Show DAY DAX syl SCENE F I 1 ON THE DOCK WHEN A OCEAN STEAMER MAKES HER START some gome of f the amusing and elderts witnessed ou on the wharf ob ft day when a well known steamship fam hip Is about to sall sail A miling bailing bayat day at the docks of f any of our huge ocean going boats is an inter esting estin gand and amusing occasion the dock Is nothing more than a long shed stretch 1 ing g out ont several hundred feet into tho the river with two offices on on either side and littered over with casks bales iund and cases of merchandise either uncalled ral ledfor for from the last steamer in or waiting for the next outgoing bemel and the bag baggage gaget I 1 it comes down on oil the transfer wagons and on the hotel and carriage footboards foot boards mountains of it some of it is labeled cabin 1 but most of it hold and you v busee see it run up bp the baggage gangway and swung out oat over the open hatchway there is a rattle and crash at the donkey en engine gine i as these american boxes are consigned 0 o u i depth below W next ext in importance is the hand baggage and this consists not only of bags but overcoats rugs and wraps of every conceivable description the inex inexperienced perl traveler has been told that they weigh all the trunks in europe and charge accordingly so eo he loads himself down with bundles and boxes galore forgetting that the first principle of a successful going abroad is to travel in light marching order it is ia surprising too how much enthusiasm thusia sm can be kindled in the bre breasts ats of your friends when you yon are going abroad in fact you never can tell the measure of your own popularity until an occasion of this kind when they combine to give you a bendoff sendoff sen doff often going so far as to hire a tug and as an band of music to accompany the party going abroad as far down the bay as the chartered steamer can keep pace with the cunard white star guiou or inman liner or what is more to the point when the bendoff sendoff sen doff party reach a few of the white caps and the in rolling swell from the lower bay some lends friends have come all smiles miles and cheers others lachrymose and full of 0 sighs anil and there by the rail is ia a party of five silent and constrained amid so eo much light heartedness and hilarity it is ia mother and father and two sisters the brother is leaning against a pile of steamer chairs and the wondering eager look that brilliant sunken eye and hectic flush on the pale wan cheek tell why he when too late is going abroad and how mazy many times some peonie will kiss each otherl and how many last messages and frequently too commissions which mean an infraction of uncle sams custom laws lawa at the end of ithe e re return ra trip rip are exe exchanged ang at tho 0 last mom moment antl in the midst of all this turmoil and crowding 7 and pushing to and fro the old timers with their record of many voyages look on in amused disgust and wonder why some people can make uch such a fuss fusa about such a little thing as going abroad A fortune too is spent on flowers huge baskets set pieces wreaths bouquets and cut flowers ad infinitum cover the tables of social hall and make the already close atmosphere heavier and more unbearable yet by their sw sweet beet perfumes to me this floral extravagance me means a ridiculous ns waste of money in a day they have wilted and drooped and are thrown overboard here comes an excited group up the companionway you he hear a confused jumble between man and woman about keys left on her bureau and you are conscious she has left the keys nf her teamer steamer trunk behind the man fairly shoots hoots down the gangway leaps into the nearest cab and begins a wild drive for those keys meanwhile the woman haunts the entrance to the gangway and five minutes after the man has gone she ehe finds the missing key securely stowed away in her pocketbook her troubles of going abroad are beginning early I 1 now that ponderous whistle deafens the ears of all on board there are final tears and smiles and a rush down the gangway by the well dressed nob ob and then some climb on the nearby cases or gather on the outer end of the dock to catch the last glimpse of th the e s hip handkerchiefs aretiel are tied to canes a and nd parasols there is much cheering and last farewells one young man calls out in a stentorian voice give my love to maryl whereat there are cheers and laughter and now at the far end of the dock there is a rattle and rumble brumb 10 and two cabs come tearing along one contains a belated passenger who has just time to scramble on board the other the man who went after the key and as the lady holds up the missing article a conciliatory smile upon her face that man sinks back upon a bale of goods looking unutterable things the key to the situation is plain to everybody now the planks are down and slowly and silently the huge black ship tha seems so high out of the water that she looks like a great warehouse afloat backs out of her dock and is soon in midstream slowly yet she swings around ard and finally squares away her nose noe pointing for the narrows A moment menashe she jenis to ban hang and to be t taken ocen aback by tle the tide then then forges ahead the flag is dipped then hauled down from the flagpole on the dock and those on board are at last going abroad Harp harpers rs weekly |