A FINE ROMANCIST

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 2 November 1917, Page 1

A FINE ROMANCIST

o LKTS HIMSELF GO - 1e ON " PELORUS JACK." (t - ie The York 'Times' inters witl it honors I'elonis Jack, the famous pilot lisl I* of French Pass. ' H the account is no , s strictjy accurate, it is ut least an extremely ■<j amusing example of the imr.ginative flight ,ff o£ American joTu-nalism. It reads: News has been received from Australi; tbat Pelorus Jack is dead. The famou

New Zealand pilot fisli has convoyed steamships from Wellington to Nelson at. a point near French Pass for the last 35 years. According to Be a Ruddles, the tarry-handed, bronzed, and bearded bo'sun of a. British freighter, the finny pilot died from the infirmities of old age, aggravated by grief over the wax-. "1 knew Pelorus Jack back in 1886," said Ben Ruddles, " when I. was bo'sun of the old Wliangatiki, running between Australia. and .New Zealand, .and ho was a smart young dolpnin, dazzling blue and white in color, and about 14it long. In those days Jack, as the fish was known by all men in fch© coasting and' deep-water trade to New Zealand, could swim like a streak, and moved so fast that when the sun was shimng strong all the officers on tho bridge and the look-out forward could see was a Hash as he jumped btit' of the water ahead to show his dexterity. "Jack always kept on the'starboard bow, as ho knew that was the captain's side of the ship, and was a- regular nautical aristocrat m manner. Skippers who followed Pelorus Jack never grounded on any shoals or hit rocks, and this became to well known that many of the older, mariners would not go through French Pass unless he was ready to pilot them. They iali took a delight in feeding him with pieces of beef and small fresh loaves, which Jack had a great fondness for. One of his best friends was Captain liunan li. Sealby, of the White Star Line, who afterwards had the Republic, and the two were so clnunmy that Jack would "miss two or three vessels when he knew that Sealbv was about to leave Wellington for Nelson! "In 1904 some young landlubber, with more money than sense, came along in his yacht and fired a shot at the old pilot fish as he came under the bow, and knocked a chunk off his starboard fin. This cruel act upset Pelorus Jack so much that he swam away, and was not seen for three months, and many of the coast skippers believed that he had given up his job. Finally the New* Zealand Government sent a despatch boat to look for him, and Jack was discovered hiding up a small inlet in a lonesome" state, and brought back to French Pass. To protect" him from fuvther attacks the Governor of New Zealand issued a .special Order in, Council establishing a fine of 500dol for any person who attempted to injure Pelorus Jack. "Just before the war began it was noticed that the famous dolphin was turning grey and was showing his age in other ■ways. He took on a- shovel-nosed whistling grampus called Billy to teach him the pilot business, but Billy had lost his port- headlight, and had to cany so much stai board helm that he v-as continually going aground. Then Jack got hold of a frisky young dugong named Wiffin, which indulged iu so much skylarking around the ships thatthe officers would "not trust him, and the sailors used to chuck coal at hini to chase him. away. " What with his age, and sciatica in the part which wagged his tail, and missing all his old friends who had been called away to the Atlantic trade by the war, Pelorus Jack just pined away and died. His body was found two months ago on the sandy shore near French Pass, and out of respect for liis long and faithful services the crew of a coast steamer dug a grave and put the body of the old finny pilot in it or. a bed o£ seaweed, and planted a bluegum at the head and tail to mark the spot." < Ben Ruddles, who seemed much all'eeted by the death of Pelorus Jade, said thatafter the war the officers and men in the Australian and New Zealand coast trade would take up a collection for a monument to the only iisli known to honored by a special Order in Council