Crossing the Line King Neptune Comes A hoard with His Retinue

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 177, 17 October 1927, Page 7

Crossing the Line King Neptune Comes A hoard with His Retinu e

Written for THE SUN by B. N. Huffadine. THE morning of October 4, 192—, broke rather bleak and with a slight rain falling. The ship rode easily on a smooth sea, but an observer would have judged, from the strained demeanour of some of the passengers, andi the anticipatory jollity of others, that some great event was in train. He would have judged correctly. The Equator was near. The weather was not of the kind commonly associated with the tropics, but the reverse of blazing heat is often experienced. The event was that associated with the Equator—“ Crossing the Line.” There were sheep to be led to the slaughter. Early in the morning one of the ship’s boats had been swung out, and into her shortly before 10 o’clock stepped Neptune, Mrs Neptune, and a numerous retinue. Promptly at 10, a hoarse voice hailed the ship, just about the time when dashing seamen were telling credulous young female passengers to look out for the bump. Up over the side came the principals. A C.lerk of the Court arrived first, then Neptune himself, followed by the lady, who made a clumsy job of getting over the rail in unaccustomed skirts, and was easily recognisable as a certain popular greaser from the engine-room, known to all and sundry as “Chubby.” Then came those indispensables, the Doctor and the Barber, in outlandish garb, and the Bears. Bugles blew, the gold-laced captain offered homage. Large grins adorned the faces of all the crew who were free to watch the show, and all the passengers apart from those marked down formed a deep and curious ring round the long canvas bath, that had been erected by the lee rail, on the break in the maindeck between the bridge and the promenade and boat decks. First came the procession. Neptune and his court headed the train with the shivering and curious novices trailing after them, clad, as advised, in oldest clothes or next-to-nothing at all. The grim and picturesque Bears brought up the rear, mouthing strange gutturals and preparing for the fray. Once round the decks and then to the bath. Neptune, weirdly clothed in a sheet and several towels, with flowing hair and beard of shredded twine, and holding a trident, shared the packing-case dais with Mrs Neptune, sweepingly cloaked and proudly bearing a crest of hair of the same breed as her lord’s. Behind them were ranked guards and pages, and in front of them stood the Doctor, carrying a wooden box full of bread pills (Neptune’s Number Nines) and a huge engine-room oil-can containing cold tea. At the deck side of the bath, two large crates had been piled one upon the other, and on the boxes was a wooden arm-chair, at such a height that its seat was about a foot above the bath edge behind it. Here was the barber, with enormous razor and scissors, both fashioned in wood by the carpenter. Already in the bath were the Bears, those who perform the actual “ducking.” The Bears were eight in number, and wore nothing but scanty affairs of further shredded twine, shaped like the pelts that once covered the nakedness of cave men. Further, the Bears were painted blue on -the exposed portions of their bodies, after the style, of the woad of the Ancient Britons. Still further, it was cold in, the bath, and already a bottle was passing from hand to hand. However,

One by one the novices wore dragged before Neptune, where their charges were read out by the clerk. Each of the victims had heen presented with a quite nonsensical charge sheet; these were masterpieces in their way, more than 40 in number, and had been thought out by one of the chief conspirators. Sentence was passed by Neptune, varying from one to six or eight dumps in the bath. The Doctor “did his stuff,” examining each patient for heart trouble with a hammer. Pills were administered, a little tea squirted wherever it would do most good. The Barber’s ass'staats swooped down on the unfortunate, who was hoisted to the high chair. The Barber dipped a flat pa s nt brush into a bucket of a foul mix ture of oil, soft soap and other things, slapped some on to the face and into the hair, made a few passes with razor and scissors and said “held your breath! ” Strong hands seized' the legs of the chair, which was tipped over backwards, so that the patient shot head first on his shoulders into the arms of four waiting Bears. These then plunged him under the water as many times as decreed, while everybody laughed like anything. Scrambling out as his successor entered the bath with a loud splash, the now seasoned traveller ducked for his cabin and a wipe-down. So it went on, with one after the other, the same procedure. Charges like this were read out: — “This youth is charged with making an unruly noise, or, as the Scotch say, an ‘awfu’ din,’ on the port side on October 1 at 8.45 p.m We regret to say that this is not the firs* offence. We venture to express the hope that his parents will manage to ‘pilot’ him in the straight and narrow way. “We think, my lord, that a short Imprisonment with our gentle Bears would have a salutary effect. ’ Then on to the barbarous doctor with his ear-squirtings, ungentle comments and yeasty pills, and the barber with his glutinous preparation and heart-chilling promises, and then the appalling backward flip into the chilly water and the none too gentle hands of the Bears, who were taking just a few more pulls at the bottle than they needed to keep warm. Ensued a wild scramble for places in front of a photographer, Neptune, Bears and all mixed up with the oxnovices, some of whom occasionally produced a little sea-water that had been shaken into them.. Proceedings closed with a much for all concerned, and a ball in the evening, which was as warm and tropical as it should have been. At the ball the Certificate were presented. Every novice "eceived a copy, printed on a mimeograph At the top was a flaring Union Jack, and in a border Neptune in his chariot galloping madly over u-e _ves, ana in the border the words ‘Neptunus Maris,” and the name of the ship and her line. In a scroll lower down was the message “To All To Whom These Presents May Come Greetings.” Finally, the wording of the Certificate, as follows: “Know all men by these presents that our trusty has served as a novice on board s.s. and that this day he was duly initiated according to the mystic rites and cere monies, and we do signify that it i 3 our pleasure to confer upon him the ‘Freedom of the Seas,’ and to exempt him from farther homage. “Given at our Court on the Equator. “The 4th day of October, 192