NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Vol. XIII 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, September 10 
SSS SS} 
No. 37 
How I Cruised in Sunny Seas 
By ‘‘Danny Dow’’ 
THE views on opposite page of the saloon and dining 
room of the Steamship ‘‘Pastores” of the “Great 
White Fleet,” were loaned to me and | am able to present 
them by courtesy of the Passenger Department of the 
United Fruit Company. 
But it was not on a ship of this class that I made my 
first eruise through Sunny Seas, Oh, no! It was on 
one of the “Admiral” ships then under charter to that 
company. And I have never forgotten it, and further- 
more I never shall. 
I had read a great deal about the “Admirals,” ther 
safe sea-going qualities, their stability, their speed and 
their general all round “goodness.” Probably it was all 
true, too. But it would not have made a great deal of 
difference to me whether it was or not. But, oh! that 
first trip. Not that it was any worse than trips I had 
made across the western ocean, but I suppose | expected 
too much, and—well I got too much, but not just what | 
expected. 
It is not my intention to tell you about that trip, any- 
way, because | could not, for the most of the time I was 
tied to my little berth, and although the food was excel- 
lent I thought at that time that I should never want to 
see food again. Still the “Admiral” ships were every- 
thing—as advertised, and in their day were as good as 
travelled southern seas. But I shall always remember the 
little staterooms, the close dining room, and the general 
ali round smelly—very much smelly—shippy ships. 
I simply mention the “Admirals” to tell you what 
a marvellous difference there is between them and the 
present stars of the “Great White Fleet” the Pastoresg 
‘“’enadores” and “Calamares.” I made a trip on the 
“Pastores,” last winter. It was this way. I was weary 
a condition most newspaper persons get to when they 
have time to think about it—-when | happened to run 
across a booklet, called the ‘Story of a la Carte.” Frank'y, 
it was interesting. An advertising booklet has to be in- 
teresting to get a newspaper person to read it. Although 
the first time I read it out of curiosity, I read it the next 
time out of pure interest, for I found it was issued iy 
the Passenger Department of the United Fruit Company, 
and I could but admit it was clever—advertising. Did 
I believe it. Well, not all of it, because I remembered the 
“Admiral” days. Still I then and there decided I would 
make the trip again, For, thinks I, here’s my chance, 
here’s the opportunity that | have been waiting for, and 
J will just beat the United Fruit Company and its clever 
Passenger Department to a standstill. For I felt per- 
fectly sure I was going to be so seasick that the dining 
room, a la carte or any other system would not have me 
for a customer on that trip. : 
The weather had been unusually severe and cruel in 
New York. It had snowed some, and bleak and cold 
rains had alternated with the snow for over two months. 
I was weary of the weather, of my work, and—of my- 
self. It was in this “cheerful” frame of mind that I 
wended my way one Saturday morning along Pier 16, 
East River, New York, climbed the gangway, and board- 
b) 
ed the “Pastores.” One of the first persons I met was my 
old friend Captain A. H. Henshaw, Now I have met 
Captain Henshaw many times since that memorable trip 
J made with him on the old “Admiral Farragut,” and 
each time he will persist in telling me the “fine” trip that 
was. As usual he started the same story, but I think he 
must have noticed the look in my eyes, for he excused 
himself, but only just in time, for unless he reads this 
little story he will never know how near he came +o 
having that gold-braided spick-and-span uniform of his 
tarnished by the cold, muddy waters of the East River. 
However, I was aboard. Surprised? Well that 
great big ship is just chock full of surprises from the m1n- 
ute you step your foot on the deck. J am not much on 
describing furniture and fittings—the advertising man- 
agers of the great furniture houses do it much bette1 
than I can—but the spick-and-span appearance of every- 
thing was a delight to behold. The soft, downy carpets, 
tlie great big inviting lounging chairs, the spaciousness of 
the saloon and dining room, the exquisite taste displayed 
in the fittings, and hangings to the windows—oh, yes, 
real windows, too, not the two by twice affairs that are 
generally called windows on board ship. Then the flow- 
ers, mind you flowers in January, and growing flowers at 
that, As to the daintiness and the cleanliness of every- 
thing, it reminded me of what the hostess of a little Eng- 
lish Inn said to me once when'I asked her if the place 
was clean. “Clean, Sir,” said she, “Why you could h’eat 
your meals h’off the floor, sir.” 
There is one objection that I have, though, and that 
is that the service is so good on these ships they leave 
you scarcely anything to do for yourself, and even a 
that the service is so wunostentatious that one hardly 
notices it, and therein it differs from the annoying of- 
fensive service one meets with only too often. 
The staterooms were another surprise to me. | 
have often wondered where the word “staterooms” «as 
used in connection with ships originated, for if there ‘s 
ai ‘arisnomer sineethe Wknelish’ lanenage. atiidis, the 
word “state”. as applied to some of the “cubby holes” 
in ships I have travelled on. But these staterooms de- 
served the name, not that they were particularly “stately, ° 
but they were real roomy rooms, clean, inviting, with 
great mirrors, a comfortable lounge, chairs, steam heat, 
and hot and cold running water. The air, why the «ir 
was as pure and sweet as it was on deck, and further- 
more it was that way for the whole voyage. Later | 
acked about this and was shown the system of ventila- 
tion. I did not understand a great deal what the court- 
eous engineer told me, but it wasn’t his fault, for he 
showed me the great blowers and fans and the great sys- 
tem of the why and the wherefore, and he certainly 
knew what he was talking about, and was proud of it. 
l agreed with him anyway for to my mind the greatest 
advance that has been made for the benefit of people who 
eo down to the sea in ships is this sare system of ven- 
tilation that absolutely does away with that nauseous 
shippy s:rell, which up till within a very short time ago 
