THEY TURNED OUT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7824, 18 December 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

THEY TURNED OUT.

Thirty years ago, although the fir«t North River steamboats greatly facilitated the travelling between Albany and New York, as they generally insured a passage of twe»>tyfour hours or a little more, they were frequently so crowded that those who had secured berths had very little comfort during the night; and it often occurred that on going to bed the berth would be found occupied by some iutsrloper, in which case an appeal to the captain was necessary. On board the Chancellor Livingston tho ejection of the intruder was a short process— the robust frame, the voice potential, and the determined aspect of Commodore Wiswall convinced the unlawful occupant of the prudence of immediately vacating the premises; but Captain Roorback, of the Paragon, was a small man, of mild voice, of pleasant countenanoe, with no belligerent, features, and his mandates were not so readily obeyed. On one occasion we were going down in the Paragon when ahe was very much crowded, and at the usual time of turning in, on drawing the curtains of our berth, we found a very ugly-looking customer rolled into it, boots and all, on the outside of the quilt. We made complaint to Captain Roorback, and while doing so two other passengers came similarly aggrieved. The captain promised redress, and beginning with us, he drew the curtains of our berth, and thus addressed the man inside :

•'The berth you are in, sir, has been secured by this gentleman, and you must give it up." The intruder looked at both of us deliberately, and replied: " You and the gentleman may go to thunder ! I have got possession, and 1 mean to keep it." " You will not give it up, then I" responded the captain, 41 No," was the reply. " Call Kam," said the captain to one of his waiters. " Call two Sams, if you will," growled the recueant. In a few minutes the waiter returned, and with him the cook, a darkey of six feet two, of herculean proportions. "Will you come out, sir 2" said the captain. '' No," was again the answer. **^' But the intruder catching a glare at Sam before he could step forward, " Yes, I will," he added and bounced out. " Any more, ear ?" asked Sam. "Yes," said tho captain, " there are two in the opposite berths." "No, there im't," cried two voices, ae a man tumbled out of each. The sight of Sam was enough ; and really the hug of a grizzly bear would scarcely have been more formidable than the clutch of the gigantic ebony.