" LORDS OF THE SEA."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

" LORDS OF THE SEA."

INSURANCE GAMBLERS AND ' :■' „ ' BRITISH SHIPS. ■- Mb.*- Edward Noble, whoso "Cain(INSURANCE GAMBLERS . AND BRITISH SHIPS. Mb. Edward Noble, whose "GiainCarriers" was the best seu-story of recent years, exposing with fiery pen the over- ; loading of the grain-ships which feed the British nation, has again entered the lists j frft against the immense gambling which, under' the existing laws, enables men • without an ounce of property at stake to N'jvhavd a'great financial interest in the loss | » of British ships. This hew book is ;v ."Lords of The Sea" (Methuen, London). Incidentally it may bo remarked that I . the background of the story is more than «• - - weak, the construction of an old-fashioned •;<:;" shipowner who scorns the new ways of fi^' driving and unscrupulous competitors, yet does not know why his own vessels are - gambled ' upon as "lame ducks, being ii' ; artificial and ..inconclusive. This shipowners' son falls in love with a captain s !'." daughter,' whose real , father is the shipowner's unscrupulous competitor. \ The ihipowner's son is as artificial and inconi;v,i" clusive as his father, for he is afraid to '•: - announce his betrothal while the girl is i> .'poor, though difficulties vanish like snow when the unscrupulous competitor makes her rich. Finally, the = villainous insur--1 / ance gambler who lurks •;. in the background is unmasked, tha weak-kneed lover '•■•, is rescued by a liner from the " lameduck" • which drowns the captain, and the J,;'. , story ends as happily as one could ex-

