874 
[Dec. i, 1906. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
JUST GETTING WET. 
under ordinary circumstances, “cheery men,” not 
generally afraid of man, the elements, or the 
devil; but I say without fear or gainsay, that 
while the great Lake Michigan has no fear for 
any of us—at least it has its terrors for two, 
because a bad case of seasickness laid its tre¬ 
mendous hold on George and Fred to such an 
extent that even during the gale they were not 
interested to know or care whether the life boat 
was on board, or the engine needed oiling. I 
can even now see poor Fred trying with all his 
force of character and physical culture to ex¬ 
plain to me at that critical time the difference 
between the carburetor and the clutch. 
While we were in Muskegon, one of these 
extraordinary June storms gathered up a whole 
lot of fury, way down in the southwestern States 
somewhere, and started in a “bee-line” for 
Chicago, selecting a northeasterly course across 
the lake, trying its very best to head us off and 
break up our journey; and we amused ourselves 
one entire afternoon trying to persuade the 
barometer to rise one point. Finally that rise of 
one point occurred about 8 o’clock Thursday 
evening, June 7, and we crossed Muskegon Bay 
so as to tie up in the channel at the life saving 
station, through which the steamers pass out 
into the Great Lakes. We reached our anchor¬ 
age there about 11:30, and by the time we tied 
our boat (and smashed a window pane of glass 
in doing so, because a stringer on a pier would 
get in our way), smoked our pipes, spun our 
yarns—in true sailor fashion—we turned in, to 
use the proper “tar” expression, at 1:00 A. M., 
and in spite of all our efforts that barometer 
would not rise, and it was blowing good and 
hard. 
Friday morning found the weather no better— 
176 miles. In about an hour those great, black 
clouds, which mean wind and plenty of it to 
the mariner, rose very rapidly out of the horizon 
ahead of us, and the sea commenced to “make” 
very fast, and continued to “make” until we 
called a consultation and decided the best thing 
we could do would be to put back into Grand 
Haven; and I have not yet been able to figure 
out to my own satisfaction why we went all the 
way back to Grand Haven instead of going due 
E. into Holland. 
Those who have seen a gale of three or four 
hours’ duration on Lake Michigan will readily 
appreciate the fact, that in a 40ft. launch we were 
simply picked up by one high place and thrown 
over to the next, sometime thrown clear over 
the next into the bottom of the one which was 
that is, as far as the clouds and barometer were 
concerned; but there was not such a heay sea 
running. We advised with the genial captain 
of the life saving station until 11:00 A. M., when 
we decided to start; we set our course S. by S.W. 
one point W. of Chicago, a distance of about 
sure to follow. Thus it was, from top to bot¬ 
tom and from bottom to top, but our good, true 
launch coming right side down every time. 
Now this boat was not built for ocean traveling, 
and the mass of broken crockery, glassware, 
edibles, etc., which we threw overboard, not to 
mention bruised shins and heads, was quite re¬ 
markable. 
We decided to anchor for the night in Grand 
Haven, and hoped that the barometer would at 
least be kind enough to rise another point be¬ 
fore starting out again Saturday morning, and 
we were greatly gratified to find the barometer 
two points higher in the morning, so we weighed 
anchor and started out at 6 o’clock. The sea, 
however, would insist on “making,” simply to 
prove to us that it could do it, and after a few 
hours we were driven back into Holland; we 
then coasted down to South Haven, and from 
South Haven to St. Joseph, where we witnessed 
one of the most beautiful sunsets and rainbows 
I have ever seen. This condition and a rise of 
the barometer reassured us, so we fully deter¬ 
mined to start at 11 o’clock that night for 
Chicago, because we had made up our minds 
to cross the lake, and cross we would; but, alas! 
for poor George and Fred, still sick, and not 
only sick, but weak from continued sickness. 
Paul and I held a conference, and as Paul not 
only builds boats, but engines as well, he is 
therefore an expert engineer. Paul said he 
would run the engine if I would navigate the 
boat, and we would put the invalids to bed and 
arrive in Chicago Sunday morning. Under 
those conditions, with the invalids asleep, we 
started out into the choppy sea, but not a bad 
one. About 12 o’clock midnight we were over¬ 
taken by the City of Chicago, and we saluted 
and received a salute in return. We verified 
our course by hers, and found that we were 
absolutely correct. Nature, however, seemed to 
have it in for us, and when we were just exactly 
half way across the lake, and when it was a case 
of eat bean soup or leave the table, a squall 
came up out of the horizon and squalled for an 
hour. Fortunately, one of the symptoms of 
seasickness, after it has reached a chronic state, 
is great drowsiness. The doctors tell us that 
this is occasioned by loss of appetite, and. in 
fact, everything else internal, and the invalids 
did not get up during the squall. 
Daylight brought fair weather, and when we 
ran into Chicago the sea was really quite calm. 
When we were about 5 miles from Chicago, at 
the lighthouse, and the high buildings were 
well in view, poor Fred wended his way to the 
pilot window, looked out, and said (when he got 
the opportunity), “Great Scott! aren’t we to 
Continued on page 885. 
ILLINOIS RIVER. 
LIFE SAVING STATION, MUSKEGON HARBOR. 
