Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-26
BY ANGUS MACGREGoR.

NEW YORK, october Is (N.A.N.A.)
The North Atlantic exploded lot OF
wind and water this last week. Ben
Trippett of the Leicester Castle, by his
eWn admission, brought moSt OF 1t to
New York with him.
Hen had a bottle secreted somewhere
forward. The exact place he declines
to reveal Bad weather hit the Leices-
ter Castle six days out Of Liverpool.
Decks awash, engines grumhling, rig
ging shrieking, the freighter Wallewed
steadily along. Suddenly Ben be-
thought himself of his bottle, surround
ed by Q million tens of sea water.
II never heard tell that sea water
was good for whisky" said Ben. land
that stuff was good to me, so decided
to be good to it. Besides, 1t was price
less for taking the dog out Of the tail
end Of a night watch"
Ben made his way cautiously feFard,
clinging to the rail. when he was al
Castle dipped into a trough, scooped
the heart out Of q grandfather comber
and flung 1t over her head. Down
Numbered the water catching Mr.. Trip
petit full aheam and sending hin slid
ing and clutching wrong end up down
the length Of the vessel. A rope, dan
Cling loose, presented itself to the har-
RED eyes of Mfr. Tripnett. He caught
1t and held on for dear life.
Tries Trip Once More.
Finally he picked himself up eau
tiously and felt for broken bones and
splinters. None could he found and
he started for'ard again, even mere
cautiously. Once more he had gotten
almost to his destination when large
cal Aa%n Al
It stood on end. 1t stretched up, up,
up, like q man yavaina. Fhea the
Leicester Castle split right through it
and there was holy murder facing poor
Mr.. Trippett
All the water in the seven seas, or
so 1t seemed, dumped right down on
him, and took him for another slide
down the deck. Tumbling, somersault-
ing, spinning, he travelled the length OF
the ship in quicker time than anybody
had ever done 1t before. He saw the
same rope, clutched ct 1t, missed and
crashed against the rail
For time he lay quite stu. Then
he got I'D slowly, locked at the dent
where he had hit the rail, leaked ct
the spray showering in the hew, thought
moodily Of his precious bottle and went
below.
Il never saw the stuff again." said
Ben sadly.
Queer currents Turk among those tiny
islands that speckle the Southern Pa
cific. Powerful, swift and secret, they
glide through the warm blue waters like
snakes slithering to kill.
Old Sea Tales Cited.
An old sea tale has IT, that one of
these currents struck a clipper ships
rudder across the heel so suddenly the
heimsman was Aung into the sea, but
whatever witnesses there were to that
incident are long since dead. The wit
nesses to John Colds story are alive
and here today.
Gold is ordinary seaman on the
Elsie Swift, which left yesterday for
dry dock In Boston. A short time ago
Ladrene Islands, and Gold, with two OF
his fellows, was watching the heel-and-
toe of the graceful ship from the white
beach.
It was a hot day, the air hung mo-
tionless IS the sun scared through ana
Gold, mopping his brow, remarked that
IL would be foolish to row the mile and
q half to shipboard when they could
swim 1t more easily. From that TO O
dare to a bet took no time ct all. 30
there was nothing for Gold to do but
bundle in his teeth and wade into the
ocean. Fortunately there vas Q sand
bar, and John could get quarter mile
out before starting his swim, but there
was still a mile and a quarter to go.
Bet Was for Dollar.
1.-The sea" said Gold, was smooth
and warm as O bucket OF milk. Thf
waves were fat and oily. They weren't
really waves. just soft svellings. y
was great for a swim, but l never hao
swan more than so feet In my life
THAT was my worry. But, thinks ] te
myself. II I can walk mile Tor
cigarette I can swim a mile and
Quarter for a dollar. The bet was
Might in the South Pacific falls Al
quickly as a curtain on the stage. Wher
Gold started twilight was turning ths
blue to purple. In 10 minutes II wa
night. :.
didn't know how long he could iast
He saw by the lights on the Elsie swii,
that he was making fair progress. Bu
a few minutes later, when swell SWUNG
him high, he saw that he had gone M
| farther; that, in fact, he seemed to hav'
gone backward. He looked back u
shore anxiously. II was black as
bandits heart. The moon was not ye
out and the deserted beach, showing
no lights, lay, heaven alone knew how
far back There was nothing for Johr
to do but continue on.
Lights Grew Smaller.
II didn't think TO float. just piugges
along, and was getting mighty tired
| / looked again at the Elsie. 1.-THE light'
were getting smaller. thoJ hit: She
putting out to sea- You can imagine