Clifton High School - Rotunda Yearbook (Clifton, NJ)

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THE REFLEC TOR sails, double-reefed, mind ye, were tearin' away, so they stripped 'er down to the bare poles. Even so they made twelve knots. The Maine, thet bein' the pinky's name, war a stout ship, though. New England oak, and not a nail in 'er. Wood pegs. Fact! So she weathered the blow an' Brownie and Ole put into Tampa Bay without so much as her main-truck split. The engine war a wreck, though, an' when they tied up at Bert's wharf the bilge war leakin' fast. They put 'er in drydock, where she sorta sighed and collapsed. Bert war an old friend 0' Brownie's what was druv south 'cause 0' the the competition of steam trawlers. Him bein' a doryman for a cod schooner he natch'r'ly wouldn't have anythin' to do with steam ships. Him bein' a old friend, he natch'r'ly didn't want ter take money fer his work. He took a percent'ge of the catch, though, 'cause Brownie and Ole insisted. All that day Bert and his carpenters worked on the hull. Ole helped a mite, too, and by the time evenin' come along she war as tight as a drum. Both boys slept on the boat, neither one nor t' other havin' much cash. Next day dawned bright an' clear with a fresh southeast breeze a' blowin' out inter the Gulf. Thet bay war swarmin' with sharks, an' they was all signs of good fishin'. Sharks, yer know, is sold by ship-load to the big canneries 'long the coast. They can thet shark meat in sauces and disguise it all up like mack'rel. Nice, tender, juicy meat, shark. Fact! Th' skins are tanned an' sold too. They fetch a mighty fair price in season. Wall, seein' the breeze an sharks, an' considerin' thet the bilge war tight, Ole persuaded Brownie to sail without the engine. On the way out they brought out the shark tackle. Yer have ter have special shaped hooks fer sharks, with a iron shank near half's big as my arm. A shark's mouth takes up half his head and is where his belly ought ter be, only it ain't. His teeth slant innards, an' when he's got hold o' su'thin', there's no lettin' go. On the way out, they wiped the mildew off'n the lines and scraped the rust off the iron with pumice. The job was done when they reached the middle 0' the bay, an' all they had to do was slap a half a' pound o' salt pork on the hooks and let go. The sharks wuz hungry, an' as soon as the hooks hit the water they got strikes. lVall, 'bout noon they wuz pullin' in fish so fast they didn't notice the sails go slack. Thet fresh breeze had sorta petered out, and the pinky was calmed. VVhen they had the boat filled ter the waists, an' yer know it takes a lot 0' sharks to fill a pinky, Brownie lets Ollt a yip an' hollers, 'I told ya sol' 'You bane tall me wha'?' Ole yells back. Yer know them Swede fellers has a funny dialek. An' so they jawed back an' forth while the sun beat down, an' it com- menced gettin' so hot yer could cut the air with a knife. When it got too hot ter jaw, they flopped down in th' bows. Arter awhile Ole sings out, 'Oi bane roast like chicken here', an' he got up an' sat down on a pile o' dead sharks under the awning they had rigged over the deck so the Fish wouldn't get ripe afore their time. Awful strong stummiks them Swedes got. Brownie jes' ll

