Evening star., 1939-02-19
Building Chinese Junk Is an Effective Path to Insanity
But Richard Ho!iburtons Croft Fy ofuse
Equipped With Finest n Hong Kong

glance" Of the eyes is black. On
either side Of the poop q Chinese
artist has painted q ferocious red
and yellow dragon 20 feet long, not
counting the curves!
Our foresail has been dyed yell
low; the mizzensail, vermilion. As
an extraordinary gesture toward
simplicity, we've left the main sail
white-although here in China, 1t
would ordinarily be colored a rich
russell.
,, One-Legged Bird.
The Sea Dragons stern is my
special pride and joy. Surely it is
the most gorgeous stern ever seen
on ship since the Chinese began
to abandon their ancient art of
hand decorating their junks. For-
merly every type of junk had its
distinctive style and color of paint
work; but good specimens of the
traditional decoration are becoming
rarer every year,. On the Sea
Dragons stern, the central section
is brilliant with huge painting
of a Phoenix-the Chinese good
luck bird. The brightness of his
feathers makes up, perhaps, for the
fact that the native painter gave
him only one leg. Above the Phoe-
nix is the ships name and port
Sea Dragon, Hong Kong-in the
great gold Chinese characters. Be-
low the bird is scene from Chinese
mythology, with Oriental angels rid
ing through the clouds on peacocks.
If all this sounds like a circus
wagon, blame not me, but the last
hundred generations of Chinese
junk builders-for the most careful
reserach proved that this style, and
none other, is proper for the Ningpo
type of junk which we have built
for our voyage. And far from fear
ing to appear super -guady, we only
hope that some of the paint will
stick until we reach San Francisco.
However, the paint Job isn't our
greatest worry. Nor, paradoxically,
are the long weeks we must spend
out of sight of land. The most per-
ilous part of our cruise will probably
come on the first two or three days.
With the Chinese coast guard driven
to cover by the war, pirates swarm
in the waters around Hong Kong
and all though the China Seas.
Not day has passed, during recent
months. but the local papers have
reported at least one pirate attack
on junk-with an uncomfortable
amount of gunflre, robbery and
death. In Hong Kong's courts, pi-
racy trials are as frequent as cases
Of opium smuggling, child-slave
holding, and overtime parking. With
our 2 tons Of food aboard. our radio,
engine. sails, gear. and possibilities
of being ransomed, we would be
a rich prize for the sea bandits
and we take it for granted that they
will know the hour we set sail.
In anticipation of attack. we have
armed the junk with plenty Of rifles
and shotguns. However, if We find
we can't Outright them for they
frequently attack hundred strong)
we can turn on the engine-and run
ingloriously to safety.
Well be IL aboard, all American:
The captain, engineer. radioman,
seven seaman including myself,
cook, and cabin boy
And because one solitary mascot
would make the total 13, which
superstitious seamen regard with
horror, we're taking along two mas
cots-a pair of white Chinese kit
tens. This means that the Sea
Dragon will be responsible for IL
souls and Counting the cats 80 lives.
(Copyrisht. 1939.)