The crew numbers 13, in direct contradiction to the fact that ever sailor is superstitious. The capt: of tte Dorothy H. Sterling was not superstitious. He needed this num: ber of men, but he did not'need:14; and that was-all there was to that.
The namber strikes the faintly-superstitious even more remarkable! when the skipper narrates the story of the sailing ship he captained be fore the present one.
This was a small 300-ton vessel plying a New York, Nest Indies and Manila course. In' the South near Fanning Island, loaded copra, the ship's' hold caught fire. "Someone prad spilled aso line near the sparks of the eketric lighting plant below, and the flames leapt up to the inflammable cargo. The captain and crew fought the flames throughout the day, but towards evening took to the boats, and moved off while the ship burned to her water-line. But, fortunately for the survivors, the! blazing ship cast a huge flare across; the sky. The steamer Niagara steaming towards Australia saw the! glare and rescued the crew, four hours after they had put out.' This happened on December 20, of last! year. In the early part of April Captain Davison started out aga with his crew of 13. ines for Hoisting Sails The Dorothy H. Sterling has a small Diesel engine for hoisting sails and a donkey engine for cargo winches and for the anchors win Ins. Her steering-wheel in the who house measures six fect in diameter, and connects with the steering and the stalk of the rudder in the chart room beyond. Pidgeon-holed signalling flags line the wall of the chart room, whose fittings are of the simplest. There is, in. fact, no spare ornamentation on the Dorothy'
Sterling who is a bit of a Puritan' fu that respect. So strong was]
impression that the Chinese curio dealers on the bridge deck were fan ineongraous note.
The captain has a gasoline lamp to read by; coal-oil lamps are fitted in the passages and cabins. A few! books of the lighter fiction type were sighted by the visitor, and questioning of Captain Davison brought out the fact that book is a boon in sailing vessel. This recalled! anecdotes about the tons of books unloaded upon South Sea Island] tribes by ships which were departing] filled with an unspoken grumble because they had read all their books. What the aboriginal tribes of the Islands. did with these hooks would provide an edifying record if anyone felt inclined, in the worthy cause of] literature, to pursue their end.
On the way here the Dorothy H. Sterling, hunting her trade-winds, moved out of her direct course some 2,000. miles. The return trip. to Seattle should be made in one half the time required for the journey just over. The maximum speed on the way out was seven ta eight knots, though ballasted the—shi could make 10 or 12 knots, and one can only imagine what a' pleasing] sight she must have been on the high seas with her sails filled by a good blow as she made her maximum speed. In that picture, however, the list of the: Derothy'H. Sterling would necessarily have to be included.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.