Newspaper Page Text
COUMT
LUCKIER,
Doubled*?, Copyright by by ♦ Lowell
Docta & Co. Thomas
CHAPTER II
— 2 —
Fake Norwegians
It was in a gay cafe in Hamburg.
In 1916, war times were growing hard
in Germany, but still the cafes were
astir with life and gaiety. A naval
officer on Shore leave could soon find
surroundings that would enable him'
to forget the harsh life on dread
naught and cruiser. My friend Dal
stroem and I, over glasses of Swedish
punch, chatted for an hour and then
another hour.
An orderly wedged his way through
the crowd and handed me a message.
It was from the admiralty, ordering
Die to report at Imperial headquarters
on the morrow.
The following morning found me In
Berlin, entering the naval holy of
holies, standing expectantly at atten¬
tion before an old German sea lord
■with a face as stern as the cliffs at
Heligoland. The orders I had come
to hear were barked at me quick and
short.
“You are to take command of a ves¬
sel,” said the admiral, “We *ant you
to run the blockade and raid enemy
commerce. Since we have no coaling
stations, a sailing ship will be the best
Do you think you can do it?”
“Yes, sir! I'd like nothing better.”
Good health and high spirits had
given me boundless confidence. I was
the sort of fellow who believes he can
do almost anything—at any rate, any¬
thing with a sailing ship. The ad¬
miral replied that the mission was
mine. And it turned out that I had
been picked for this venture because I
happened to be the only officer in the
German navy who had served “in
sail.”
“What,” the admiral asked, “should
you consider of the greatest Impor¬
tance for the venture?”
“Luck," I replied.
“All right; then take the Pass of
Balmaha. She has already carried
British prisoners for tis. She has been
lucky for us once, she may be lucky
for us again.”
The admiralty officials had picked
the Pass of Balmaha because she was
a staunch ship, an American clipper,
built in Glasgow. They had also
picked her because she bad suddenly
arrived in a German port with an un¬
expected present of some British pris¬
oners for us. We sailors believe in
good and bad omens, and we are right.
Now, about the past record of this
Yankee clipper that was to be convert¬
ed Into a German raider. The Pass
of Balmaha had sailed from New York
with a cargo of cotton for Archangel.
Her commander was a Captain Scott,
a well-known American shipmaster, a
big-hearted, bushy-bearded, New Eng¬
land skipper with a very red face.
Off the Norweigian coast, a British
cruiser hailed her. Uncle Sam was
then a neutral, and the blockade was
getting tighter every month. The
British were becoming suspicious of
everybody, including neutrals and
themselves. The overcautious com¬
mander of this cruiser, although he
bad no grounds for suspicion, ordered
the Pass of Balmaha to turn back to
the search port of Kirkwall in the
Orkneys.
Leaving an officer and prize crew of
six marines on board, with her fun¬
nels belching columns of black smoke,
the British patrol cruiser continued
on her North Sea beat. As soon as
the Pass of Balmaha had turned her
nose toward Kirkwall and Scape Flow,
the British prize officer ordered the
American flag pulled down and the
British flag run up.
“I wish the Germans would come,”
raged the Yankee skipper. And the
very next morning his wish was grant¬
ed 1 A U-boat popped up to the sur¬
face about a half mile away. Captain
Scott waggled his beard in the English¬
man's face.
“Serves you right! With the Star3
and Stripes up there, they wouldn't
bother us. Now tliey’l! take us all to
Germany. So far as you chaps are
concerned, the war is over right now
You will get cocky, will you?”
The Britisher was alarmed. He saw
visions of himself locked in a Prussian
prison for “the duration.” So he
climbed down from his high horse In
Man Far Outnumbered by Lesser Creatures
It Is probable that few persons save
naturalists ever consider the enor¬
mous amount of life other than hu¬
man which exists in any locality, civ¬
ilized or not, densely peopled or thin¬
ly settled. A plague of rats In Lon¬
don within recent years prompted an
interview with a distinguished scien¬
tist, who estimated that within the
area of Greater London there were 20,
000,000 rats, more than three times
as many rats as people.
