Evening Star Newspaper, October 28, 1923, Page 64

! _Although theingme of-John Ken- i lon is known in many cities of many countries—known for twelve years as the chlet of the most extensive fire-fighting force in ti world—it is & name which until Tecently has never been assoclated, @ven In the minds of New Yorkers, with the sea. And yet, Chief Ken- Jon spent the first quarter of his stirring, picturesque career before the mast and as.a ship's officer, ‘both upon the ocean and, for a ®rief but correspondingly oxciting period, upon the Great Lakes. His story of those years is & genulne “human documen appealing, even, than as a brave man's struggle with the sea is it a3 a brave boy's struggle with life. The most noteworthy of his ad- ventures are to be recounted in a #ignal series of articl of which the following is the first. They are not the handiwork of a profes- sinal artisan of situations, but & stralghtforward man-to-man re- ¢ltal of the criges of those yeers he writes. “near the littie seaport village of Anna- @assan, county Louth, Ireland—on the shore of Dundalk bay. One of my earliest recollections carrl me back to the age of four years, to a ecens fixed even in that tender memory as one of profound misery—my mother, with a family of little ones like myself, had been ejected from our humble cottage by the sea. * ¢ o s “My father obtained his educa- tion from itinerant, teachers known in Ireland as ‘hedge school- masters.’ These men imparted knowledge by the roadside, defy- ing the law In order. to do so. * * * Under the desperate eco- nomic conditions which then pre- valled In Ireland, boys went to work very young; and, as my father was working on a nearby estate, I was employed, when about ten years old, on the same farm at wages amounting to six- pence—about ten cents—per day.” John Kenlon's father, despite such handicaps, was an intellectual man, and implanted in his ‘young son®not only a knowledge of his- tory and an appreciation of litera- ture, but a keen taste for learning which quickened his later study of pavigation. He recelved in par- ticular a heritage of devout re- Hgious feeling and clean merality with which to meet the pittalls of “the world. “My father was hard-working, temperate, Ingenious,” he remem- * yet with all his in- dustry and learning, he could not keep & roof over our heads. I pon- dered these things in my boyish brain and resolved, as it seemed impossible to cope with the cir- cumstances that held us all in a vice-like grip, I would some day break aw: BY JOHN KENLON, HEN in my thirteenth year, 1 was visiting the port of Dundalk, Ireland, one day Wwhen I fell in with a se faring man whose real name was Pat Casey, -though' he was known around the country as.“¥ank.” This was because he had made several success- ful voyages to America. Casey had one hobby, that of en- couraging-all Irlsh boys with whom he came In contact to go to sea. His craft was a little topsail schooner which he called the Mar- garet and Peggy in fine dlsregard of the fact that “Margaret” and “Peggy” happened to be the same name. Casey ‘was a sallorman by natural instinct, and it was & common saying that *“Yank"” would go to sea on a plank if it wasn't water-logged. Capt. Casey hailed me with hearty and interested enthusiasm, asking his inevitable question, why such a fine “broth of a boy” should hesitate about. going to sea. He Inquired if I had seen a boy from his ship, and asked me to look for him. I searched diligently for Casey's boy up to 10 o'clock that night. Not finding him, I went to the Margaret and Peggy and told Capt. Casey that if he would take me instead of. his boy I would go. The doughty cap tain clapped me on the back and In a “plg's whisper” I was taken on. ‘We set sail a few hours after I had gone on board. Our crew consisted of two men besides the skipper and my- self. Never shall I forget my first night out on the Irish sea. It was my duty, among other things, to get out the sidelights, trim them fill them with the old-fashioned “lard-oil” used in those days, and climb up into the rig- ging and set them in place. The sea being choppy, and my stomach squeamish with the smell of the fuming lard-oll when I came on deck after a spell in the forepeak, among the tar-brushes, rope and bilg 3 1 was quite ready to give up my in- most secrets. 