square
heads, Firms, Swedes and Russians.
The bos'n was Irish, and a firm be-
lever in Home Rule. A worse gang
If cutthroats could hardly be con-
,eived; nice, polite bunch they were.
Believe me, Bill and I had our troubles.
Bill and 1 were the only two Ameri- ,
cans on board. The engineers ness !
nan was Prussian, Karl Tatzner by ,
lame. I nicknamed him Fritz" He !
vas only twenty years old, but was
lumsy, strong as an OK and about six !;
set tall. :,
After weathering the gale we at last
anne into the Gulf stream, and off the
cast of Florida it was warm and
leasant.
I found that my duties were to peel
puds, wash pots and pans and be a
ocular fetch and carry" for the cook.
~ Office hours were from six bells in
ne morning (three o'clock until four
ellis at night (ten o'clock. was
reasy and filthy at all times, having H
othing but salt water to wash in, and 7,
lis would not cut the grease. Bill
ad it much easier than l. had muir
er in my heart and vowed to Jump "
zip" at the first port we put into. III
After nine or ten days we came VI
longside at Castries. st. Lucia. Brit ]
h West Indies, to coal ship. At this
1rt the men believed In woman suf- 4
age. Long lines of half-naked black u
,>,,,ov, VIII, h,,rro hccl-o+~ e oool or,