ABOARD THE LUGGER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2722, 17 March 1916, Page 5

ABOARD THE LUGGER

WITH A BLOCKADER ON THE

HIGH SEAS

THE NAVY'S WAY

(From the "Daily Mail.")

Pushalong—this is not her real name but the one her orew gave her—was tramping her beat in a 6tormy sea. whiofi nearly rolled her oyer one minute and galloped contemptuously across her deoks the next. .

She was on. what, is officially oalled examination duty—"blockading" is the unofficial name for it. Her business was to patrol a -given stretch of water, as a constable does bis boat, and see that no vessel sliptped by her without giving' an account of itself j where it was coming Sfrom, Whitlier it was going, what cargo it bad on board, and various other matters thai many a merchant skipper would rather keep to himself than tell a King's ship these timek So far as Pushalong's crew were concerned this was duty, and they did it in the conscientious, uncomplaining Navy way, though they- oould have named, other work that would, have suited their taste better. View it from whatever point of the compass you may, this boarding all sorts of craft in all sorts of weather upon the high; seas and interviewing skippers who do not want to see you is not a cheery job, though a very necessary one in war time. _, , _ • As well as discomforts it has discouragements. as "Pushalongs" liad found. "Neutral" skippers with contraband in tEeir holds feel towards examination officers much is a burglar docs towards tho policeman, who catches him dropping over a wall with his "swag"— they smile no welcome when they throw out the Jacob's When the overhaul is- oomplete<L end what- "the search" feels convinced is contraband bound, for an enemy destination has been found,, it becomes a mortification to the soul to have to release this just, because in faraway London some fellow who deals in quibbles rather than hard facts saya you must do so.

"This seems more like obliging the enemy than blockading him," grumbled Pushalong's captain after one suoh experience. "Yes, but we can't help ourselves in the matter," sighed his sub. "Politicians aro like eels: you never know which' way they'll wiggle." Sail Ho! The funnels oi a steamer showed upon the horizon and Pushalong raced oft to meet her. Some fifteen minutes' hard steaming brought her ' alongside the stranger, which proved to be a merchantman flying a neutral flag. "Lie to, I'm going to board you," sig- : nailed Pushalong. Knowing it was useless "to object, the vessel obeyed the oommand. ' Out swung one of Pushalong' s boatß, and a search party, beaded by an officer, ■ jumped into it. Very isoon they were aboard the ship, being met as they clambered over her side by. the captain, Who. showed his papers. The search officer glanced through these.. "Agricultural implements for'. ," he commented. "But I shall have to examine your oargoi" ' "All right," replied the skipper, turning to his crew and ordering them to "Off hatches." ■ The starch party looked through the ship and, found her full of agricultural implements, as the manifest stated. Everything appeared correct. But when , the inspection was nearly ended a bluejacket' casually tapped a. plough handled It rang suspiciously, bo. he pulled out his clasp _ knife and scraped off some , oftfhe paint. His eyes opened in surprise, and he quickly. picked up a ploughshare and scraped that also. "Look; sir," he'exclaimed to his offioer. "All copper, tons of it," and he waved his hand towards the cargo. In a. moment the officer became alert. tMore articles were scraped—and with a like result. It was true that the ship carried a cargo of farming implements. There were ploughs, ploughshares, harrows, .and various other aids to husbandry. . But. the whole lot was made of oopper, nicely painted over, and to the eye looked i just like the real thrag: It would have been no trouble to have, melted them into ingots had they "got through," but they, did not. "Well, that's a: oute triok," ejaculated the offioer, who, turning to the •skipper of the ship, said, "I'm going to take you into——" Aboard. ■. She, was a beamy old Dutoh trawler. At least, she flew the Dutch flag and her skipper was apparently as joDy an old Dutchman as one could meet. He said he was a Dutchman, and appearances corroborated the statement. When the patrol boat went alongside his vessel he welcomed it jovially and pointed to the wells, which were overflowing with fish. . . "You seem to have made : a good catch," remarked the officer in charge of the boat. i a > a ver ' goot catch; would you like some fish for supper?" replied the skipper genially, and forthwith began throwing fish into the boat. He gave liberally, "and when the boat pulled having found no contraband in the trawler, it carried enough fish, to supply half the of a Dreadnought. A few . days later the same trawler, •wxth. the same hearty, professedly Dutcih old sea-dog in command of her, >, was overhauled by another patrol vesThis time only the fore well of the trawler;contained fish. Her skipper sought to explain the circumstance by saying that a carrier had taken away part of his catch. "That may be so," answered tbe patrol officer; "but I've done a bit of' fishing and we never went about with one; well full and the other empty. I want to see what you've got 'forrard' i there. _ You must move the fish." , H® ar ing this the cloak of .genialitv fell from the skipper. He began to ■bluster, but this availed him nothing. -f-L „°? cer was determined. Ho had • the fish moved and beneath them found string of mines. The Exposure,. Examining ships is no work for the guileless; or ; one might more correctly •say, the guileless are not fit for the work Though a man may begin this duty believinq 111 the probity .of his fellow-men,i that belief soon loaves him, and a suspioious, hard-to-convince spirit takes its place. The latter is the right x. niind for tho ask, as' innumerable happenings prove. One is always up against" astute tricksters—and guile can only be defeated by guile. A naval reserve officer had overhauled a trawler that was flying a neutral flag without finding anything wrong about her, and was just about to leave when his eye fell upon a big coil of rope lying neatly piled amidships. "Tliat'3 a fine hawser you have there," he remarked.

"Yes," answered the skipper, who added something about believing in keening good gear. "H'm," reflected the skipper. It's a big hawser for a trawler to carry. Cut it," he added, turning to one ol his men.

The man did so—out spouted a stream of petrol, and t Jig game was up.

That innocent-looking hawser was really a lingo rubber, pipe I'lied with petrol, nnd having hempen strands wound cleverly round it so that it looked just like what it purported to be. but was,_not. Quite a convenient and unobtrusive method this of replenishing the suDphcs of a German-submarine. Even if a British warship appeared (while the work was in progress, it was quite easy for the submarino to dive quickly while the trawler ' hauled her pipe in and coiled up her "hawser" nicely so as to arouse no suspicion.