1 had no idea whether we were bound north, south, east or west, nor did T care a great deal at that par- ticular stage of the game. About, 4 o'clock @ the morning Capt. Casey said: “Boy go below for an hour or two.” There was no regu- lar watch on Casey’'s ship. All hands were on deck continuously. I didn't know. just where to lle down, for I could not bring myself to go into the fo'c's'le and get another whiff of that mixed order of all that was un- holy. I managed to find a coll of rope on deck that acted as a shelter fyom the wind. 1 didn’t suspect, as I lay on that coil of rope, that my first venture upon the sea. was soon to end in an excitihg manner. We were well down past Belfast by the next afternoon, and had hauled more -to the west, when the wind started to blow, which keeled the Margaret and Peggy over, and I found myself wondering how far on her side & boat could go with- out turning bottom upwards. About ¢ o'clock the next morning the gale increased in violence to such an extent thet Capt. Casey—after shortening sail 43 much as possible— had to abandon his attempt to kesp on his course and run before it. This mmeant that the little ship had to turn tall to the gale, virtually under bare poles, and drive whither the winds blew her. *® Ew that inclosed space tnere ‘was topsail and 3id had b blown away eprifer in the night, and when the coast of Bcotland loomed ahead of us there was very little canvas on the Margarst and Peggy. Just as we were about to run ashore a glant wave rolled under our hull, and, lifting us high in the air, shot us upon the beach on the coast of Ayrshire, sbout three miles south of Turnbury polnt. - We were car- ried 80 high on the beach that when the ‘wave which threw us ashore receded we oould walk dry-shod upon firm ground. An ordinary ship, under such cir- cumstances, would have been dashed to pleces. But. the Margaret and Peggy, & small vessel of about 110 tons burden, and with a specially built hull-for just such emergencies, of the best seasoned oak and rein- forced like a battleship, stood the shock, with the exception of the open- Ing of a few of her seams, which Capt. Casey Immediately proceeded to re- palr In the method pecullar to him- selt. He managed to procure from the lord of a nearby estate a number of tallow candles, and, golng about the hull of the Margaret and Pegsy ‘with an armful of these candl he stuck them hers ana there len&th- ‘wise, wherever he found an apparent opening, and thus calked his ship in what he called apple-ple order. Half an hour or a little longer after we struck, the wind still being very high and in the same direction, we were not surprised to see another vessel coming ore, the Margaret and Ann; and an hour after that came in on the same beach the Mary and Ann and the Long Ann. A convention of Anns of every varfety was assembled on the shore in this particular gale. Capt. Mathews of the Margaret and Ann was in bigh glee over the fact that he had managed to save some of his salls. He was going about the beach boasting that he would be able to get away on the next high tide and show Casey a clean pair of hee! Capt. Casey, by his jovial manner and Irish blarney and his trick of the tallow cand had won high favoer. The lord, an old yachtsman, appreciated good seaman- ship and initiative, which he evi- dently recognized in C He de- cided to fit out th t and Marga Peggy with a brand-new set of salls, as white as snow and equal in quality to anything ever sported by a yacht. Capt. Casey set us to work digging & trench for our keel, carrying this trench as far as a small nearby inlet. “This wind is going to shift to the south’ard before night,” he said, “then we'll show Mathews a trick or two on ® forced tide.” We had our trench finished before sundown and had bent our new suit of salls, awaiting the coming of the tide. In the meantime, Mathews had gone up to & mnearby town for sup- plies, which gave u: ry opportu- nity to work like ers to get ready for the change of wind and the coming of the tide. EE HE wind veered and the tide came in just as Casey had sald. We msahaged to get our vessel into the small inlet and by midnight the Margaret and Peggy was off the coast and had made the little port of Troon. A few days after we were on our way back to the coast of Irejand, leaving the Margaret and Ann to follow far behind in our wake. A year and four months' trading eventually on & smart brigantine be- tween England, Ireland and Scotland gave me a knowledge of the coast, and 1 became known as a "good coaster.” But coasting wis not my goal. Foreign lands. had a particu- lar attraction for me. The great de- sire of my heart was to get to Liver- pool. = My chance came at last. Our coaster was given a cargo of timber, with orders for Liverpool. ‘We hauled into the Collingwood dock and stert- ed to discharge our cargo. As soon as the opportunity came I went ashore. I learned that s full-rigged ship bound for Melbourne, Australia, was about to ship & orew. I visited the ship in question and timidly ad- dressed the first mate, asking him for-a berth in the ship. The mate looked me over and inquired my age. 1 was then fifteen. I told him of my experience In coasting vessels. A few preliminaries and I was signed up in the Iren Cross of Liverpool, bound for Melbourne with goneral rcargo. As 1 left the ship- ping office I felt the first thrill of & real sallor; no more colliers be- tween Irish and Clyde ports; no more such places as White Haven, Workington, Maryport. But ¥Liverpool my hailing port,” a full- rigged ship going “across the line” and