"poet. But Mr. Noble 'cannot, spoil his own 'f, " books, however much". tries. For;he knows the • sea and the sea-life, however uttle he knows of men and women ashore, " »nd when ho tells -us of its terrors and K its wonders and its horrors and its romance, ho presents living pictures which ■ thrill' the; sympathetic reader. As lor tinance, he presents living pictures which thrill the sympathetic reader. As tar example : ON' THK LAME DT7CK— " He watched at this" moment the method of the Atlantic 1 busy removing lameduck Ailsa from its surface. She was a blot. ■•'J She ; squirmed and could not fight. ;: She ,disgraced the blue. The Atlantic tent its forces upon her—seas which could j ! . crush, winds which could bend, squalls • which ran now white-lipped to the attack. It was angry at the persistence of this lama one. It raged magnificently at the subtlety ; : of those who fought her, who ■ ■ sought to ease her of some part of that load she ; had .. swallowed in New York. „c "A glutton! The Atlantic had never learned pity She writhe ! Pish! -It is jv the law. , . 4 "Steel, ivon, wood—it matters not at all. Wha'rt ships of steel or iron or wood have . played their part, the first gale Qwhich is » sale makes mock of cozenry ;■'■•}: which sends them forth and dubs them ' ', fit, lest otherwise some great or small -holder .shall* be mulct of dividends. " Steel, iron, wood— matters nothing. " ■ A sale is no new thing. It stands t honestly for what it is—for force. We know that foive. It is a constant, But steel or pf iron* which has been tinned by corrosion has no force. It has no constant. It has no right to evist., " Therefore the , Atlantic was angry and sent a gale to. sweep the seas .of lameduck Ailsa, staggering with a deck-load to feed England.- ' - ■- " Mailships which carry passengers and \: < specie can face these ■ gales and laugh; •v ;but the trowps which carry only -cargo '; and tsailors, 1 when "they face - them, face ; the wriggling end of all unfitness:,,,.■/. " There asms > suddenly 6 to; : that watch■■;.~\~in": rata'-an appalling whirl of . wind and ■ sea; aldiptofitho dim rail-he saw into the Hide of .a mountain which towered • above ; them; a swift cy • from the people who were in the we' sM rush for the riggimr, which sbm\ cached and some Tailel to reach— c • the heels of that rush a deadly ; thud, a blow J delivered : «?-il:; down the grey side of the Ailsa lifted hi defence.. I•-In "A crash « followed. A rasping, terrible ; ii " A crash followed. A rasping, terrible sound. It might have been thunder so - ; >awiftlv it- broke and died—then came silence j the silence 'of a stricken J .ship ■; . whoso engines have gone to sleep, lain "■ down,' given up al» further attempt to fight ; the silence of; an instant obedience which acknowledges ; defeat. ,;' - f. # " If anyone called time, aone heard it; It anvono moved to assist > the • fallen " . champion, non- saw him. The ring was there, misty, yellow, filled;; withi driving ipmmv The combatants v ere. there— Vi> the arena 1 was void of'watchers, empty; ! V+fi-- ; Vily'>tho birds awake—and they swooped f ;-.; ihrieking over a new litter flung shame- ; lessly to the seas." AND ON TUB CIIKAT LINER. :S> ; .The engineers, bo it understood, had managed to rig up a " wireless'' , on the f,' sinking ship. So: ■ ■ , •A giant of the seas lay beside the ■ d ying "Ailsa, her * deck tiora, pricked with ■ lights, Ailsa, her deck tiara downier lights, a glow radiating all. down her im- ».",: ■'■'" mense side. She halted, flashing a signal j lamp iwhich said. in the Morse 1 language, 'What ship is 1 that?' and again, on res ceiving no answer, 'What ship is that!' ' " At two o'clock a message had arrived lo that racingviuailship which;had stayed Hi© hand of tho operator up=there in his ihut\between- the Jut-Dels; He could mot the hand of the operator up there in his hut between the funnels. He could not lead it. The pitch was strange. He tuned and caught -th* beat—CD. Q.— 1: .'signal which brings all sailors to attention. '* Thereafter vhe ;;Mauretaiiia r steamed iilifc one threading:a>maze. She met a }$;'< .■ ship .'of the Atlantic Transport Service on " thej same errand, heard her story, and '&? '&' again kicked off raoro l determined" than before. The A.T.3. steamed one way, tho Cunarder the other. ; Theyi sent out mew-'-jeswhich cxackled in-the dark, but ob'*med no reply—only i that monotonous call—C. U.Q.—and faintly once, a hint at the position,,1' The operator, his head strapped' like one in -a • tttrgical ward, i telephoned4the figures,to bridg o ..-In five minutes the n*\vig'itors ;ad deciphered their:meaning, I "Thereafter 'he wa-i heading in a new lil-e one threading a maze. She met a ship of the Atlantic Transport Service on the* same errand, heard her story, and again kicked off moru determined than before. The A.T.3. steamed one way, the Cunarder the other. They sent out mev'.-'-jes which crackled in the dark, but ob'jt-med no reply—only that monotonous call—C.U.Q.—and faintly once, a hint at the position,/ "The operator, his head strapped like one in a nurgical ward, telephoned the figures to *Ji* bridg«. In five minutes the navigators .ad deciphered their meaning, and the Mauretania wai heading in a new : direction. Then came the flick of a rocket scratching the sky, far off, and again a small alteration in the course. Now the great ship stood back-in a- squall, searching the dim blotch which lay under the lee. She showed no signal, nor required any. Four red funnels black against the blackness; tiers of lighted decks; enormous' bulk—these things proclaimed her name and nationality. One ij|!,it of; whom ', the": British * people s* should;, .be proud— antithesis of that shorn crock which lurched at her feet; the antithesis of the -vast bulk of that shipping upon which England battens. - The' squall passed hissing to leeward, and tho giant manoeuvred for position. Site moved down wind and halted super--1 bly across the -track : of the seas, and placed "a smooth",between her side and that'ofthe Ailsa. • Again, with, scandalous persistence, came"4he question from her bridge—'What ship is that I' "Silence on track of the seas, and placed " a smooth" between her side and that of the Ailsa. Again, with.scandalous persistence, came the question from her bridge—'What ship is that?' " Silence on the Ailsa Craig. O'Sullivan busy .fashioning a lamp, which should blink —swearing at his ineptitude. "* Ship ahoy!' "'Hallo?' came. in answer. . "'What ship is that!' ;,: And again faintly, quivering .on the guests, the reply , reached— , '• \ '"Ailsa Craig.' ; 4 "'What is: the matter ?!he questioned. ■ " ' Water-loggedsinking,' the reply stilted. 'Will you take us off?' "' Right !',• came the voice in the megaphone. 'We stand ', by !' ; ft';;' "Again a squall drove over them, and the great ship moved off, her pipes trilling the call to stations. "' AH hands"! All hands!' came !ing the call to stations. ';Clear away *'' Ail hands 1 All hands!' came hoarsely through the uproar. ' Clear away the boats. Numbers three and five. Life- , belts! Shake a leg " ' i "Then in the dark upon the boat deck, 1 seventy fefct poised above the swirl, a voice .-cried for volunteers, and Marion '', thrilled at the sound; „ . ' V\ }.'■/„ " The boat's crew stood forward an one ['' t ■'' man. l ■ '■ ' ' . ' "•Good!' said the officer, 'That's what I expected. Get into your belts and Hand by, number threes-*'

