Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

Page 30 text:

sleep in a hammock — they knew. I am told that we shall be there on Monday afternoon; is that next year or is it . . . ? I felt better again and tried to take an interest in the reciprocating turbines which fire 30 knots or splices a minute. Also in the anti-aircraft torpedoes fired under water, and in the tiny six-inch firing guns, but in vain . . . They try to take my mind off my trouble and tell me that on Sunday there is a cinematograph service operated by the Captain; and someone tried to teach me how to make 30 knots an hour with ropes. I suppose they pull the ship along, but my brain wanders — I may have got it wrong .... Nearly all over, San Francisco is in sight. Shall I live until we get there? Two American destroyers coming out, probably to prevent any but dead Englishmen from being landed . I can write no more, so will cork up the bottle and throw it into the sea, accompanied, I fear, by something else. (Editorial Note — We fancy the above may be partly fic- titious, for we have received a long account of his voyage from the father of a boy who did go to ' Frisco on the Danae, full of interesting facts and accurate details. We are very grateful for it, but the demands of space and fear of DORA prevent us from printing it here, so we have decided to print the shorter and more vivid bottle document, even if some of its informa- tion is less accurate. We might mention the fact that H.M.S. Danae was provided with better steering gear than that pro- vided by King Acrisius) . 28