THE BC LUMBER WORKER

March 19, 1941

‘One Logger ~- Five Millionaires’

A Tale of the British Columbia Coast

(Continued from Last Issue)

‘While learning this much, he had edged
his boat up to windward of the burning
wreck. A boat had been launched but
had capsized in the seaway. Her painter
still held her to the yacht. In the water
and clinging to the upturned boat or to
ropes hanging from the yacht were five
men. On the rail aft, where the fire had
not yet burned it away, another indivi-

% dual was putting into practice the motto

of the wise sailorman working over the
side, “one hand for the ship and one for
: me.” He was holding on like grim death
with his left hand and steadying a mat-
tress that seemed to want to slide over-
board, with the other.

On closer inspection, Joe saw that there
was a man on the mattress and that this
was where help was needed most, Turn-
ing to the swimmer he had picked up,
he said, “Lend a hand, here, you. Make
the bow line fast to that there bitt.” He
got on help, however, as that individual
seemed to know nothing either about
lines or bitts, The man who was holding
the mattress then let go the hand that
was holding for “himself” and said, “Gim-
me the line.” He made fast with his one
hand and Joe did the same at the stern.
Then hetween them, Joe and the cook,
for he was the man on the rail, eased the
mattress with its human burden on to
Joe's boat, The body on it was that of the
captain, He was badly burned and had
to be handled with extreme care.

Worth a Million

‘A few minutes more and the men cling-
Ing to the upturned boat were all aboard,
Every one of them had to be lifted out
of the water by Joe, as they were in
an advanced stage of exhaustion and
could do nothing to help themselves. The
owner was the heaviest as deadweight,
but was least affected by the immersion
in the cold water. As he rolled into the
well of the boat, he mumbled, “This is a
good day’s work you've done, my man.
It’s worth a million dollars to get out
of this fix.” One of them, whom Joe
afterwards found to be the steward,
passed out as he was hauled aboard. Joe
and the cook then lifted the rowboat into
the stern and the cook, too, collapsed.
‘This had all occurred almost as quickly
as it takes to tell of it. The heat of the
fire was being blown away by the wind,
since there was not much of her left to
burn, All that remained to do now was
to cast off from the yacht. While Joe
loosed the stern line he asked one of the
rescued men to do the same in the bow.
He was just as dumb as the swimmer. He
never made a move. Joe had no sooner
let_go his line than the yacht took a
roll and the boat's head went with it
In his mind’s eye, he saw the yacht go
down and his boat; and everybody in it,
landing in Fiddlers’ Ground if the line
held. He picked up an axe, jumped into
the bow and made a slash at the line
where it was fastened to the bitt. He
cut through it all right, but not before
some of the planks and deck house of
his boat had been torn apart. The dam-
‘ age was not enough to be dangerous

‘and he shoved off with the pike pole and
kicked in the engine just at the moment
that the yacht settled down by the stern
to sink in 60 fathoms.

Engineer Missing

‘The cook had come to by now and was
the first to open any kind of conversa-
tion. His first words were, “What about
the engineer?” “The engincer,” said Joe,
“if he was on the yacht when she tool
that header, they's not much chance for
him.” “Oh, no,” replied the cook, “he was
blown clean out of the engine room when
the explosion took place.” “Blowed clean
out, was he? Well, that's too bad. Must be
all of 15 minutes ago, an’ if he was
blowed outa the boat, it's dollars to
doughnuts he was dead when he hit the

water. We'd only be wastin’ time lookin’

for him. We got no time to be lookin’

for one dead one when they’s a couple a
half-alive ones there we might be able to
do somethin’ for. The captain there an’
that o! man who was in the chuck,
they’re in pretty bad shape. We better get
them to my house. My ol’ woman’s pretty
good help this kind a business.” “I guess
you're right, mister,” agreed the cook.
“Fifteen minutes is a long time. Seemed
to me hanging on to that mattress it
was 15 years.”

Bagger, who by this time had man-
aged to wring some of the water out of
his clothes, now took a hand in the con-
versation. “My man,” he said, “this is
the best day’s work you ever did. It was
worth a million dollars to get into this
boat. You'll never be sorry for what
you did today, and there’s a bunch of
men here who won’t forget it.” He then
introduced them in turn, passing up the
cook and the steward.

Crook Becomes Voluble

Crook, the swimmer first picked up,
was becoming voluble. The heat of the
engine room had almost dried him out.
He had apparently forgotten the high
pressure prayers and the crossing he
had done in the water. Now with the
danger past, he was explaining to the
others how he had saved their lives, “Un-
doubtedly,” he contended, “if I had not
swam ashore and got his boatman to
come to your assistance, you would all
have been drowned.” Since each had his
own thimbleful of misery to think of,
no one heeded him, but the look of con-
tempt on the face of the cook showed
plainly how he felt about Crook’s claim.

When the boat pulled up at the float
below Joe's house, his wife and two
young sons were waiting for them. -After
explaining what had happened, he said,
"Get lots a hot coffee, Molly.” “Got two
gallons on the stove, ready for drinkin’,
Joe,” she came back at him. “Bring
them people right up to the house. I've
got a bottle of carron oil an’ a roll of
cotton to fix up the man that’s burned.”

Joe, the cook and the two boys packed
the mattress with the captain on it and
Mrs. Burton helped the old steward, who
had recovered as the boat came into
the float. The rest followed like a gaggle
of geese.

In the front room in the house, the
draft was roaring up the chimney from
a red hot box stove. Everybody was told
to make themselves “to home.” The mat-
tress with the captain on it was taken
into a bedroom.on the other side of the
house and taken charge of by Mrs. Bur-
ton, helped by the cook.

