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30 THE Marine REVIEW "In The Merchant Service." Fire-and-boat drill was over on the Hamilton, and the crew had _ dis- missed to their quarters. The engineers had foregathered in the Third's room, and were sprawling about in the usual attitude of reckless aban- don, which denotes the fact that the owner of the room is busy elsewhere. The Third was having seven-bell *lunch. i aT = yu CHU i eG cera Uy, time, and fire-drills were just coming into force. "Our skipper, a very dignified little man, not long in command, hailed with delight the order from the office to have fire-and-boat drill every Sunday morn- ing at sea--weather permitting, of course. "He intended making an event of it. "Well, we sailed in due course, and the pei ll iti (iit Se HCO LINED UP. They were discussing in a leisurely manner the late drill, each man having "some caustic remarks to make on the various crews of their numerous boats-- barring his own, of course. It was no occasion for the character- istic argument, so, when the Second 'smiled reminiscently, and displayed oth- er symptoms of having another of his -yarns to spin, he found an attentive au- dience. "Talking about fire-drills,' he com- menced, "I will never forget the first Grecdrill it was my painful duty to take part in. "I was on the old -East Indian at the eventful Sunday arrived, bringing with "it all sorts of preparations for the suc- cessful carrying through of the drill at ten o'clock. "The Third, Graham, was on watch at that time, so I had the task of round- ing up the boiler-room gang to muster. Our 'Old Man' had a preliminary in- spection down in the fo'castle, and a motley bunch our crowd looked when lined up. "The company hadn't raised the fire- men to the dignity of a uniform then, so they had rigged themselves out in the best their kits contained. All sorts of jumpers, guernseys, and caps' were on parade, and a more piratical looking crew never shipped across the 'Western.' 1 guess they must have had a tarpaulin inuster, on a share-and-share alike basis. "Some. little. time before the drill came off, Graham made the necessary preparations below, opening up the usual deck connections on the pump. "I say the pump, as we were not so lavishly provided: with pumps then as we ate today, and our donkey had to fill the bill as sanitary, bilge or deck fump as occasion required. -"Now, after setting the pump all ready {6r action, Graham went out to the fire yoom to hustle along the already hus- tling watch. Perhaps he was a couple of points behind--he usually was. "But the Junior on watch, Brown, was having trouble with his bilges, and, fearing the gradual accumulation of wat- er in his wells, he set the pump ready . for bilge work, if necessary. "Thereby hangs a tale. "The passengers got wind of the fact that a muster was coming off, and had collected on the promenade deck under. the bridge, prepared to take a lively interest in the proceedings. Any break in the monotony of the trip was wel- come. : "Below on the main deck, the sailors were lined up with a couple of hoses, our gang manning the geared pumps on deck. "Under the fo'castle head, the doctor and some of the other auxiliaries had their quarters, and when their doors were closed, a large expanse of beauti- ful white bulkhead was exposed to view. Against this bulkhead it was decided to play the hoses, for effect, you under- stand, "When the eventful moment arrived, the stewards appeared on deck armed with fire hatchets and buckets, and a 'hush of expectancy fell on the throng' "Suddenly the alarm bell rang out-- away. down below could be heard the tinkle of the telegraph, and immediately after the faint beat of the fire pump. "Here -she comes, sang out the bo'sun's mate. The sailors took a deep breath and a firmer grip. The hoses squirmed and stiffened out as the water arrived--a magnificent flow of muddy- brown bilge extract, interspersed with portions of grease and coal dirt. "If I remember rightly, there was also a smell. "For a few seconds everyone just gaped, till the spell was broken by the bo'sun's mate dropping the nozzle of the hose. His action was followed with great promptitude by the sailors sup- porting him in the rear.