Sparrows undoubtedly time next in
point of numbers among Condon's
warm-blooded population, but the
scientist preferred to make his esti¬
mate cover ail the birds in the United
Kingdom. He believed that the bird
population would average 800 to the
square mile. That would give a total
of nearly 97,000,000. Thus the bird
population outnumbers the human by
something like two to one.
a hurry and meekly placed himself
in Captain Scott’s hands, begging the
Yankee still to try and save the day.
“I ought to let you go as prisoners,
by Joe, but I don’t want to lose my
ship," said Scott. “So go below with
your men and hide in the hold while
I put my flag back where It belongs.
Maybe they haven’t seen yours.” Soon
the submarine was alongside and one
of her officers climbed aboard. The
Germans had seen the Union Jack, all
right, but they hadn’t seen It hauled
down. Now they found themselves on
a ship flying the American flag, and
they were puzzled.
“What’s this?” the submarine officer
demanded of Scott. “First we see a
British flag, and now It’s an Amer¬
ican.”
“You must be mistaken.” replied the
skipper, “this here ain’t no Britisher.”
The officer was bewildered and sus¬
picious, so ordered the Bass of Bai
maha to Bead for Hamburg. Leaving
only a German ensign aboard, he an¬
nounced that his submarine would fol¬
low close behind. Of course, this was
only a threat, for the U-boat soon
vanished beneath the waves.
Now the ensign grew worried. Some¬
thing told him that everything was not
right on the Bass of Balmaha. Had
he known there were seven British¬
ers on board, he would have been still
more worried I
“Captain," said he, “1 am going to
stay at your side ail day and sleep
with you at night. I’ve a hand gren
ado here in ray pocket. At night I
am going to fix it so that if anybody
opens the door of our cabin it will ex¬
plode.”
Naturally Captain Scott lost no time
in whispering to his mate: “Fasten
down the hatches and don’t let those
Britishers come up. If they do, our
Count Felix von Luckner.
goose is cooked. Don’t say anything
to them, or there will be trouble. This
German smells a rat.”
So the prize crew in the hold was
kept tiler# Two days later, outside
the entrance to the harbor at Cux
haven, another party of Germans came
aboard, so Captain Scott said to the
U-boat ensign:
“You wanted to know what was
wrong iiere? All right, now I’ll show
you.” Then he opened the hatches
and yelled for the Britishers to come
up. The tall officer of the Hoyal navy,
one eye blinking and the other be
monocled, put his head up first.
“I say, where are we now?”
“You’re in Germany. If you had
left my flag alone, everything would
have been all right. But you are pris¬
oners now."
So you see how the Bass of Balmaha
turned out to he unlucky for English¬
men and lucky for Germans. That
was just the ship we wanted, by Joe.
Our hope was to run the blockade
disguised as a neutral—a thing entire¬
ly fair according to the laws of war.
Although on land a soldier must wear
service uniform, at sea you can fly a
neutral flag and wear ordinary sea-
As for the insect population, that is
quite beyond any statistician. But,
allowing that each bird eats only 50
Insects a day, British birds would con¬
sume more than a billion Insects in a
year. Yet such an estimate seems
quite futile when we consider that the
insect population of a single cherry
tree infested with aphides was esti¬
mated by a competent authority to be
12 , 000 , 000 .
Gathering the “Spoil*."
By the spoils system was meant
the practice whereby an Incoming ad¬
ministration distributed the patronage
and offices of the government to those
who had supported the party coming
into power. Office holders oi the out¬
going administration usually were de¬
posed from office or their resignation
asked for and their places filled with
patrons of the incoming government.
CLEVELAND COURIER
man’s clothes. But you must hoisf
your true colors before going Into ac¬
tion with the enemy.