around the Caps of Good that stormy point. that a wise old king renamed “Good Hope,” because the name given it by the first of his mariners to round it was “Cape of Storma.” The king knew the name THE SUNDAY. BTAR, WASHINGTON D. C, OCTOBER 28, 1923_PART 5. ‘New York Department Chief Tells of the Adventures He Encountered Wl;én in His Early ‘Teens—Cast Back Upon Land Twice Within His First Year Before the Mast — How His Knowledge of the Irish Coast Made It Possible for Him to Assist the Master of a_Big Ship. Misfortune‘Produces a Singular Family Reunion. With my saflor-bag over my shoulder, I left the coaster and took & bus to the Satlors’ Home. After checking my bag and registering my name I went into the reading-room, procured & good supply of writing paper and started to write. I had to write three letters—to father, mother and sweetheart. It sounds strange to say sweet- heart, as I was not quite fiftoen years old, but the fact is I was very much “A GIANT WAVE, LIFTING US HIGH IN THE AIR, SHOT US UPON THE BEACH.” in love with a charming little Irish colleen of twelve, the diughter of a sea captain. Here 1 began to deliberate to whom I should pen the first letter; love sald “Sweetheart”; another volce, also of love, sald YMother,” while duty and obedience whisper- ed “Father.” One, then the other, claimed first place but, as time went on, oné attained first place; her sweet tender face appéared before me, 1 felt her presence, her sooth- ing hand pressing my brow. I felt the touch of her affectionate lips upon my cheek and, unconsciously, 1 began my first letter with the words “My Dearest Mother.” Moth- er's letter being finished, a fervent love letter to my sweetheart fol- lowed. Next morning dawned with heavy, gray sky. I was colling & rope near the gang- way as the captaln came on board and I noticed he was a little unsteady on his pins. It became evident as the afternoon wore on that both mates were drinking as, in truth, were all the crew, with two or three excep- tions. I was a total abstainer, a strange thing for a sallor in those days, but the fact was I had never tasted liquor up to that time. Good boys in Ireland take a confirmation pledge not to touch liquor. We were no sooner hove short than & tug came alongside, took our hawser and start- ed out. We passed the Rocklight, the Crosby lightship, and on out to the Northwest lightship, when the tug let go and we made sail. I was & very busy boy that evening:; I loosed the main top-gallant sail and both miszen topsails. We set fore, main and miszen topsails, fore- sail, main sall, crossjack and ma topgallant sail, stay: and outer ji ‘This press of canvas sent the ship bowling along at great speed. At eight bells (twelve o'clock), I had noticed we passed in succesion the Great Orme Head and so Holyhead. Befors going below in the first night watch I was annoyed to see that the officer who assumed the watch staggered as he walked the poop. The officer he relieved was, If anything, in even worse condition. My watch turned out at 4 o'clock. About fifteen minutes after the watch was relleved, the lookout gave the startling cry, “Land ahead.” Here was an extraordinary pussle! How could we bring land ahead it ‘we had properly lald our course down channel, keeping the Welsh coast i I - ] Famous Fire Fighter Began as Boy by Facing Hazards of the Sea l l aboard as we should do with a strong easterly gale blowing? ‘ The order ‘port braces” rang out from the quarterdeck. Starboard tacks were boused down and port braces hauled taut. We were close- hauled on the starboard tack. For a few minutes I was completely mystified. Here we were on the star- board tack with an easterly gale blowing, and land under our lee. ‘“We must be on the coast of Ireland,” thought I, as I looked around to get my bearings. I saw, about three points on the port bow, a bright light flashing. The intervals of flash seened familiar, so I kept watching. Soon another bright light appeared, this one on the starboard bow. Al- mcst at the same time the lookout seng out: “Land ahead.” “Call al]l hands, boy!” was the order 1 received from the mate. I rushed into the forecastle and pang out: ¥Wake up, you sleepers: all hands on deck!” All was bustle now. “Tack sbip,” cried the captain, who had Just come on deok, oarrying the signs of his drinking. Tacks were ralsed, the helm put hard-s-les amd. as that splenaid ship came up In the wind’s eye, my heart stood still. I thought sure she would not stay. The sea was heavy, 50 much so that she took considerable water on board; every man-Jack got & good wetting, but she came around in fine shape. By this time I began to reali: where we were, and it is safe to bet I was the only person on that ship who had the faintest idea of our wi abouts. I went aft and as- cended the poop so that I could get & look at the compass. At once I concluded we were on the coast of Ireland and, in all probabllity, judg- ing from the familiar lights nearby, in