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Show ROUSED SAILOR'S IRE CAPTAIN RATHER RESENTED UN-MERITED UN-MERITED REBUKE. Forced to Lighten Ship In a Hurry, It Wat a Case of Heaving Overboard tho First Cargo Reached, a He Could Prove. Soventy or olghty years ago tho only regular passenger vessels from Lou don to Now York woro tho Amcrlcnn Dlnck X llnere, Capt. Joslah Joshua Champion was tho oldest and best-known best-known man on tho lino. Ho did not beltovo In hurricanes or cyclones, and when ho heard of ships bolng dismasted dis-masted in them, always attributed such disasters to rotten rigging or spars. Flro was tho ono thing which tho captain rather dreadod, nnd at sea, according to him, "it had ono point In Its favor over flro ashoro, namely, that water In a gonoral way was plenty and handy." "But," tho captain always added, "my carpentor Is u smart man, and spends most of his sparo tlmo between decks among tho atccrago people And no mistake about It, tho yarns ho spins down thcro about his escapes from ships aflro aro not calculated to niako them careless about lights." When a. young man, tho captain was onco "pooped" In running too long bo-foro bo-foro a heavy gale, when something started about tho storn-post, and ho wns forced to Jettison somo of tho cargo In order to lighten his ship aft and get at tho leak. Ho was loaded wltii flour, cheeses, apples, and Amorlcan clocks. Tho clockH unfortunately wero tho first things that could bo got at In consequent con-sequent over two hundred cases of clocks went to tho bottom boforo tho chcoso boxes wero reached. Uo lightened his ship nearly a hundred hun-dred tons aft In'twelvo hours, somo of tho steorago passengers keeping tho pumps going whllo tho crow handed hand-ed up clocks and cheeses. "No, sir," said Captain Champion, "I guess I didn't havo to coax them pas-sengero pas-sengero any. I Just told 'cm thoy'd got to pump or drown 1 Hut when 1 got liomo again In Now York, and my ownors asked, 'How was It, Mr. Cham-plon, Cham-plon, that It did not occur to you to select something of less valuo than thum timepieces?' I felt pretty small. I only said: "'Well, gentlemen, I rather wish you had boon thoro yourselves, to pick and cIioobo that night.' "Yes. sir, that riled mo, specially as my wlfo'was with mo that voyage, and her own prlvato planny was ono of tha first things that went overboard." |