We altered that British-built Yankee
clipper from stem to stern, with con¬
cealed places for our guns, rifles, gren¬
ades, bombs, and other armament, with
special quarters for prisoners, two ul¬
tra-modern 500 horse power motors to
fail back on In case qf calm or when
in a big hurry, a tank holding 480 tons
of fuel oil, another tank containing 480
tons of sweet water, and provisions
for a cruise of two years.
In addition to 400 bunks for pros¬
pective “guests,” I lmd special de luxe
quarters made for “visiting” captains
and mates. Tiiese were spacious cab¬
ins to accommodate two or three. We
also designed a separate dining sa¬
loon for them, with an assortment of
books and magazines in Frencn and
English, and a gramophone with late
English and French records.
Then, of course, we had to arrange
quarters for my crew of fighting ma¬
rines as well as for the regular sea¬
men required on a clipper of this size.
Moreover, we had to do all this sc it
would not be noticeable to uninvited
visitors
When the work was done, below
deck, the Pass of Balmaha was an
auxiliary cruiser, armed to the teeth.
Above deck she was merely a poetic
old sailing ship loaded with a prosaic
cargo of lumber.
Timber made the ideal cargo for >ur
purposes, because a ship carrying lum¬
ber loads her deck as well as her hold.
The piles of lumber even cover your
hatches, so no one can go below until
you unload. Hence no search crew
would be likely to Inspect us carefully
at sea. They would either order us to
Kirkwall, or let us go.
Norway exports lumber and Aus¬
tralia imports it. So we decided to
pose ns a Norweigian clipper bound
for Melbourne. Having served on va¬
rious Norwegian ships, I spoke Norse,
and I knew I would have no difficulty
finding men for my crew who could
speak It also. But first I had secret
doors and hatches cut in the floor of
tiie closets in the officers’ cabins, and
another under the stove in the galley.
From keel to top deck we converted
this American three-master into a
mystery ship of trick panels and doors.
Of course, if an enemy patrol vessel
picked us up, a special prize crew of
half a dozen men would be put aboard
us to make sure we headed for the
right port. I would have sixty-four
men of my own to handle the small
prize crew.
Dinner time would come. I would
say to the Britishers: “Gentlemen,
may you dine well.”
“Cookie,” I would call, "serve up the
best we’ve got."
On their way to my private captain’s
quarters, they would leave their coats
and weapons In the vestibule, within
sight and lust out of reach.
Right In the middle of the meal, I
would signal lo my fighting men hid¬
den on the lower deck. Seizing their
rifles they would jump to tfieir ap¬
pointed places. At another signal, the
crew above deck would clamber up
the Iron masts, open small secret
doors, reach down into the hollow
chambers where their arms and uni¬
forms were hidden, and a moment la¬
ter German jack-tars would appear
where humble Norwegian sailors had
been a moment before. We would not
attempt to recapture our owu ship
dressed in civilian togs.
Although (he floor of my saloon
where the prize crew would be dining
looked like any other floor, !t was in
reality an elevator! All 1 had to do
was press a secret button bidden be¬
hind the barometer In the chart room.
Brestol down would drop floor, prize
crew and all.
Before a man jack could Jump for
a weapon they would find themselves
dining on the next deck below. With
the difference that they now would be
gazing down the barrels of twenty
German rifles.
Then 1 would step forward, throw
open my great-coat, and present my¬
self as the skipper of a windjammer
suddenly metamorphosed Into the com¬
mander of an auxiliary cruiser.
And now, by Joe, suppose a British
cruiser seized us and then we seized
the British prize crew. Then suppos¬
ing another cruiser should pick us up!
We might have to do a bit of fighting
maybe take to the boats with our pris¬
oners and then sink our own ship,
So we prepared for (ids by placing
bombs where they could be touched
off at a moment’s notice. We had
no Intention of letting our raider fall
into eneiry hands.
I felt that it was so Important to
keep all of our plans secret that 1
even fooled the workmen who were
altering the ship. Had they known
what we were up to, the rumor might
have gotten out. There were spies
everywhere. You must admire the
British. They had a great espionage
system, and they paid their spies well,
We Germans were stingy. Bah I That
was one reason we bungled.