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. L Y -F V L.: -Y THE REFLECTOR -li ,1 -1-T I fkjfs in I jumpin' ter Conclusions -5 By Lester Rhoads, june '37 lu fmt LQ , 5 gi - - ' TN? -. , x 'xii 1l - Q., . - if i f ,qs - 'r . - , A group of old Hshermen were ?-- :FY 2 ,rvr gpg? ' if - . g. sitting on Thompson's wharf one day. I ,,4 7, if-A1 ' Lv ,FQ hr - 1: ' 8, gf' ly t ll . '42 W T 5 2 il!! o ' x 5 Y I! ' - -. 1 1 X ' I 1:1 g ,160 - A 9 V : jx 2 I TW! 'r l - C? If fa fi I frm if' ,, f JI! X' ' ff x f ll!! I E+ FX Instead of swapping their usual yarns, they were discussing the heat- ed remarks of a young fellow in a gold-braided yachting uniform who was fussing around with an outboard motor boat on the beach. Them new-fangled contraptions is always a-gettin' out o' order, re- marked an old salt, spitting a wad of plug at a floating bottle, with the practice of years showing in his accuracy. Ef'n he war wise, he'd throw the danged thing away an' get a sloop. No noise, fuss, er smelly engines. Them rich fellers ain't no sailors, that's why, said another gray-beard. Chicken-livered. Put in at the Hrst sign of a blow. I At the stranger's approach, however, they became silent, and watched cyn- ically as he heated the air with some remarks he never had learned from his mother. What's the matter, son? Havin' a little trouble? A little trouble! Say, are you trying to get wise? I'n1 having a lot Ol trouble. Wait 'till I get the fellow who sold me that heap of junk. Why, I wouldn't use it for ballast! If he thinks he can get away with-- Calm down, young feller. Yer jumpin' ter conclusions, en' that's bad. Feller darn near killed 'is shipmate that-a-way once. Fact! It was down olf-- Say, now I suppose I'll have to listen to some old woman's tale that'll take all afternoon. Can't you see I'm busy? But after a pause he took a seat and queried, WellP is I war sayin', before I war so rudely interrupted by a young skate what ain't no sailor, it war down off the west coast of Florida in Tampa Bay. Brownie Jacobs allus went thar winters in his pinky. Yer know what a pinky is, don't yer? Well, it's a craft what ain't a sloop an' it ain't a catboat, an' it don't look more like one than t' other. A very clear and accurate description, murmured the young man, but never mind, go on. Wall, Brownies mate, Ole Swenson, bein' a sort of mechanic as well as a ship-builder, sail maker, Seaman, Hsherman, and carpenter, had rigged up a engine. New-fangled idees they war then, too. 'Twas only useful in calm water and when, on the way south to Tampa, the early November squalls bit the coast, that old engine just shook herself clear out o' her moorings and raised 2. terrible rumpus in the hold. Brownie and Ole had an awful time. The I0

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THE REFLEC TOR grunted an' rolled over on his stummik. Arter a while Ole found a newspaper wrapped around the salt pork bait and commenced readin' 'loud. It seems thet people had been a' goin' crazy with histeriks around thet part o' Florida from stayin' out in the hot sun too long. Ole found a piece in the paper thet told all about it and read it through to Brownie. When he was finished, he told Brownie, 'Yo' better not lay in thet sun. Yo' go crazy like them peepulf Twarn't no use, though. Brownie jus' grunted an' shifted his back square inter the blazin' sun. From then on Ole read his paper to himself. On an' on he read, an' the sun got hotter an' hotter. just as Ole was dozin' off, Brownie gave a yell and started jumpin' up an' down around the deck. Ole war pretty near scared out o' his pants. 'Yo' see,' he says, 'now wha' I tell yoP' But Brownie's only answer wuz another screech what wuz turrible to hear, an' with the bay teemin' with sharks, he dived overboard and disappeared. Ole ran to the rail, but 'e could see nuther hide nor hair o' him. Arter a while, Brownie came ter the top an' struck out fer the boat. Ole grabbed a boat- hook and was goin' ter pull him in, but when Brownie busted out lallin' like he war a' goin' ter bust, Ole changed his mind an' held him off with it. Brownie took one look at them big fins circlin' closer an' let out another yell what shook the timbers an' nigh scared the sharks. Ole ducked 'im with the boat-hook to cool 'im off. 'Twaren't no use, though. Fin'ly Brownie got .x enough wind ter holler at Ole, 'Lemme aboard ye ---- fool. Are ye crazyP' 'Naw, oi no bane crazy,' he jaws back. 'Yo bane crazy, but I no got scared.' No, Ole war'n't scared all right. 5 X Him with a oak deck unner 'is feet an' J? K' a six foot by two pole in 'is hands. fi gi ,fisw , 's-- Naw, he war'n't scared. X lf yi il I l . . , . :Brownie managed ter say suthin f ' R-my 'bout a pack o' matches what had ablazed up in 'is pocket, an' then he yelled that the shark had got 'im by ' the foot. Ole quick started pullin' him x E - in with the hook, but thet war too slow fer Brownie. He started shinny'n up the pole with thet shark ahangin' on- V?Tf f E rf! X-- ter ,IS foot. The extry weight war too fx N ,Q . - Ya: much fer Ole, an' he let go. Brownie K i an' the shark went in again with a x 'pf , splash, but he'd grabbed fer th' rail, 3 -17 Q , , , 7? S, and when e did thet he pushed th A, boathook down the shark's throat and y W A 'uf nigh out 'is tail. iff! 'Pnfyr X .fWall, somehow Brownie got disat- Z! If lfli--.N tached from the shark in the water an' ,f,,,l,,,mllf fva tg' Ole got him aboard. 'Oi thought you H' i i:': B X 12