The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-07-06

bunk, but the skipper said | better
stay on deck till all hands were GER !
| tain Jonah had not left some of his |
baggage with the whale. They were /,
very kind. All but the helmsman
gathered around me on the little deck
and made many offers of aid. They
seemed to think / wanted something
to eat right away, and exercised their
Ingenuity suggesting what l ought to
have. To prove good faith they Of
fered to cook another supper for me.
How / hated them. Finally the skip
per said | must have something
Strengthening and told one man to cut
off slice of fat, white bacon, put it in
a plate and pour syrup on it and bring
it to me- Who-oo-oo! New York.
Everything but my soul came that
time, and it had to stick in it's finger
and toenails. The skipper helped me
to my bunk, sent the other boys about
various matters and then slipped
away himself. 1t was very dark in
the cabin, but I could hear him
rumbling in his box. Presently he
came back and stuck the muzzle of a
bottle between my teeth. Glug-glug-
glug-a finger glug. Whisky is
Fearful evil, but it does hit the spot
sometimes. Then the other boys
smelt the stuff, and each swore he felt
seasickness coming on and would be
helpless from it in five minutes unless
he had a drink. So the bottle passed
and there was a chorus of glugs. l
went to sleep, and next morning, by
virtue of my sickness, claimed the
fright to lie abed while others cooked
breakfast. Being the shippers watch
below, he and his matey had to pre-
pare the meal, and it was so much
worse than any had cooked that all
hands vowed they would heave me
overheard if | wasn't able to get din
ner ready. Being a mighty poor
swimmer I complied. By this time
the tall, white shaft of the Mosquito
Inlet lighthouse was in sight, and in
the early afternoon of the ninth day
of foam on the bar to the safe water
INSIDE, and were soon mooring our
sturdy little ship at the New Smyrna
dock. l have never had any more fun
in any nine consecutive days of my
life than on that trip down the East
. Coast.
AT CHRISTMAS, 1898
: Six years and four months later, I
went down the East Coast again, as
far as Sebastian. There had been
; great changes. Flagler had finished
his great hotels at St. Augustine,
J united the three fragments of rail-
road system between Jacksonville and
/ Daytona, and was pushing the line
i southwark, toward Miami and even
l tually to Key West. Thousands of
2 people had come in, the older towns
/. had greatly increased and many new
ones had sprung up. The East Coast
e was coming into it's own. / travelled
4 from st. Augustine to Sebastian on
: Christmas day, and the next day re-
turned from Sebastian via Jackson
0 vile to Ocala, which little over a
t year before had become my home
| While the Improvement on the East
S Coast was marked, it was but a
t scratch on the surface of what it had
been since. l could only approximate
O the difference. The railroad, as is the
. lwav of railroads ran thru the least
g picturesque part of the country along
+ its line. Great improvement in Day
: ltona. New Smyrna and Titusville
r could see. At the other towns, except
$ Eau Gallie, the depots were so fal
G from the water fronts ! could make
Il little estimate. Most of the time, thu
q river was out of sight. Sebastian
4 was only bunch of shanties. wher,
- all but the work trains stopped
r Miami, l heard, had become some
" thing of a village, but still no pro
g phecy of its coming greatness hat
# been heard.
, The worst is yet to come. Thes
long and tedious articles have beer
?. only to lead up to the main subject
70 I have. yet to tell you of my secon'
~ trip to Miami and intermediate points
# If live and you don't die, and if
n Jean get a new ribbon on my type
\ writer, I will try to infiict the stor,
% of the Second Crusade on you in tn
n coming days. jhb