So i told everyone, including the
foremen, that the Pass of Balmaha
was being transformed into an up-to
date training ship, to be used in train¬
ing mechanics’ apprentices who latei
on were to run motors on submarines
and zeppeiins.
That alibi was to explain our two
motors. The war had shown that
German cabin boys were deficient ia
knowledge of nautical rigging. So ]
also announced that one purpose oi
this sailing ship was to give them a
chance to learn a little about handling
sails. As to the accommodations is
the hold for prisoners, and the bunks
for our big crew, I explained that
these were to be for apprentices and
cabin hoys. 1 even put up signs
marking off one part of the ship “foi
150 cabin boys,” another “for 80 ap
prentices,” and so on.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
GEORGIA
State News
FUND SOUGHT
TO PROTECT
- GA. FORESTS
PLAN TO WIPE OUT MALA¬
RIA; TWO BUILDING PER¬
MITS TOTAL $138,559.
Tifton Flower Show; Increases
Warehouse Space; Insurance
For Mill Crews; Other Items.
ATLANTA, GA.—The Federal Gov
eminent will be asked to contri¬
bute $38,380 and the State of Geor¬
gia $10,500 for the protection of 23,-
725,000 acres of forest land in Geor¬
gia next year, it was announced re¬
cently by B. M. Lufborrow, state for¬
ester. The announcement followed
a meeting of the State Forestry Board
with Governor Hardman. The govern¬
ment this year allotted $38,000 of its
$1,400,000 forest protection fund to
Georgia.
The action of the board was based
on an estimate made by the state for¬
ester. who had analyzed census data,
taking the total land area and de¬
ducting the acreage in crops, town
sites, highways, railroads, forests and
other areas.
Plan to Wipe Out Malaria
Augusta, Ga.—Plans for a statewide
campaign to enlist federal aid in a
fight to eradicate malaria in Georgia
were formulated at a joint meeting
of the Kiwanis Clubs of the Augusta
district.
All civic clubs and similar organi¬
zations in the state will be solicited
tor their co-operation in the move¬
ment which will be known as the Ki¬
wanis campaign.
Building Pemits Total 138,559
Atlanta, Ga.—Two building permits
totaling $138,559, were among the
most important permits Issued during
the recent past at the city hall. One
of the permits, calling for $110,599
worth of construction, went to the
Realty, Inc., for the erection of the
Lane warehouse, at 20-30 Fifth street.
While the other was taken out by the
Singer Sewing Machine company for
a warehouse at 174 Trinity avenue.
Tifton Flower Show
Tifton, Ga.—The second annual
flower show held here under the aus¬
pices of the Tifton Garden club, lias
been pronounced a success in every
way. There was a fine lot of exhibits
and much interest was shown in the
affair. The judges ‘awarded a num¬
ber of prizes, for single and gross ex¬
hibits of blooms.
Increases Warehouse Space
Brunswick, Ga.—To provide en¬
larged facilities for handling heavy
sugar shipments of the Hershey Cor¬
poration to this port from Cuba, the
Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast rail¬
road has started construction on an¬
other warehouse at its south end ter¬
minals, it has been announced by of¬
ficials of the road.
Insurance for Mill Crews
Griffin, Ga.—Officials of the Geor¬
gia Kincaid Mills announced here that
a group insurance policy of $2,500,000
for the benefit of all the mill’s em¬
ployes had been taken out. Each em¬
ploye* was said to be entitled to a min¬
imum policy of one thousand dollars
at a cost of fifteen cents a week.
Miss Woodward to Be Honored
Atlanta, Ga.—To honor their first
woman president, as her notable term
of office draws towards its conclu¬
sion, members of the Georgia Press
Association will gather on May 24-25
at Press Haven, the mountain camp
of the association near Lakemont, and
celebrate the birthday of Miss Emily
Woodward, editor of the Vienna News,
and one of the foremost newspaper
women in the South.