Blackness, hail and wind. : A roar as of the 'i steam let r loose; - the \ rigging bowed and screaming: smoke driving at a clean ; angle ■.": from •• the funnels. , Dark still. The brazen streak painted out by the squall. ; The Atlantic flashed, speeding its forces, ; hustling; to rally them. . Five * minutes. Ten minutes. No Ailsa Craig visible at all. Her red lamps blot led out. -The dim, phosphorescent lot. < .which'/had clung to her, vanished."

SONS OF THE sea." , "The squall ,moved off, ..nd the dawn peeped out to discover what had come to those children', of the; sea during" that blurred arid magnificent onslaught. J Tragedy? It might, well be so. A holocaust? Only God's - hand could stay, it. •Our luck,' we call it, with a strut of egotism, blinded perhaps by the recollection of deeds. • > /> ■ :y ■••';. "Light fell on the Mauretania's decks, a dim. green-tinged ' glare which suggested the pit, and showed ,;those who -stood upon them the Mauretania's boat-no longer swinging-low with oars uplifted, but pushing out across that .pathway where - rolled the seas. ■■•*■;•',:--

" It fell on the Ailsa. too, and showed her lurching; a ship of Liverpool which already had given pain to • the underwriters ; but which surveyors had examined and found fit. She lay by the stern, the oil pipes blocked, the seas again creaming in triumph— to flick off one by those who remained so deftly to fight them. i , V : ; " But the boat drew onward, six men rowing, an officer standing in the stern to keep,; her .straight.; ';' ;A ~ .'. f .' -J " The boat would win ! V Someone shouted the words? arid a sea ran swiftly to challenge them. The boat was a cockleshell—one it could swaUow in a moment of time; one it could smash. The cockleshell wriggled on a greenback which passed * under" her • and rose foaming to lap the gunwales. ■". Steady ! Good boys!' said the officer. He bore on his sweep and the cockleshell emerged salted, a winner by a neck. ■'„■, "The sea ; rolled on, and fell crashing on the dim quarter which loomed still in the distance. At this a wild shout of delight up from the people on that halted mailship, and Marion clenched her , teeth, resolute to see. "It was magnificent. She desired to cry out. but dared nothing. It was impossible to do anything. She could only watch. Some one on the lower deck struck *up a stave' of 'Sons .of the Sea,' and the crowd joined in, standing otherwise silent, amazed, tears leaping to blind 'them. "And up there on the bridge which dominated them the Mauretania's commander calmly ordered his ship so that her bulk lay between the seas and the boat. Oil mysteriously appeared, spray - >ing in long jets upon the .water, and down that path a second boat moved, precisely as the first. I "No hurry. No shouting. Calm, orderly, disciplined. The attitude of our mailship seamen when facing disaster. The attitude) of drilled and disciplined Britons wherever you may find them with their backs to the wall. *' They -reached the Ailsa Craig amidst a gust of cheering; picked off some of those ■ souls who had fought her, and crept slowly, home in th# teeth of the seas." ; '" ;'';, ', • '. U '■,'"■'.. OTHER PUBLICATIONS. ■ " Grow Towards the Light." by Mrs. Henry A. Douby (Robertson . and Co., Sydney), is a temperance story, filled with in- ; cident and > argument which will : appeal to all who wish to become conversant with the temperance movement in Australia, from the prohibitionist point of view. It concludes by saying: — ■-

