u
8 "Che Conservative.
NEIJKASKA CITV TO MANILA ANJD
KKTUKN.
[ CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK. ]
Wo all rail down to the wharf ; across
the bay iu Kowloon great tongues of
flame were leaping high into the sky ,
showing the city bright against the yel
low hills. Everywhere along our shore
Chinese sainpatns were in motion , and
sbveral of us tried to secure one , but as
wo ran up their ownei s pushed out into
deep water. I heard a bystander say :
"This is only the beginning ; strange
things will happen hero before the year
is gone. "
By this time the English troops were
disembarking on the opposite shore , dis
appearing around the old sea wall. The
fire had burned low , and we could see
nothing but great black clouds hanging
over where the city shone a few min
utes before. Several volleys rang out ,
then all was silent. The next morning
I heard that one hundred and fifty
Ohiuameu had paid the penalty of their
little blaze the night before.
I had now been in China more than a
month ; eonie of this time I had spent
at Canton and among the southern prov
inces. The war in the Transvaal had
just broken out , and I made up my
mind , if possible , to go there. Finan
cially , I had nothing. I called on cap
tains and chief officers of various ships
but in vain ; no one would give me a
chance to work my passage. I went
aboard the German , French , American
and English liners with the same result.
I was in despair , when one morning at
the American consulate I met Captain
Fendleton of the sailing packet , the
"Mary L. Gushing. " The moment I saw
him my hopes began to revive. He was
one of those good-natured , phlegmatic ,
big-hearted individuals the whole world
loves. To him I told my story. Turn
ing to the Chinese clerk he said : "Don't
you think I have room for this boy ? "
The pig headed celestial looked up and
replied : "I can't see what need you
have of him ; he is no saiior. " Captain
Fendleton thought for a moment , then ,
smiling kindly , turned to me and said :
"I will take you ; go over there and sign
the book. " .
Leaving Hong : Kong.
The next morning I gathered up my
few belongings , rolled them in my army
blanket , bid farewell to the landlord ,
and walked down to the Victoria wharf
where I hired a sampam to take me out
to the ship. She was a mile out in the
harbor. All the money I had left was a
large copper cent. I put this into a
string purse , in which I tied many knots.
When we reached "the Mary L. Gush
ing" I gave purse and all to the boat
man , who only felt it and dropped it
into his pocket. I expect that fellow is
saying unkind words about me yet for he
no doubt , thought there was a fifty-cent
piece inside.
As I stepped on board the mate came
up and said , "Get your old clothes on
and come aft here. " I wont into the
forecastle and there , for the first time , I
met my shipmates. There were seven
teen Filipinos and three negroes. I was
iho only white man before the mast ,
but , nevertheless , I was happy for , in
my imagination , I could see a long neck
of land stretching out into the sea and
back in the hills a new town that the
whole world was eagerly watching.
I remember the next morning we were
up before daylight. They gave us salt
meat , hard bread and black coffee for
breakfast. Then with "Ahoy ! my lads ,
the wind blows free , " we went chanting
around the capstan , lifted the ponderous
anchor from , its bed , all covered with
sea grass and barnacles. The ship
slowly drifted to windward. "Aloft ,
every mother's son of you , and unfurl
the 'do gallants , ' " sang out the mate.
At Sea.
I will never forget that morning we
left Hong Kong ; how the monsoon
wind came down from the north , when
ihe sails were set and the ropes in the
rigging twanged merrily , the great sheet
of white canvas bellied out before the
breeze , and the man on lookout singing :
"Sailing , sailing , over the bounding main
For many a stormy wind Hhall blow
Ere Jack comes homo again. "
With the ship leaning half on one side ,
the foam dancing from her bow , we
moved out upon the long voyage over
the high seas.
The crew were divided into two
watches , the port and the starboard
watch. We wore on duty four hours
and off the same length of time. From
four until six and from six until eight
were two short watches , called the firtt
and second dog watch ; so ran the days
and nights away. It seemed one had
only time to eat and sleep , but there is
music in the wind and at times the
tarred ropes seemed to laugh- and they
made one forget the hardships , and some
times , during the second dog watch , we
would all gather under the forecastle
head and hear the mate tell stories of
the sea.
The Second Mate's Story.
One evening we were all there when
he came up , lit his little clay pipe , put
the short , black stem in his mouth and
said :
"Lads , it was just this kind of a day
that I first went to sea , twenty years
ago. I ran away from home and shipped
on a whaler. I am getting to be
an old man now. See ! I am as bald as
a needon block. Come ! touch my- left
side. Do you feel anything there ? "
Taking off his jacket , he showed us a
long scar running from shoulder to hip.
"I got that down in the Java straits , " he
continued. "I left Liverpool , in April ,
1887 , as second mate of the bark
'St. Warren. ' She was loaded with
machinery for Singapore. Everything
went well until we rounded the cape ,
when wo ran into a choppy sea. The
ship was sailing nuder full canvas and
some had to come off. I sent John
Neilson , a big Swede , aloft to furl the
main royals. He started , turned back
and said ' , if I will do it in this
[ jale. ' The words were scarcely out of
Ins mouth before I struck him over the
nose with an iron belaying pin. He
jumped to the rigging , went up like a
monkey , made them fast and came
down , swearing by all that was good
and holy that before wo touched port I
would be stowed away in Davy Jones'
locker. Off the coast of Java a typhoon
struck us. It was just after eight bslls ,
midnight. The port watch had gone be
low. The sky was as black as the ace of
spades. A heavy sea was running and the
rain fell in torrents. I had not been on
deck twenty minutes when the man on
lookout sang out , 'Land to starboard ,
sirs. ' 11 sprang to the wheel and sent
lier hard to port. It was too late. There
came a dull grinding crash. I ran for
ward to find her drifting back from a
coral reef , while the water ran in a big
dole in her bow. 'Man the boats , '
thundered the skipper , and , strange to
say , Neilson , the cabin boy , and myself
were the only ones who launched the
forward boat. The others had already
gone and taken the water casks with
them. The cabin boy ran aft , broke
open the steward's room and brought
out a case of wine , while I secured some
salt meat and ship's bread. We had
ecarcely left her side when the 'St.
Wai ren' took her final plunge. Morning
dawned cold and misty ; land was no
where in sight. We were tired out and
thirsty. The next thing I remember
was a sharp pain in my left side. Neil-
son had me down in the bottom of the
boat trying to stick a marlin spike be
tween my ribs , and he would have suc
ceeded had not the cabin boy , at that
moment , struck him a heavy blow over
the head with an empty bottle. Neilson
staggered and fell overboard. He sank
and never came up again. To make a
long story short , we drifted about for
twenty days , catching a little rain water
and at last made land on the Java coast ,
where an American ship , seeing our
distress signal , came and took us off.
When we reached New York we found
that we were the only survivors of the
ill-fated-'St. Warren. ' That cabin boy
today is Captain M. of one of the largest
White Star liners running between New
York and Liverpool. "
Malay.
The sixth day out from Hong Kong we
sighted land. It was the east shore of
Malay , and then we sailed through
mysterious waters , into which many a
good ship went never to be heard of
again , for , during the early part of the
last century the notorious East India
pirates held complete mastery over these
waters and woe to the merchant-man
they sighted.
Singapore.
Next we passed Singapore , encircled
by a low , dense , impregnable jungle , and