Show 0 f i ADVENTURERS ADVENTURERS' i. i iJ fr v C LU B i. i J t A t A pt I IV V V J 1 I l I Nearly early the Last U Round Up p By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter A AVAST VAST there mates I mean Hold em cowboy Gosh I dont don't know what kind of lingo a sea-cowboy sea uses but I know the kind I would have us used cd if Id I'd been aboard the S. S S. S Vin in mid-Atlantic mid that wild l f March night with Peter Mullan l and OO head of plunging terrified terrified terri tern fied fled cattle Pete came so close to going on the L Last sl Up Round or to Davy y Jones' Jones locker that It wasn't funny Incidentally the S S. S S. S has since slipped quietly down the stays to Dav Davy Jones' Jones locker er so maybe she was just playing ing a n rehearsal for Pete Pete s says are not exactly floating palaces In fact they're generally ma over made tubs The was no exception to the rule Her under- under decks were just a mass of cattle stalls with a narrow passage passage- Just wide enough to allow alloy a man to pass running pass running the length of the ship Pete two other greenhorn cattlemen and an nn were nursemaids s to the steers on the ship and this Isn't such A a bad wa way to earn a trip to Europe unless Europe unless you hit a bad storm An And then Its It's awful Old Ship Groans Under Waves The storm hit the when she was out in the middle le of ot the Atlantic ocean and amI the old ship shIll groaned plunged plunge and rolled rolle on her beam ends cuds at an alarming angle L 1 The crowded cattle seasick cattle seasick and mad with terror terror shrieked shrieked and kicked at every pitch of the ship and Pete says It was plain bedlam between decks But storm or no storm the helpless beasts had to be taken care o of and Pete and his shipmates were right down among them doing the best they could Monster waves wa plunged In through the open upper-deck upper hatch and the men and cattle swished around knee deep In sea water Now if youve you've never been on a you are probably wondering why they didn't close the hatch and keep the water out but the trouble with that Is that It also keeps the air out and If youve you've ever been on one of those loaded beef ferries you know what that means The stench and heat neat from the tightly packed steers would 1 Kill a man maD with a gas mask gas mask on I Giant Wave Threatens Death to All AU So the hatch was left lert open Ollen an and the water pou poured ed in and the good ship wallowed In the high seas like a strung hamstrung calf at a rodeo It was four o'clock In the morning Pete S1 says S 'S when the crisis came The men were Ia ladling lin out fresh water to the frantic cattle when a monACi raonA mono mon or orA ACi r p pA A Stampede at Sea Is Really Something ster wave ware slapped the wear weary side of the ship and Pete thought It was all over Pete was standing In the narrow passageway way with his mates when that wave ave struck The ship keeled over to a degree 45 angle and flung the cattle in heaps to the port side of their stalls She paused there as though tr trying Ing to decide whether or not net to turn bottom side sille up an and then righted herself and dipped almost as far on the starboard sl side e Wham I Those tons of living ll steaks steals shot the shot the shoots across their stalls and hit the detaining bars with a deafening crash Some of the stalls held but some of them didn't and when Pete got to his feet and looked around him hiO he forgot all about the storm for coming right at him along the narrow passageway way WAS CERTAIN DEATH Now a stampede on dry land Is about as dangerous a thing as you youcan youcan youcan can find lind and I 1 for one dont don't want any part of it t but a stampede at nt sea In In a storm storm storm-Is Is really something to write THe borne home about a Pete sa says s 's It was n a sight he be will willI never forget The maddened steers Insane with terror terror came came splashing along the tile way passage at amazing speed tongues speed tongues hanging out of their mouths and spee open e eyes ejes es starling starting out of vf their heads Men and Cattle Caught in Death One of the lea leaders ers fell tel but the rest never pause paused as they trampled 7 to death eath In the foam beneath their poun pounding hoofs Pete let out a yell and tried to get out of the way but the foreman was In front of him and the foreman was a fat man and his slow moving bulk completely filled the passage way Pete fete sa says s he felt feU like a rat In a trap those trap those few seconds s that he ire stood there unable to move JO one wa way or the other The foreman was an un ol timer old tImer an and when lien he hurdled over oyer a barrier Into a stall tall he he sa saved cd n not it only his own life but Petes Pete's because a as he jumped he felt the hot breath of oC the leading steer on his cheek Well IVell sir jumping Into one of those narrow stalls with a frantic steer for fot a cabin mate was like llIe jumping from the lire fr frying ing pan Into the fire Every time the boat rocked the steer teer would go careening dangerously ly around smashing around smashing against one side and then the theother other with other with Pete doing his best to keep his feet One false step on that slippery floor and this story would never have been told Luckily f for r Pete and his shipmates not us as many ninny of the had pe as it seemed Sea Was Singing Last Round The bellowing procession down the way passage was only about ten strong nu and when It passed the men all jumped out of oC the stalls and waded after their charges That chase rambled all aU over the ship and if you want some excItement excitement excite excIte- ment went Pete sa says s 's try rounding up cattle on a ship at sea Every time the cowboys would corner one of the critters why that floating pasture would turn on end and men and cattle would slide kicking into the scuppers Those big waves waves Pete says sure seemed to be he singing The Last Up Round for him But th the storm finally eased up and the cattle were roun rounded ed up and led back to their repaired stalls with no serious casualties to t the men There were a lot of broken legs howe however hower r among the steers The animals were destro destroyed ed to end their suffering au and as the good rood goodship goodship ship steadied id i'd on her path they were burled buried at sea An And Ind so bo boys s 's and girls ends the saga G O Service |