Evening star., 1934-09-19
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
M~s0ss c~ssessl

II M~s0o c~nesa
CONSIGNED TO DAvY JONES. Dy
Capt. George H. Grant. Boston:
Little, Brown d %.
Twelve days ago neWY of . ealaus-
itotS IRE at SEA filled the hearts a
mankind with sorrow. A. Investigation
into the disaster has progressed . sor-
~ spectacle has been presented of lax
ity in the Observance Of protective
regulations and Of the inadequate o.
pacity Of some Of those upon whom
hundreds Of lives depended effectively
/ to meet their responsibilities in ths
face Of overwhelming danger. There
Is small comfort In the knowledge that
the catastrophe might have occurred
20 far out at sea that the loss Of life
would have been greater, particularly
in reflection upon the heroic seaman
ship and the superhumAn victories
over dire, the elements and the treach-
cry Of rocks which have been recorded
in the history Of navigation.
It was with such sturdy men Of the
deep as these latter that Capt. Grant
served his apprenticeship. He was but
fourteen years Of age when he gradu-
ated from the Navigational Depart
ment Of the Glasgow Technical Col
lege and went to sea as . member OF
| the crew of the Monarch, ~ tramp
steamer bound out Of Cardiff on q
voyage that lasted twenty months
| The chronicle Of the events Of those
twenty months and Of the second
voyage, completed in q combination
Of circumstances which placed the
| af1ectionately nicknamed Tommy
lad" in command Of the ship, IL con.
tanned in an earlier book by Capt
Grant, entitled The Half Deck
The experiences on those two mo-
mentous voyages were Of the sort that
quickly turn q boy into . man Of fine
caliber. Also the training under
Capt. McFarlane and Mr.. Boxley
Bruce Burns and Mr. Selkirk and his
other associates on shipboard enabled
him TO sail q lifeboat containing
twenty miles to safety when the trans
port vessel Of which he was In charge
blew up In the South Atlantic during
| the Great War. His service to Great
Britain during the conflict was varied.
After . short experience in the Army
he enlisted on an anti-submar1ne
! decoy ship, but the tameness Of the
game was not to his liking, % he en-
tered the Transport Service. The ship
which blew up in the South Atlantic
was his first command. On his four
succeeding voyages in this service
three of his ships were torpedoed and
the other figured In q collision.
Consigned to Dsvy Jones" Is q
chronicle of the third voyage Of
young Grant In the half deck Of the
Monarch, . trip which proved to be
the last for the outmoded tramp
which had rendered noble service fol
many years Having progressed In
his chosen profession to the status OF
a cadet, this intrepid young seaman
was a. thrilled at seventeen over the
prospect Of . long voyage - he had
been q An apprentice Of fourteen. He
had no premonition Of the fate that
awaited the Monarch, nor Of the va
riety Of experiences and haEdships
which all on board were to be called
upon to endure.
| Sailing south out Of the Firth OF
| Clyde, the first port Of call was on
the Gold Coast Of Africa, where the
news that Great Britain had declared
war on Germany created consider
able CONSERVATION and dissatisfaction
| among the crew when the ship wa
held for An indefinite stay in the
stagnant, fever-breedins waters Of q
| tropical river.
The long stay In Africa, however
was but one Of many hasardous ex-
periences which contribute to the per.
lection Of seamAnship. In mid
ocean q fire starting In the coal
bunkers threatened to destroy the ship
| From Africa to Key West. to New
Orleans and back across the Atlantic
toward the home port, the passage was
marked by violent storms and near
| wreckage in narrow escapes from
rocks and collisions with other ships
in thick fogs. A shortage Of food
supplies became acute and caused q
threatened mutiny unless Capt. Nc
Farlane stopped at Barbados for new
supplies. The death Of Chinese IRE.
man threw . panic into his fellow
| countrymen when they became con-
| vinced that his spirit still haunted the
ship. The suicide Of . member Of the
crew, the finding Of q stowaway
murderer on board, and the breaking
away of . load Of logs in . heavy
storm, threatening death and destrtc-
ton, are but few Of the many excit-
| Grant. And throughout the journey
there was the menace Of German
submarines
Much havoc had been wrought tc
shipping by the Germans during
those early months Of the war, but
the season for atrocities had not yei
begun when the Monarch neared the
coast of Ireland. The closing chap.
ters tell Of the valiant struggle o'
Capt. McFarlane and his gallant crew
to escape the fate that awaited them
It is q thrilling narrative from begin
ming to end, replete with hair-raisina
adventures and experiences which
cause the landsman to wonder why
men 20 to sea, and at the same time
to envy every member Of the company
of the Monarch the full richness ol
romance which only . life On the 90
affords.
| Capt. Grant is now only thirty y-eisht
years old, and has for the past eleven
years been in command Of various
ships belonging to . large navigation
concern. At present he Is In com.
mand of the steamship Musa, which
sailed out of New York just before his
present book was released by the pub
fishers. This volume, like its prede.
cessor, is attractively illustrated with
character sketches Of the crew Of the