Fighting the Bay of Biscay

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 23 October 1914, Page 2

Fighting the Bay of Biscay

, Jlife' s vlu^i J E^TiiA(?Ejfiier-^r- £? THE HlCffl SEAS/'.-wf y-3* Help"! -The- rich' ': Brazilian fallen again into the lee scuppers. He lies there as you see, quite helpless (it is the best thing.he does* - for he has been lying cfcristahtljrever ''■ since w£ s £e|t f^Sou^^mpt^n) *> ,-,Yes v . his language is" "Portuguese, and "I "I mus>;:;<admit i thatymost, of it is., also linmenttMa^l^f^^^'^^ivlßi^^^it-tlr^ --- full-mvvoured- adjectives,- the gist ofhis., song is that he is not., quite; .-* ? '? Otlead;"vand that :Yl*ef^o;^^ jiike af: '~- * ' stew/ferel ■-"■■* to c'onte J "arid kill him (wrote Percival Phillips to the Londoh^'Dafly TVlail," ! from the deck of a steamer off Cape Ushant.) There ?,. .He has been hoisted back :into : his deck chair, and they are lashing him fast with a^ rope. If he slides down-the scuppers again he must-take" the "chair with him. Walk with me aittong the Neardead. This long, covered deck is strewn with anguished So\ith Americans: They have surrendered to the Bay'of Biscay.. The' empty bottles .beside their chairs contained ammunition " wasted in a losing fight. Rain and fog ' are around us, and we stagger heavily through the lumpy sea. Each damp rug on the shade deck shelters an inani- ; mate, disconsolate / mortal, who would welcome ship-wreck as the

easiest end of hi,s. troubles, v' You see Biscayr"y4n 4f^'Vsullen' temper—as seas.pri(^d"^travellers'- on,_thisHhighway 6f .thWseas -.icndyr I'ahcl' dread it. Oh^ ioje. '; : 'i^e firC solid Strand, .an^idtaii^'aesCdly motor omnibuses ! ■ : My*spassage ticket for the chance of "being hit by a taxicab anywhere within four miles oC Charing/Cross ! JUST A BEING>. .~-M\ Here comes a being.^dutwardly human like ourselves,^ jbut. §miling— smiling; all: over ;.his-fat: fac&. Shall we kill the brute oh;:deck, or stalk ••<IiW?J-rAnJ£ r . v the^snioking room, where the price of cocktails itnaKes""murcler" a, niore -■"exp'ensiS'e. 'hobby ? >•■• -There'are purple 'stripeS -on -his; blue coait -sle^.v;e.SK,(_wa\U<J.^.hat,J._hey were across ; h^s l.n;oad,back), aiul.tlje feeble crea.turesi'.in h'i's'patnV ,who': 'coiiie out of _their coma and open brie eye1, *^eTS""TSll^m-;""i'-f>oetoi':">'--«----'l;et---iiS--kill him here, for he remarks that it is a fine day. (Senhor, the Bahian millionaire, has a wild idea of kidnai)ping him at Pernambuco, carting him up country, and roasting him head_ downwards over a slow fire). He adds.^hat lie thinks r.th'e^'wind will freshen; when .we get I

i'^W^ejW^crosis^ .Jhetbay^' aml 'i that he looks for a** bit '6f'a blow by dinner time. This man, mark you,who thus plays with fjre, dp respqnfeM^(|or.{6i|ri j ;liodi}y' \ hea¥h ! ■ cfli, joy ! Land abeam, through' the rain clouds ! Shadowy, intangible, apparently^ ,<lesevted, ) but ' still l'aijd, almost' '^within " 'rifle'" ' shot. " lllac.k, toothed rocks, scoured by foaming breakers, beyond them two lofty Mar-c&ii-.'masts? faint agkihst th^ hazet a black and white lighthouse, grim .ajicl de"46lat;e below " -a stqrm-sw^pt sky. Ushant !/^ Our./gloopy sufferers sink back in theii' salt encrusted rugs. No one wants a second look at Ushant and its deadly warning. Let us see how the fight j against "^the;* Bay /of •■ Biscay: :.;is ' progressing .dh'".the;-smoking room. 'N'dne t6dfr:weil.-^ Forcea-Sgaiety t -is^suspickiously -j prevalent here, as it is among the pallid ladies who are sewing ( languidly in the so-called ' 'social ■' hall'"' •' for ward.'-'; The shaki ing;) vof /dice for dsnks proceeds somewhat "" spiritlessly. At least three of these men at the corner table do not know whether they are playing bridge or coon-can. Nor do they care much as they stealthily watch each other's changing colour over the cards. "The thing to do," says the Oporto merchant, \vHli ; ;the pale-green face,;:'^^,tq- keep. yo"ifr'':mmd'""*'ofT -:'seasidkriesffv'^A^v r sdori3 as you get that wobbly feeling in the back of the neck " "Oh, shut up \" says the apopletic p-art-ner, whose flesh tones alternate ljetwqen^rifeh; purplg and; light? grey, ' * you" v*e ""said 4 that" -20* ti m es'" J"a A ''hour, and now I'm going downstairs to have a nap." He leaves hurriedly. "Wonder if,she's all right ?" aßks.ihis partner hypocritically, after an. in.decenjtjy.^shor.t, Jnterval., '^ '^'. I'd' better go and see." The third* man says he must write a letter, and also" creeps away to bed. The a^Braqdyr^dld .:qn j the somewhat flushed traveller* '"~ wficT says it is a sovereign remedy for seasickness. He finds out his bitter mistake when it is too late. As ...the^ompaniquway receives him, the ?old,%raveller-fwhp is now,, discovered; itis ibeV-jiVecy^itight—eaxrtestiy;;'advises a wheezing clergyman to have a

brandy cold, as it is a sovereign remedy for asthma. There are various excellent weapons for fighting ■the; B, ay jpf B. isciay, > .but, brandy ,coid is not one of thehi !