The Kevin review., 1926-09-09

you what you're made of. And anothe
thing" he added one evening in the com
mander's cabin to a listening half-circl
of passengers, another thing you discove
is that not one-half has yet been tOl(
about human nature.
| Now just as an example of what l meaI
by that, I'll tell you about a ship l was
! in when I first went to sea, the old Cas-.
sandra. She only carried three engineers
and | was the third of her. / tell you she
| was wOrkhOuse. She belonged to three
brothers in Cardiff who had spent all
/ their money buying her, and had to rur
her out of what she made, which wasn't
very much, tell you. She wouldn't have
been so bad, if they'd only given us some
gear and stores. But she was so dirty
down below OF got on a mans mind and
made him miserable just to be working by
| her. You might call it defective environ
ment. The second engineer used to call
it that He's the fellow I'm going to tell
you about.
"He was an Ayreshire man, and while
he wasn't so bright when he was sober
he became. very brilliant when he had, as
we say, his back teeth aWaSh He'd be-
come philosophical, and a scotchman that's
not only drunk but philosophical is a bear.
1t was then he'd let out his real opinion
of the chief, who wasn't so bad take him
all round, II ne hadn't been what we caH
skipper nurser."
Capt. Henderson, lighting his pipe, paus-
ed to laugh and remark that nobody could
accuse Mr.. Cassidy of sucking up his com
mander
81 might, if I had any chance Of get
ting away with it," Mr.. Cassidy retorted,
cooking his eye at the listening group.
'.Well, Mr.. MacBrayne, the chief of the
Cassandra, was that kind of a man. He
was scared stiff of the bridge anyway and
If the skipper sent along to ask if he was
coming ashore, you never saw such excite
ment I'm away ashore Wi the ould man
shire and he'd talk in that windy, whist
ling way they have around there 1t
didn't make so much difference to me,
as the third takes his pleasures away from
the heads OF the departments, but the Sc
cond, chap named Jack Crosbie, used to
have Mysteries about it. To begin with, he
was from Ardrossen, and west of Scot
land man can say some bonnie things
you The dirty, trucklin', lickspittin syco-
phant, he'd say, by way of a beginning.
I'm ashamed of the cloth when see a
member of it lowerin' himself to go ashore
Now If it was me, and Capt MacCall asked
me company ashore, do you know what
Id do? I'd just tell him | had something
better to do than loaf about with a lot
IL he was hard up for company.
81 mats the way Jack Crosbie used to
unload on me, the poor innocent, young
third engineer, and | had to listen to him. |
had no. ticket myself at the time, and an
other grievance of Jacks was that he had
! chiefs ticket, the same as MacBrayne, |
Dut no ghost Of chance of ever getting |
| chiefs job to go with it. Jack wasn't |
more than thirty-five or six, but some
low he'd been passed by when it came
o promotion. You see, he was fond of a |
ipree, and he'd gotten the habit of taking
bottle to bed with him, and that's a
atal thing to go in form. 1t will modify
mans character and mentality.
"Jack used to drink himself sober at
lines. He'd come down into the engine
Dom as stiff as ramrod with aglassy
ook in his eye, and he'd know just what
we'd been doing and what we were to do,
nd he'd give his instructions in a per-
ectly level and rational tone And then,
Without warning, he'd go off into a sol
loquy, addressing his remarks to one or
he engine columns, or a fireman who
dn't understand English, and pour out
he greatest lot Of profanity and SANDER
ou ever heard in your life about the
kipper and the chief And the next day
ed say to me. while we were working
n some job, and we were always working
y that ship: he'd say: Did / make any
emarks derogatory 10 his majesty, mis-
er? And I'd tell him Well you cussed