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THE MarRINE. REVIEW "IN THE MERCHANT SERVICE" 'Twas the longshoremen's _ strike, and the friends of the First of the Jamaican stepped gingerly . along the sidewalk on West street, rounding the little groups of strikers at a wide -radius. Though the strikers selves were not at all what the friends had pictured them to be, still, how were they to know that those peaceful looking mortals were not wolves in sheeps' clothing? Even if there was a temporary suspension of hostilities, a striker might be de- sirous of keeping his hand in, and a half brick patting one on the back is--well--annoying. es Then, again, there were these vil- lainous looking policemen 'hanging around the dock gates, -playfully toyed with their clubs. _ Having run the gauntlet and gained the deck of the Jamaican, the friends bteathed. more freely.. Well, they would have breathed more freely if there had been a trifle less coal dust in the atmosphere. figure was darting back and forth along the deck, stopping at intervals . to hang over the rail and shout at some equally dusky groups of figures shoveling and shouting in the coal barges alongside... The rattle of winches, slamming of coal buckets, and squealing of blocks added to the noise. and bustle, and the _ First's friends, unused to this phase of sea- faring life, shrank back as the glaring eyes of a maniac on deck were sud- denly turned. on them. "Hello," croaked the grimy one, "So you got aboard all right." Heav- ens! could this be Johnson--poor old Johnsy--whose job they had envied as they sat in his cabin of an evening telling him what good times marine engineers had. He opened the door of his room and they stepped in off the deck, not at all sorry to get away from the din and dust. A good look at the First verified his statement that they were working into all hours of the night. A long sleep wouldn't have done his swollen eyes any harm. "Well," he said, after gulping down a glass of water to wash the coal dust from his throat to his interior, "were. getting along." = "You' see,' -he went on in explanation, "firemen and coal passers are good men at their own particular line of work, but at coaling a ship they can't come up to. the regular coal heavers. The only thing I am scared of, is, that at the rate they are disabling one an- them--- glancing suspiciously at the passers by as they' ey AS A solitary dusky | all the other there won't be enough left to finish the job. Half an hour ago we fished, one man, spluttering and curs- ing, from the dock. The last muster roll showed a few disabled, but none are under the barges as yet. To thor- oughly appreciate the situation you. had better take a cigar, come out on deck, and stand to windward of the dirt and dust where you can see all that is transpiring, incidentally thank- ing heayen for your job in the dry goods store." As they understand Johnson was too busy to spend much time in their company, they followed him out on the deck again. ' Immediately. beneath their position on the deck a* gang of men had * Ited work; ~ the ""winchman on the a aRn 'dislodging the jolt throwing half of the bucket's con- tents back on the barge, and nearly Selters.' A wail-ot agony rose from the barge, "Tower away, curse you!" roared the First, and the extreme prompt- ness with which the oiler obeyed his order caused the bucket to slam back on the barge, narrowly missing one of the shovelers who was hopping round the barge holding his hand on a part of his cranium where a piece of coal had descended. While the bucket was being refilled the Second addressed a few remarks to an individual who was. endeavoring to manipulate a guide rope attached to the bucket, a turn of said rope being round a heavy wooden peg at- tached to the side of the barge. A ICCC TIE Cee en "THEY'LL BE ALL RIGHT WHEN THEY GIT INTO THE SWING OF IT." float was knocking' off for his supper, an oiler having volunteered to take his place pro tem. With a super- cilious smile the oiler was ignoring good-natured winchman's ad- vice, assuring him that he could run "any darned old thing.' The winch- man disappeared with a dubious shake of his head, A bucket, ready filled, lay on the barge, the men resting on their shovels to await the empty re- turn. Up on a platform at the coal- port on the ship's side two men stood ' by the chute to tilt the bucket. od ! "Let 'er go!" yelled another dusky figure, balancing himself dangerously near the edge of the barge--the sec- ond assistant. In response the winch rattled and the bucket sailed with lightning ve- locity into the air. At least, it sailed as far as the platform on which the "tilters"' stood. Catching under this it came to an abrupt stop, the sudden d "Try er again, and go easy' came the order. The temporary winchman, telling the winch it was the '"darnd- est old box o' tricks he'd ever seen," gently pulled the lever. The bucket slowly clambered over the coals and swung clear in a gradually increasing circle as it arose from the barge. On the platform the men stood ready to arrest its progress, one of them wild- ly grabbing at it as it sailed past. He had made a trifling miscalculation, however, and would have probably joined the bucket .in its airy flight had not his mate with great presence of mind seized him by the stern por- tion of his nether raiment. "They'll be all right when they get into the swing of it,' tackled the weary First. . "Here, you,' bawled the Second to the man on the rope, "what in hell are you trying to do with a double turn on that line, do you want to