Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-07-18

led me cabbage soup, hSh,
caviar. black bread and vodka.
But most OF his time the port
captain spent aboard the
Pioneer. enjoying our timed
beef. butter, jam, and cognac.
HARD-BITTEN CREW
Finally, the Russian crews
for both vessels arrived. There
were II men for the Pioner
and more than 40 for the
Lososi.
Hailing from the Yenisei
country in Siberia. from Arch
angelsk and from various
point of the kola Peninsula.
hey were an adventurous
cooking. boisterous, hard-bit-
en- lot.
They filled the ships with
,leeful shouts. admired their
leanliness and newness. tested
heir outlandish fixtures, spat
on the scrubbed decks. jumped
on the mattresses with their
mud-caked boots. banged
doors. scattered the contents
Of tool chests, turned the
shining galley into a chaotic
mess, cut the leather straps
from the wheel house win
dows, and then settled down
in comfortable groups around
the inevitable vodka bottles.
which appeared out of the
shapeless bundles they had
brought with them. In an
hour the two new ships were
transformed into battere
Warehouses.
The Russian captain as
signed TO bring the Pioner 10
Siberian waters was a blond
youngster. not more than 81
years old. ! surprised him in
the act of dumping my be-
longings out of the door of
the captains stateroom.
II now take charge of this
ship" he announced. There
fore this cabin Is mine"
KEYS DEMANDED
When / demanded that he
put my things back and find
other quarters for himself
until / had made arrange
ments for my return passage
10 Germany, his cockiness SUBJ
sided.
Just then the radio oper-
ator. a fellow with Mongol
features and immense shout
ders, reminded him that his
crew was hungry, and that he
should request the surrender
of the Pioneers storeroom keys
from me.
give me the keys" he
said. I'VE need meat, we
need -four, we need canned
goods"
l knew that if l gave him
the keys, our stores would GER
tainly evaporate, and l needed
the remaining provisions TO
feed my men during their
voyage home.
Nothing doing" / retorted.
After a lengthy squabble.
he sent some of his men TO
fitch a sackful of Goldfish from
the nearest shed. Soon the
once sleek Pioneer smelled of
fish and grease from bridge to
bilges.
Il now take charge of this
ship" the Russian skipper re-
peated. "You and your crew,
you can CO."
/ requested him to sign a
paper stating that he had re-
ceived the ship Pioneer and all
inventory aboard in good con-
dition. He signed the receipt
with a flourish, without
troubling TO check on the con-
dition of ship and gear.
The same performance took
place aboard the Lososi, whose
new master was a Lett with
a long reddish mustache.
ACT LIKE CHILDREN
I and my crew packed our
bags and the Russians, happy
with vodka, carried our lug
gage TO the railway station,
shouting and singing all the
way. AS we marched through
the morass, Comrade Lausen
marveled:
These Russians up here
look like men, but act like
Overgrown children. We could
have sold everything movable
I'm Kiel and Tronheim, and
delivered two empty ships
"ViVs dbu hVhc VI CHI WOutu
have been the wiser"
My engineer spoke the truth.
Already some costly nautical
instruments had disappeared,
and the electric range in the
galley was out Of order.
The 200 tons of woodpulp
we had picked up in Norway,
with the aid of scabs, be-
longed to a consignment
needed in Leningrad. But this
valuable cargo now lay on the
wharf in a disconsolate heap.
not even covered by tar
paulins. and cloud-banks in
the sky promised rain.