Largely through Miss Woodward’s
leadership, the camp was established
and dedicated last summer. Officials
of the association, therefore, consid¬
ered it appropriate that her last
birthday in office should be commem¬
orated there, and an elaborate pro¬
gram has been arranged to take place
on the evening of May 25.
$85,000 Store Planned at Griffin
Griffin, Ga.—J. W. Gresham, local
builder and capitalist, announced he i
would build an eighty-five thousand
dollar store building to be occupied
by the Montgomery Ward company.
Re—Assessment Plan
Savannah, Ga.—Reassessment of real j
estate property in Savannah may re¬
sult from an investigation of the pres¬
ent system now being conducted.
Efforts were made about five years
ago to institute a new system of prop¬
erty valuation, but a new administra- j
tion came into power aDd halted the
pS*.ns for the change.
The Trades and Labor Assembly j
here is back of the plan for the new
system.
j
Improved Uniform International
SundaySchool Lesson’
T
(By REV. P. B. FITZWATER, D.D.. Dean
Moody Bible Institute ot Chicago.)
(©. 1929, Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for June 2
LATER EXPERIENCES OF JERE¬
MIAH
LESSON TEXT—Jeremiah 20:1-6; 37:
11-21; 38:1-13.
GOLDEN TEXT—Blessed are y,
when men shall reproach you, and per¬
secute you, and say all manner of
evil against you falsely, for my sake.
PRIMARY TOPIC—Being True In a
Hard Test.
JUNIOR TOPIC—Being True In a
Hard Test.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP¬
IC—Standing True In Hard Places.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP¬
IC—Forms of Modern Persecution.
I. Jeremiah in Stocks (20:1-6).
He had predicted the downfall of
Jerusalem because of the disobedi¬
ence of the people (19:4-14, 15).
Pasliur, an officer of the temple,
heard him. I’ashur gave Jeremiah a
cruel beating and placed him in
stocks. “Stocks” was an instrument
of torture, confining the legs in a
cramped position. On being released
the next day, Jeremiah predicted the
terror which was to he I’ashur’s por¬
tion. llis words were literally ful¬
filled (vv. 4-0).
II. Jeremiah in Prison in Jonathan's
House (37:11-21).
lie was arrested by Irijnh as he
was about to leave Jerusalem on an
errand, lie was charged with desert¬
ing to tiie Chaldeans. While here in
prison, King Zedekiah secretly con¬
sulted with him and ordered lenient
treatment.
III. Jeremiah In the Dungeon (38:1-
13).
1. He predicts the capture of Jeru¬
salem (vv. 1-3).
(1) To whom (v. 1)?
Jeremiah had been taken out of the
prison by tiie king (37:17) and or¬
dered to the court of the prison
(37:21). Here the people seem to
have had free access to him (32:12).
From this place of limited confine¬
ment Jeremiah announced to the peo¬
ple their approaching captivity.
2. Counsel given (vv. 2, 3).
a. All that remain in the city shall
die by the sword, famine and pestb
lence.
b. He that goeth forth to the Chal¬
deans shall live. “He shall have his
life for a prey,” doubtless means that
he shall escape with his life, though
losing all else.
2. Jeremiah accused by the princes
(vv. 4, 5).
(1) He weakened the hands of the
men and ail tiie people (v. 4). From
a human standpoint what they said
was true, but since Jeremiah was but
the interpreter of God to the nation,
they ought to have heeded his advice
to surrender.
(2) This man seeketh not tiie wel¬
fare of this people, but the hurt (v. 4).
Tiiis charge was utterly false. Jere¬
miah was the best friend of the peo¬
ple, for he faithfully proclaimed to
them God’s Judgment and advised
them how to make the best of their
unfortunate situation.
3. The king’s cowardly act (v. 5).
The very one whom Jeremiah was
trying to help, deserted him. The
king was afraid of the Chaldeans, the
princes, Jeremiah, and God.
4. Jeremiah cast into the dungeon
(v. C).
Tiiis seems to have been a cistern
which had been emptied of its water
during the siege, leaving only mire.