Dundalk bay. A few minutes sufficed to confirm this opinion. The lookout reported “breakers ahesd.” This is & setious report on board any ship. It was doubly serious now. I rushed on the the e reet less than half & mile al The ‘whole situation flashed bafore me. The first bright light I saw was the light on Dundalk bar; the second was Carlingford light, and the rocks shead were Dunamy reef. “Tack Bhip" again came the order. Thé crew scented danger. and right quickly did they respond, but fate was against us; the sea was too heavy, the ship would not stay. Here was a terrible dilemma. We were going on the rocks less than ten hours after leaving Liverpool! I took courage, rushed up to the captatn, told him that I knew we were in Dundalk bay, in very shallow water, and that it was barely possible we could wear around without strik- ing. He accepted my advice, even though I was “only a boy" and, after a quick- ly asked question on his part and a quick response on mine, there was nothing to do but to “‘wear” ship. The helm was put “hard up” and she started to pay off before the wind. She had got fairly before the wind and was about to come around on the starboard tack again when she atruck. She struck with force on account of the spread ‘of the canvas. I thought the masts would snap and as she grounded on the bottom it made my heart sick. Sails were clewed up and furled, Only the main lower topsall was kept set to steady the ship and press her forward so that sheé would not pound herself to pieces. The captaln became quite humble, & strange thing for a captain in those days. He called, “Boy, what kind of bottom is here?’ As I had raced and romped over the hard sands of Anna- gassan strand, I knew quite well, so I told him it was hard sand witk here and there, on the southerly side, a rock. Day was breaking now, and as the lengthening shadows receded west- ward I could see the little cottage in which my parents lived, and what is more, I could even recognize my mother she stood among many others of the villagers gasing at the ship. ‘We went ashore at high water. As the tide ebbed off we lowered a boat and pulled into a slightly shel- tered spot on the beach. In a few moments I was in my mother's arms. She was bewildered to see me and T was chagrined to think that my dream of a long and glorious voyage should terminate so quickly at the back of my own house. I reached home before my letters to mother, sweetheart, and “dad.” (Copyright. 1023.) A GHOST LABORATORY They're Prepared to Weigh and Measure 'Em in New York. By NEREWARD CARRINGTON, PRD. HE more deeply we penstrate I into the dim and mystic realms of the psychic world, the more we endeaver to lift the veil of the future, the more certain does it become that progress can only be made, in certaln directions, by the ald of suitable Iaboratory apparatus—that is to say, by means of sclentific in- struments of precision, especially adapted for this purpose. Our senses are too coarse to register many of the delicate physical energies which surround us, and it is probably true that they will also fall to register many of the subtle chie forces which exist all about us. ‘When we consider that instruments have been devised which can register the heat of a candle many miles dis- tant, or discover the chemical com- position and temperature of stars mililons of miles from us in space, it becomes apparent that such delicate instruments are so much finer than our ordinary senses that they should be the means employed to detect and record thess subtle energlos. Special instruments have been de- vised for this purpess, and other pleces of apparatus have been adapt- ed for use while investigating psychic phenomena. A laboratory of this sort exists In France, under the direction of Dr. Gustave Geley, and one in Berlin, under Dr. Frits Gruen- wald. In this country, the present writer has insugurated & labatory of this character. Instruments have been utilized to test the physiologicsl reactions of the medium during & seance. Respira- tion, pulss-rate and various reactions of this kind are recorded on suitable instruments, which afterward show, by graphic tracings, just what has been happening within the medium's rappings and other noises have been amplified and re- corded on phonographs. Radiations from the human body have been seen by the aid of specially prepared glass slides or screens, contalning various chemical substances, which render the eye sensitive to light vidrations not ordinarily percelved. Experiments have also been undertaken %o asoer- tain the precise chemical constituents of th lights, by means of spec. trum analysis. Specially construoted electric colls have been utllised, in order to test the possible dynamic or vidratory power ot thought. (It brain sends out vibrations in th r, these ahould be capable of belng registered by means of sultable apparatus.) Other electrioal coils will show the presence, in their immediate vioinity, of