The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-18
A Snake Gets a DRESSING Down


"CrAND by fore and aft!" aSi S.
y Utah was coming into Gdynia,
Poland. Fritz and Shorty were up
on the poop deck looking the port
over, as the Utah waited for the tug.
Holy smokes! The last time I
was here, two years ago, they. didn't
have anything but railroad Siding
and a. tin warehouse. Now look. at the
place!" exclaimed Shorty.
yeah" shifted Fritz. AL those
modern warehouses and docks shave
been built with French and Ameri-
can capital, by Dutch engineers, Look
at those cruisers and submarines
there! Gifts from France! The So
Wet border is 50 close by!". 70
The men looked for signs.'''tU the
strike, but couldn't notice anything
from a distance. The tug came. It
began to rain. In contrast to Lenin-
grad, this pert was practically a
cemetery. Pretty soon groups of'rong-
shoremen could be made OUT wait
ing in the rain for chance to work.
"EoW's the chance Of getting a
draw here?" The third mate, a
youngster, who had been a@Gadet,
+ answered, hardboileI:
DRAW! No shore leave hefe1p
"Why not?" asked the SWsde.i
Orders from the bridge. ""'''
As socn as the gangWay was 4hade
fast, q Waterman as we'll as the two
cadets we're posted, supposedly to
keep an eye open for stowawsys. And
before the snip left, the cadets had
to go around with searchligfats and
look into every crack, in order to
prevent the lucky citizens Of the
Polish paradise from escaping,f
The cargo to be taken olf@here
was few Thousand baskets. The Po-
lack vas posted between decks to
wait for the longshoremen. His job
YVES to find cut if the strike was
still going on, and then inform the
nsn. If they we're strikebreal1ers,
thev were to be given hidingn The
hold where the loading was, 10 be
done W2s convent3nt for such aa..pur-
pee. 2
Il raircd SO hard that the holds
cca,d not be uncovered yet. The long
shoreren waited on the docks. In
order to gain time. the crew decided
to send the Polack ashore Tie took
the strike collection money with
him. The men sat down to dinner.
Within five minutes he was back
again, rIaffle third mate wouldn't let
him 90 ashc~e. Ee had spoken with
the. foreman Of the longshoremen,
though. and found out from him
thai the strike had already blown
over. a-1~
low do we know if he's telling
/. the TRUTH demanded Gunnaf and
some of the others.
& 81 couldn't say much to him! He
was suspicious, too Too many watch
men and spies around this coaii4try."
THE men decided to get in touch
with the shore anyway, The Swede
was in good with the third. He was
taken to one side, and Slim, GIln-
mar and the Polack gave HIM in
structions. The SWede shovelled down
some food while Slim made certain
preparations. ~r
He had his foot on the gangway
already, when the third called: Hey,
Swede, where do you think~-Eaure
going?" - - =
"Take a look around"
"No shore-leave here, told you"
"Well, I got letter here. to. my
mother, that's got to be maiIed."' He
pulled the envelope out of his pocket
The third cast glance at it..and
muttered: "All right, but snap out
of it,"
On the quay the Swede asked for
the nearest post office. A mounted
policeman offered to mail the letter
for him, but the Swede said he'd do
it himself. AS he turned behind the
warehouse. he ran into squadron of
soldiers, fully armed. WE'LL What are
these chappies doing here? And out
of sight of the shipl
The Swede hurried. In the post
office, he pulled the letter out of
his pocket. 1t was addressed to his
mother all right He tore the envelope
open, and took the inner envelope
out. Now for the first time he read
/ himself to whom this was addressed:
oOSiCooiy Va UllE lllbCIlEttkDIldl
Seamen's Club, Danzig." ss,e.,
With a sly grin he bought a, stamp
and send it off per registered mail.
The Interclub would see that. it, got
to the right hands.
On the way back, the SWede- ex-
amined the soldiers a bit closer. New
uniforms and modern equipment, but
their faces were stamped with the
typical, dulled look of soldiers in
capitalist armies. The Swede couldn't
help thinking of the two Red SOL
diers he had met in Leningrad. He
had got lost one day, and asked for
the way back to the ship. One Of the
Red soldiers spoke English. #ell,-
had learned it. in the army school.
But what made the biggest impress
sion on the Swede were the -6ues-
tions he had asked: What sort of
theatres and dramas were being Civ
en- in the States what sort of
music -. whether the Swedec took
an interest in symphony music. !.