Into tiiis mire lie sank, possibly up to
Ids neck. The purpose was to let
Jeremiah die there. In tiiis situation
he Is a type of Christ (I’sa. 69). No
one ever suffered more unjustly, save
Jesus Christ.
5. Jeremiah rescued from the dun¬
geon (vv. 7-13).
(1) By Ebed-Melech, an African
servant (vv. 7-9).
Tiie Jewish prophet, whom his own
countrymen tried to destroy, is saved
by a Gentile. Though Ebed-Melech
had a colored skin, he was the whitest
man in Jerusalem. He went to the
king and boldly declared that the
princes had done evil in imprisoning
Jeremiah.
(2) The method (vv. 10-13).
The king yielded to his request and
furnished a guard to prevent inter¬
ference with tiie work of rescue. He
let down soft rags and wornout gar¬
ments by ropes and instructed Jere¬
miah to put them under his armholes
and under the ropes to prevent injury
to him as he was being lifted up. He
was lifted out of the dungeon and
given the freedom of the prison court.
(V. Jeremiah in Egypt (vv. 43:1-7).
His closing years were spent in
Egypt. He was taken there by Jo
hanan, where he continued his minis¬
try. He seems to have been unpopu¬
lar there. Tradition has it that he
was stoned to death by tiie Jews in
Egypt.
Reward* Awaiting
When we land on the bleak shore
of disappointment we shall make the
wonderful discovery that the Savior
has anticipated our coming and has
made ample provision. There will be
heavenly cordials, and there will be
comforts of grace, and there will be
the exhilarating wine of a new hope,
—J. H. Jowett
Nigh at Hand
Know ye that the kingdom of God
is nigh at hand.
What Will
When your
Children Cry
for It
There is hardly a household that
hasn’t heard of Castoria! At least five
million homes are never without it. If
there are children in your family,
there’s almost daily need of its com¬
fort. And any night may find you very
thankful there's a bottle In the house.
Just a few drops, and that colic or
constipation is relieved; or diarrhea
cheeked. A vegetable product; a baby
remedy meant for young folks. Castoria
is about the only thing you have ever
heard doctors advise giving to infants.
Stronger medicines are dangerous to a
tiny baby, however harmless they may
be to grown-ups. Good old Castoria!
Remember the name, and remember
to buy it It may spare you a sleep¬
less, anxious night. It is always ready,
always safe to use; in emergencies, or
for everyday ailments. Any hour of the
day or night that Baby becomes fret¬
ful, or restless. Castoria was never
more popular witli mothers than It is
today. Every druggist has It.
CASTOR! A
Consolidation
Soy—Somehow I don't have any
iuclc at nil.
I’oi—Well, that’s better than having
bad luck.—Pathfinder Magazine.
Army Cast-Off* Sold
The salvage division of tiie quarter¬
master corps of the United States
army is estimated to have saved more
than $30,000,000 since April, 1918, by
die sale of waste materials, such as
metals, rubber, rags, bottles and hides.
TV/TOST Aspirin people depend on Bayer
to make short work of
headaches, but did you know it’s
just as effective in the worse pains
from neuralgia or neuritis? Rheu¬
matic pains, too. Don't suffer when
Bayer Aspirin can bring complete
comfort without delay, and without
harm; it does not affect the heart.
In every package of genuine Bayer
Aspirin are proven directions with
which everyone should be familiar,
for they can spare much seedless
^ASPIRIN
Aspirin of Moooaceticacidester ia the trade mark of of Bayer Salicylicacid Manufactory
Wimys
For over 50
years it has been
the household
remedy for all
forms of -19**.
It is a Reliable,
General Invig¬
orating Tonic.
PAMCO DYSPEPSIA TABLETS relieve dys¬
pepsia, indigestion, loss of appetite, acid
stomach, 75 cents. Princess Anne Mtg. Co.,
Dept, Kid, Box 693, Baltimore, MaryUud*
Malaria
Chills
Fever
Dengue
