A TALE OF THE MERCHANT NAVY

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 282, 2 June 1909, Page 8

A TALE OF THE MERCHANT NAVY

. —^-^ _ \ A remarkable instance of resource is related in connection with the voyage, of an. American vessel commanded by a certain Captain Theaker. There was a large number of passengers on board in addition to a valuable cargo of cotton. Three days out from Bombay the captain had good reason t6 believe, that the "cotton was smouldering. Any knowledge of such a. catastrophe would cause a general panic. It was impossible to put back in the teeth of a north-east monsoon, so the -commander quietly prepared for the inevi "table. The passengers, bored from lack of occupation, were amused and interested when Captirin Theaker proposed to play at having a fire on board. He said that they Mould go through all the manoeuvres as if a conflagration was really taking place. The passengers fell in Avith the suggestion eagerly.- The boats were got ready and provisions were put in, with water, sails, and compasses. The seats in the various boats were allotted, and the passengers , entering into the spirit of the game completely, made up bundles of the valuables they considered the most precious. Thus, quietly but quickly, the "joke" was carried out to the full. ( When all was ready the captain calmly told the players that the game was in earnest, and that the ship was really on fire, with the flames making' towards the powder magazine. The boats were speedily got off, and in less than an hour the explosion occurred. The boats Avere one thousand miles from land, but the weather remained fair, and in fourteen days all were landed in safety.