A TALE OF THE SEA.
“Cease, rude boreas, blustering railer,
List ye landsmen, all to me,
Messmates hear a brother sailor,
Tell of hardships on the sea.”
—Old Song.
It is almost twenty years ago since
1 shipped in Juneau on the good hali
but schooner Alcedo, Captain Silas
Calder for a halibut voyage to Fred
erick Sound. I was not at that time
a sailor nor a halibut fisherman nor
had I any knowledge of what was
required of a hand on a halibut
si hooner. The principal reason for
my venture into a business of which
1 knew nothing was necessity. I
had learned from my friend Baseball
Casey that three square meals were
served every day on a halibut fish
ing vessel and that extra meals call
ed mug-ups could be had at any
time. To one who had depended for
daily sustenance on the somewhat
uncertain conditions that governed
faro tables and roulette wheels the
piopositioh of plenty of food sounded
very attractive even though a glance
at Captain Calder carried no assur
ance of a soft job.
The Captain was desperately in
need of a crew and Casey, Tray Ny
ers and several others were just as
desperately in need of regular meal -
and so we shipped as able seamen all.
When the north wind blew gently
down Gastineau Channel one after
noon in early fall Captain Calder
•called to the boys on the dock to
cast off the lines and the crew pull
ed them on board with such alacrity
as fooled tlie Captain for the moment
into believing that he had a crew
of tarry salts but this idea was
soon dissipated when he gave orders
to set sails. Base Ball Casey had
made so much talk about sea faring
that the crew all watched his move
ments when orders were given and
so when the captain ordered the
mainsail hoisted Casey grabbed the
jib downhaul and the rest of the
crew followed suit. Right at that
moment the Captain realized that
he was at sea with a crew of land
lubbers who could not tell one side
of the vessel from the other.
1 shall always hold that Captain
Calder was one of the most resource
ful men 1 have ever met. When he
realized that he had shipped a crew
of greenhorns, instead of trying to
return to the dock and put them on
shore, he immediately set about to
learn what any of us knew.
The Captain was a man of massive
build and when he commenced to
ask questions we all huddled into
a group determined on common de
fense.
After innumerable questions the
Captain learned that beyond the op
eration of games of chance his crew
knew but little and so he wisely de
cided to apply our knowledge of
gambling appliances to the working
of his vessel.
He decided that the red and green
watches would he substituted for
the usual port and starboard terms
which was easily remembered by the
crew as corresponding to the colors
or. a roulette table.
Then he adopted the expedient of
fastening playing cards to the rig
ging as well as to the various im
plements on deck. The black cards
in all cases indicated the standing
rigging while the running riging all
carried red spotted cards.
With a fair strong breeze blow
ing across Taku Inlet our duties
were comparatively light as there
was no necessity for hauling in or
easing the sheets, but when just be
low Taku Head we encountered a
southerly wind our labors commenced.
1 was assigned to the watch for
ward and it devolved on me to tend
the jib sheets which were indicated
by the deuce of diamonds to port;
and the tray of clubs to starboard.
During the long night as the old.
Alcedo threshed into the head wind
and came in stays I responded to
the repeated shouts of the Captain
to slack away on the tray of clubs
and haul in on the deuce of dia
monds, or vie eversa. With the old
hooker pounding into the seas which
caused an increasing faintness at my
stomach, it was but natural that I
should ask the Captain to be re
lieved. but he announced that 1 had
shipped for a tough man, and must
see it through. Casey, who claimed
knowledge of seamanship, was given
the main sheet, indicated by the
King of Hearts, to attend to, while
Meyers, by reason of the fact that
he had once served on an Eastport
sloop, attended to all the other ropes
and acted the part of boatswain. If
will not be necessary for me to re
late all the incidents of the voyage,
except that in the early dawn of
the next morning 1 saw what 1 took
to be several drug stores ahead of
us, which later turned out to be
halibut vessels running out to the
1 anks in Frederick Sound. The Cap
tain gave the order to bait up and I
was put to work sticking herring on
the hooks. Later the dories were
put over and the actual process of
fishing commenced.
I will terminate a long story by
saying that in five days we had a
trip of fish and returned to market
at Juneau. Strangely enough, it was
one of the best trips that Captain
Calder had ever made, and although
he offered many inducements for us
to remain with him, we felt that
we had had enough. To this day the
rigging of a vessel signifies to me
the various suits and spots of cards.
—'Contributed.
r-~-v
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