Nothing Like Hot Scotch

From a cupboard, Joe brought out a
bottle of Scotch and tumblers enough to
go round. A kettle of boiling water, a
couple of lemons and a bowl of sugar
followed and soon the aroma of Para-
dise spread through the house. “Here,”
he said, “put this down first an’ you'll
feel like new men. It'll be a good foun-
dation for the coffee.” After they had
drunk it, saving only enough for the cook
and the captain, Hoskins P, Naylor ex-
pressed the changed feelings of them all,
“There's nothing,” he said, “like hot
Scotch, warm and cheery, to soften the
nerves and the senses and cast a golden
glow over a sodden world.”

The boys brought the coffee in, with
dishes of venison, mulligan, potatoes,
beans and fresh bread and butter. By the
way they ate they showed they were hun-
gry and afterwards they all voted it the
best meal they had ever eaten. Joe mean-
while was busy with some scantling and
a hammer and nails, rigging up a rack
around the box stove, on which to dry
their clothes,

Before they were finished eating, Mrs.
Burton came in to say that she had done
everything possible for the captain. Only
his face and hands were burned and these
had been dressed with oiled cotton and

By OL’ BILL

bandaged, but he must have had a severe
shock. It would be necessary to get him
to the hospital in the morning, but he
was just as well resting here for the
night.

This idea suited Joe better than pull-
ing out right away. The damage to his
boat might be more serious than it
looked. “All right,” he said, “you fellas
make yourselves as comfortable as you
can. You got all the cushions in the
house an’ you can hang your clothes on
that there rack an’ they'll be dry in no
time. You'll find towels in the big box
there.” Turning to one of the boys, he
said, “You get a lantern an’ come with
me, Chuck, an’ we'll give the boat the
once over.” The cook, who had swal-
lowed a, meal and whose clothes had not
been wet, thought he might be of some
use, so he went along too.

With Luck Safe For Trip

It was nearly two hours before they re-
turned. The damage was much greater
than it seemed at first. But they had
fixed it to make her seaworthy enough
to take them to the hospital at Shanty-
town, if they did not run into a real
blow. They had bolted down the planks,
spread some matting over them and cov-
ered the whole with a canvas dodger
battened down along the rail. With any
kind of luck they would be safe for
the trip.

While they were doing the job, the cook
told Joe as much as he knew about the
owner and his friends; who they were
and the place they occupied in American
business and social life. And he knew
sie a lot more than they thought he

id.

When Joe came back into the house,
they, all at once, began to thank him
for the service he had done them, They
were now quite cheerful. Only the cook
was low-spirited. He was still thinking
of the engineer and tHe captain.

Plans were made for the morrow. They
would pull out for Shantytown at day-
break. If they didn’t have to buck the
wind they would make it in five hours.
‘They would leave the injured man in the
hospital and catch the boat in the after-
noon for Vancouver, There was nothing
very important about the balance of
their trip anyhow.

Unexplainable Explosion

No one could account for the explo-
sion. A leak in the gas line, no doubt.
And the explosion had occurred amid.
ships, blowing poor Krautmacher right
out of the yacht. They would report
to the police at Shantytown, who might
find the body. Perhaps! No, they did
not know whether he had any family
or not. This in answer to a question from
Joe's wife,

“What do you call this place?” asked
Bagger as they enjoyed the smoke of the
tobacco that Joe passed around,

“The bay is called Ten-Spot Cove,” re-
plied Joe, “and the little crick that runs
into it is Sawbuck Crick.”

“What funny names !” remarked Beas-
tle, the authority on mortgages, “how
did they ever come to get such names?”

“Well,” Joe continued, “ol’ man Harri-
son located this here pre-emption an’
Proved up on it ‘bout 50 years ago. He
named the cove an’ the crick, One a his
boys tol’ me before they moved out a
the country, his ol’ dad come up here in
a rowboat from Nanaimo with all his
belongings an’ when he got here he hadn't
nothin’ but a ten dollar bill left in the
World. ‘That's how Ten-Spot an’ Sawbuck

e to be
fame fo be part a the geography of this

“You say they moved awa: i
they want to move?” a

(To be Continued in Next Issue)

Feed? Millionaires’ profits Comer
abner es! . .. A decent life for Richards and Hastings
= aa ies StS

COMFORT AND
SERVICE AT
MODERATE PRICES

REGENT HOTEL

160 East Hastings St. - Vancouver, B.C.
a) SSC ) > () ED () 4) a> O- C

STEP OUT
IN ONE OF
OUR

Suits!
*

There’s style and good wear
built into every one of these
snappy suits, They are expertly
tailored from famous makers
and we have a complete range
in the new Spring shades.

Free Alterations on all
Suits. Free Storage
also if you want it.

45 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C.

Pennsylvania
Hotel

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Carrall & Hastings Street

“The Loggers’ Hub’”’
FIRST CLASS ACCOMMODA-
TION at REASONABLE PRICES

Kenneth Campbell & Sons
Proprietors

e@
MEET YOUR FRIENDS
AT THE PENN.!

WINDSOR TAILORS

CLEANING — PRESSING
REPAIRING

Travelers’ Sample Suits
Values to $35.00 — Special —

$14.75 ana up

Liberal Allowance on Your Old Suit
$2 B, HASTING ST. SEy. 6758

DENTISTS

LLEWELLYN

Dr. R. Douglas

Phone SEy. 5577

==
Gs OG GEE 0G 0 GD 0D OD Om

SPECIAL WEEKLY
AND MONTHLY
RATES TO LOGGERS

S|
[
|
i

re}

@