White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1929-08-16
CHAPTER X-Continued


This left the way clear for US, and
now we sailed out to continue our
adventure on the greatest Of all the
seven seas.
Fourteen days after rounding the
Horn, we picked an interesting and
rather puzzling wireless out Of the
air:
Seeadler gone down with flags fly
ing. Commander and part OF crew
taken prisoners and on their way to
Montevideo.
"What's that?" l thought. "By Joe,
Johnny Bull Is telling whopper."
Now, when old John Bull tells fib,
you can bet, by Joe, that he has good
reason for it. We tried to figure 1t
out, and came to the conclusion that
1t had something to do with the scare
we had created. The news that our
prisoners had given out at Rio had
sent Lloyd's rates skyward and caused
many ships to lie in harbor until the
danger from the German raider had
blown over. The British, in order to
bring Lloyd's rates down and to liber-
ate all the shipping that had been tied
up, took pains to spread highly col
ored report of our disaster dressed up
with suitable imaginative trimmings to
make 1t more convincing.
"Well, Johnny Bull" I thought,
"we'll fix you"
Our wireless operator, very capa-
BILE fellow, worked out scheme with
me. "Sparks" sent out the following
message purporting to come from
British ship:
SOS-SOS-German sub ..
He cut the message short, as If in
terrupted, to make 1t seem as If at
that moment the ship had been tor
pedoed.
After a suitable interval he sent out
another call, this one merely report'
ing German submarines off the coast
of Chile.
Did Lloyd's rates 60 up again? And
did those ships that were getting
ready to put to sea put back to their
berths? Well, you can bet your boots
they did. And we sent out other sub
marine warnings every so often just
to keep our little joke alive.
These were all small injuries, but
we had been sent out to harass the en-
envy, and this was one way of doing
1t. What more could you expect Of
lone windjammer? And then, it's these
injuries all added together that more
often than not win the day. 1t was
good sport for US, anyhow.
Our course was northward, with the
Chilean coast and the Andes almost
in sight. We steered almost to the
Galapagos islands, and at Robinson
Crusoe's island, San Juan Fernandez
we trimmed our sails and turned our
bow west. We sailed for weeks on
the broad expanse of the Pacific with
out sighting ship. Except for the
occasional crackle Of the wireless, we
were alone in the world.
Our wireless antennae kept us In
touch with the latest phase Of the in
ternational situation. Nor was It
particularly pleasant on those long
idle days at sea to sit and mediate
on the fact that the United States was
going into the war against us. We
sailors knew better than some of our
people at home the tremendous pow
er of the great republic of the West
There were closeted statesmen and
generals who might talk as they
pleased about the American lack of
military preparedness and the impos
sibility of American troops being mus
tered and sufficiently trained In time
to be of any service in the critical
hour of the war. We sailors had trav.
eled. Many of us had been in the
United States and had served on
American ships All fine technical
points aside, we had had opportunity
to sense the might of the North Amer
lean giant with its numerous and
virile population and its incalculable
wealth. With such strength behind it.
even an awkward, poorly aimed thrust
was enough to push almost anyone
over.
We caught one radio dispatch that
caused us to sit and gaze hopelessly
into the sky. 1t told of the famous
Zimmerman note. What madness had
dictated that extraordinary state pa
Der, which proposed to Mexico tina,
she join Germany in the war and re-
ceive in return slice Of American
territory including Texas? had
served as q soldier in the Mexican
army, and knew something of its prob
able prowess in war. A few Amer
lean, regiments on the Rio Grande
could hold back the Mexican army as
easily as can hold child And did
our statesmen think the Mexicans
were such fools? The folly was one
that could only enrage the people OF
the United States and make the Mex
leans laugh We of the German fight
ing forces could only curse the luck
that had given our country such di
plumacy All II succeeded in negoti
ating was new enemies and fewer
friends
The American declaration of war
came as blow expected, but hard
nevertheless Some of the more pes
simisiic of us could spell the doom OF
Germany in IT II altered the position
of our buccaneering expedition some
what. TOO. II reduced the number Of
neutral ports into which we might sail
II also increased the number of cruls
ers we had to look out for.
However. neutral ports did not en-
Ter into our calculations much. All
prts reilly we're hostile, anyhow
Nputrals would limit us to a short, In