New-York tribune., 1920-08-22
FRANK COFFEE, once a
4 Neao York printer, aOho
has aUrattem "Forty Years ON
the Pacific"

fore introduced the personal evil
dence Of clergyman, the Rev. Will
liam Wyatt Gill, in corroboration.
The Rev. William Wyatt Gill, who
did a great deal of missionary work
at Aitutaki, was a witness at one Of
the hunts and described the courage
Of a shark catcher named Reubena.
whose ancestors had excelled in the
perllous sport for generations"
Zone day Reubena, with a moose in
his hand" the narrative goes on,
"dove down into a submarine cave.
Just as he slipped the moose over the
tail Of the nearest shark, it moved,
and Reubena found there was not
room enough for him to get out Of
the cave. Gently stroking the side
Of the shark, he induced it to move
away. Reubena was making his es-
cape when, to his dismay, another
shark came back from feeding in
the lagoon, and blocked the entrances
with its body.
Shark Moved Over
"Even Reubena, with all his skill
and courage, dared not attempt to
massage sharks head, and waited
in captivity until the monster should
move. At last, after what seemed
hours, the shark passed quietly into
the cave. The fisherman, who had
barely sufficient strength left to
spring from the sandy bottom, rose
to the surface, and was rescued by
his mates, with blood flowing from
ears, mouth and nostrils."
AS to his adventure in authorship
Coffee makes this explanation in his
book:
"A good many years ago it dawned
upon me that I was getting too old
for the deck sports that enliven a long
sea voyage, so I decided on a new
sport for myself, to pass the time in
setting down impressions of ocean
travel, the places l visited, and the
interesting sidelights on life that
came to my attention. The first re-
suit was series Of letters to friends.
the second a number Of newspaper
interviews, and finally the present
volume.
my original intention was to ccn-
iine myself to personal experiences.
but the more I studied the conditions
OF the Pacific, its marvellous piano.
rama Of countries and peoples, the
more fascinated l became with my
subject, and it grew far beyond my
initial purpose; 1 felt compelled to
take wider range, to include gem
eral information and jottings that
covered a period of more than forty
years.
His Favorite Ocean
81 have sailed other oceans, but
the Pacific is the one / know and
love the best. The book | offer is
therefore primarily about my favor
ite ocean, although / wander now
and again in my narrative to other
waters for example and comparison.
"Some of the subjects held up for
consideration may not prove of
prime interest to all readers, but at
least my guiding principle in select
ing them has been the knowledge
venture to claim-of what inter-
ests most persons. AS an old cam-
Eaigner, meeting all sorts and condi-
tions Of people, and mingling with
them as one of the eternal human
comedy, l have found unusual op-
portunities of finding out what the
average mind responds to. Hence
I have tried to let common UNDER
standing direct my pen.
"One feature of the book many
readers will get at once, and that
Is they will find themselves sudden
ly transported from one scene to
another without warning or prep
aration, but hope it will cause
them no discomfort. Let them Law it
to the habit of mind engendered in
an old Traveller by his familiarity
with and Indifference to thousands
OF miles. An old campaigner like
myself thinks nothing of an $1,000
mile jump"
Coffee closes this apologize and
foreword by admitting that he takes
no pose in the world of letters, bus
only hopes what he has written will
prove interesting. AS to this the
,eader, of course, will have to Judge.
"Forty Years on the Pacific" is not
a romantic work and makes rsu
claims in that respect. 1t abounds
IN an almost bewildering amount Of
information, much Of it statistical.
but it also contains much that is
amusing, appealing and human.
II only hope people will like it.u
repeated Coffee in closing our in.
L &<~~