any body or rgy which will effect the current flowing around-the coll, and sause audible sounde to- be heard in the telaphone receivers. These can, of course, be magnified by means ot loud speakeérs, etc. - Dr. ‘Paul--Joire of -France has de- vised an instrument known as the “sthenometer.” - which {is capable of showing the so-called “vital radia- tions” issulng from the finger-tips. It conaists, essentially, of & straw balanced on & needie-point, over a graduated scale, and protected by & glass bell jar. Experiments under- taken in London, by Dr. Schofield. seem to show that hysterical and neurasthenic subjects emit a consid- erable amount of energy from their fingers, Which can be registered ac- curately, Indeed, it has been found possible fo discharge an electroscope without contact, merely by holding the fingers some little distance above the knob, These experiments caused Prof. Imoda of Turin, Italy, to conclude that “the radiat of radlum, the cathodic radiations of the Crookes tube and mediumistic radiations are tundamentally the same’” This, iIf true, is jmportant. Baraduo of Paris conducted a number of experiments in photo- graphing the body of a dying sub- dect. took photographs every fif- teen minutes for three hours, at the oment of death and after it. He plates a series of 1ike markings. That the human will exerts a phys- feal pressure hag been shown by means of an instrument devised by Dr. Sidney Alruts of Sweden. A cer- tain definite pressure seemed to he exerted, which caused an appreciable action upon the dial of an indicator. Dr. Charles Russ of England has also shown, of late, that the human eve emits a definite stream of energy under an intense effort of will. This was demonstrated before a group of sty and other sclentists at a re- cent meeting held in England. 8pectally prepared chemical screens will glow with added brilllagey, when &ny energy impinges upon them. Ex- periments have been undertaken In an effort to show that the “astral body” of a person, in trance, leaves the physical body and, at first, hovers about In its immediate vicinity. The upposed presence of this astral body is sald to cause the calcium sulphide screen to glow with added brilliance. One of the most Ingenious tests un- dertaken in this fleld, of late years, is the following, in which a sensitive galvonometer has been utilized in an effert to show the presence of an in- dependent entity or “spirit.” during a trance sitting. It {s well known that if & weak electric current be passed through the human body, the amount of this current varies accord- ing to the emotional state of the sub- Ject. Whenever an emotlon is aroused. more electricity flows through the body. This is registered by means of the galvonometer. This device has already been em- ployed in criminal investigations. For example, the criminal Is asked a ser- ies of questions so framed that if he s gullty, an emotion will be aroused within him; while it he is innocent, it will not. This emotion is quite be- yond his control, and he may show no oytward indication of Its presence. Nevertheless, it exists and the “tell- tale” needle or mirror of the galvo- nometer will show its pi nce, when the proper connections have been made. Now, no two individuals will react to precisely the same group of words. Some of these words will arouse sub- conecious emotions In some persons, because of thelr association with past experiences. But they will fail to arduse the same emotion in others, because they have not had the same experiences. If we read one hundred words to any individual, he will react emotionally to certaln words In that list, and another Individual will emo- tionally react to other words. No two Individuals will be the same. But, in each case, the galvonometer will re- cord the hidden emotion. : ‘Now, when a medium goes ‘into a trance, and an alléged “splrit” ¢om- municates through her, the dquestion 1s: 1s this really a spirit, &g it claims to be, of iy it merely a part of the’ medium’s subconiscious mind? ‘Hith- erto, it has only been possible to de- termine this by means of psycholog- of the gal- vonometer, however, We may be able to determine this objectively. called ‘spiritualistic phenomens. “Pressed Wood” as Fuel. iz eald that in Californis “pressed ; wood” is & fuel that has become - more or less popular. Fuel for do- mestic purposes has - alw: - manded high prices in gouthern Cali- fornia, and comsequently some one perceived the opportunity to win ‘wealth from waste by utilising a part of the great quantities of shavings and sawdust that is annually throwa away or at best used to poor advan- tage in sawmills, planing milis and similar establishments, = So this in- genlous person invented a machine for pressing shavings and sawdust into moulds. A string through the center of the mould helps hold ‘tiie material together, and the heavy pressure to which It is subjected is all that is necessary to accomplish the rest.