"All over the world there is a great awakening movement in favour of suppressing i the drink trade. Year by year the results have become .so appalling that the moat thoughtless *'* are t, forced * to look :.. the question in the face. -Shall intoxicating drink govern the civilised world, or .the civilised world ■ govern "intoxicating drink? During* the past 30' years seven and a-half millions of human beings have, in Europe alone, died ':', of , alcoholism, and in Great I Britain at the present moment over a million children are being brought up in similar i surroundings to; those amid which the little, Brown girl lived., , "The statistics of Life Insurance Societies for the past 60 years disclose startling evidence as, to the detrimental effects of alcohol .on the human", body. ; Side by side have been kept tabulated returns of total abstainers aiid moderate drinkers, until now the , fact is incontrovertible \ that the one has' on the average three and a-half more years [expectation of life than the , otuer; while the returns of Friendly Societies show that the health of the average total abstainer is far superior to that of the average moderate drinker. The medical faculty too, as a whole, take quite a different view of the value of alcohol, both in health and sickness, to that held by their brethren of half i a century ago. Then it was the usual thing to prescribe it as a. food and stimulant; ... now, on the contrary, it is declared to be a poison and depressant."

The last issue[ of the! Triad, an excellent number, contains a graphic account of the Grand [National Eistodfodd of Australasia, held •at Ballarat. ' We are told i that the editor "Noticed with regret that the Australian verse { recited at Ballarat was of the grim and lugubrious : type. It seemed to deal : almost exclusively with crimes and criminals; of various kinds, with occasional references; to blacks and horses; the keynote, pessimism unrelieved. Australia should be able to do better than that.";:

"Nancy and Her Small Holding," by Miss E. : Boyd ; Bayly (Jarrold and Sons, 10 and 11. Warwick Lane, London, E.C.), is |ia [publication ? intended to popularise among Christian people the cultivation of small holdings. ■<•> Although written in England, of-England there are touches which show that the whole world is akin: —

"The lamp had been lighted a long time before Mrs. Knight returned. , ! "Just what 1 knew," she said, sitting down wearily. , " The feed " ; .a the meadow was as poor as poor, with all these cold nights—grass couldn't spring upand the poor beasts were always with their heads over the fence,- looking at the green stuff growing up. That grew! trust Armstrong for that, if there was any mortal thing 'ud make though 'twas backward for the time of year. Well, the cows did no harm a-looking, till one post as was getting a bit rotten must have begun to give. All the rest were soundl've looked 'em over, every one; but that one got loose, and when the cows felt it giving, be sure they leaned harder, and felt it give more. That would be quite enough to set them leaning harder and harder all along; they must have, for all those wires have got bent, so 'as they dragged on the posts and pulled 'em this way and that by degrees, till at last ' the weak post went right down, and the cows got over into Armstrong's stuff and there 'twas!" \

,"A Bush Calendar," by Amy E. Mack (Angus and Robertson, Ltd., Sydney), deals with Australian fauna and flora, and deals with them well. There are 42 illustrations from Nature, and the story of the Australia year is told simply and sympathetically. Here is a page from an Australian December:— -v \ [ ■ ', :-:;:;";;' [. ■■"■•.

; "Amongst the leaves around me I knew quite well that some young things were hiding, and judging from the fuss they were making, were evidently regarding me with terror. It did net take me long to find* the first family—two young yellow bobs, huddling against the roots of a tree, where * their baby dress of brown merged into the surroundings, so that but for their cries they would have passed unnoticed. The' anxious cheep, cheep' of their • goldenbroasted mother as she flew from tree to tree showed that she also was aware of my presence. I did not want to harrow their feelings unnecessarily, so I moved away to where a young fantail cuckoo sat huddled on [a dead bush 'peeking' fretfully, while two brown tits worked fussily to feed him."