Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 edition. Excerpt: ...to taste oily. But with all of these discomforts we enjoyed ourselves, as the band gave concerts on the upper deck every night that the weather would permit. We also had drilling every day, which gave us some excitement. The sea was rather rough in some places, and it was amusing to watch some of the boys scramble when the high waves would wash over the decks. Every day we would take shower baths, so we kept ourselves clean at least. The berths were arranged below the decks in tiers of three high and two wide. The bottoms were made of heavy canvas, on which we also used our blankets and a pillow, which made a very comfortable bed. After we had been sailing for about five days the engines of the transport got out of order and we were obliged to stop for repairs, which delayed us some time. As the seas were running very high at the time it made it somewhat unpleasant for a while. The wind soon went down and everything became quiet and calm. Some of the boys had great sport fishing for sharks. Most always sharks follow a ship at sea. Fishing for sharks is accomplished by placing a large piece of meat on a large hook, such as are used in butcher shops to hang meat on. To this hook a long rope is attached, which answers as a line. Then the meat and hook are thrown overboard into the sea. Shortly after we had done this we felt some tugging, and noticed that the rope was tightening. Sure enough a huge shark had swallowed the hook, meat and all, and it certainly did pull. It was no easy task to haul it on deck on account of its heavy weight, but with the aid of several soldiers we finally succeeded in landing it. We had to take a turn around the mast with the rope and pull gradually. At last we succeeded in landing it on deck. It measured nine...
