Wheaton Community High School - Wecomi Yearbook (Wheaton, IL)

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28 ORANGE AND BLACK IIIIIIIIIHIIHHIHHIHHHIHHHHIIIIHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIHIIIHIHIIIHHHHHHIIHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIInIlllliillllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII THE FISHING SMACK lvry personal adventures on board a Lake Michigan Fishing-Smack. The first that I can remember of tnat happy day was that by the time I had succeeded in opening my second eye the first had closed again. At last I was far enough awake to learn from my watch that it was three o'clock. A faint gray light filtering through the chilly air of Northern Michigan heralded the approaching dawn. It was time to get up, but oh! that chilly morning air. With grim determination I made a vigorous kick, which sent the covers hurtling off the bed. I could now either move or freeze, so I moved. Soon I was in Tom's room and had the satisfaction of knowing that before long I would have a' brother in distress. Now there are two ways of waking a person, one a long method and the other a short one. I always prefer to use the short. As a good yell would have awakened the whole house, I grabbed a pillow and in about ten swats had Tom sitting up high enough to make it a pleasure to knock him down, which I promptly did with the eleventh. Soon we were in the kitchen eating bread and honey, while wondering whether Chuck would be on time. He came in before we had finished, and although he had just had one breakfast, he did not hesitate to eat another. After we had all eaten, we took our lunches out of the ice-box and then started on our three mile walk to town. We arrived on the smack at five o'c1ock and as the last rope was cast off and the motor throbbed beneath our feet we were making exclama- tions of approval in regard to our private yacht. The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared. M errily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthzmse top. We now had much to see. We went down to inspect the engines which were explained to us by a small black-haired engineer, who was lame in one leg. After the others went out he gave me what he considered val- uable advice about engines, that he had learned from a master engi- neer. I then went to the pilot-house and the captain took down a large map on which he showed me points of interest. Next I went out on deck in time to see the lighthouse at Point Betsy. I watched the land as we passed it. This had once all belonged to the Ottawa Indians. I could see the mouth of a small river upon which, according to legend, there once fioated large numbers of war-canoes. Our boat was headed for the Mani- tou Islandsg these were the sacred islands of the Indians and had acquired their name from the great God Manitou. We at last came to the fishing grounds and saw the buoy which marked the beginning of the nets. The work now commenced. Two men sat by the pan at a swivel which brought in the net. The men each held IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIII IIIIII IIIIII II III III IIIIIIIIIIIIHII HH II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIII IIII IIIIII IIII II I1

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ORANGE AND BLACK 29 lltlllllilllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIllllilllilililllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIllllliiiiiIlllllllllIllIilllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllHillllllllllllIIII5IIIIIIIIIIIIIHillilllllllllllllIlllllllIIIIIIIllillIIllilIllllllllllllllIllllIIIIIIIllIIIIIillliIlHlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll something that looked like a shoe-maker's awl. These they stuck into the fish which they were able to throw quickly into boxes. This work con- tinued for about seven hours. During this time six miles of nets were taken in. I have forgotten how many hundred pounds of lake trout and white fish were caught, but I remember that the captain said that it was a fair haul. All the time we were on the lake there had been no roll of the boat. The water remained like glass. The boat had sometimes been at a total standstill. It reminded me of a painted ship upon a painted ocean. In the early morning there had been a slight mist but while the nets were being drawn in the sun blazed down hot and strong. The decks were cov- ered with dead fish and slime. The sun made the smell of this intolerable. It seemed the very deep did rot and that slimy things could crawl with legs upon a slimy sea. A large number of gulls stayed near the ship while the nets were being brought in. When this was going on one of the men showed us something new. He picked up a dead fish about seven inches long. He then stuffed a five-inch spike down its mouth and threw it into the water. Down dropped a gull catching the fish before it had time to sink. The gull swallowed fish. spike, and all and flew off shrieking loudly. Coleridg'e's Rime of the Ancient Mariner had been in my head all day and then a part of it came to me. God save thee, ancient Marinefrl From the fiends, that plague thee thus.'- Why look'st thou so?-With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross. ' After the net was all in, other nets, which had been folded and set in boxes, were tied together and thrown out. This work went on rather fast. While I was sitting on one of the dry nets that the men were not yet ready to use, my interest was attracted by one of the men. He was a large Swede named Ole. I noticed him because of his enormous strength. He was handling the boxes containing the nets. These were heavy for two men to lift, but Ole handled these boxes alone very easily. He was six feet four and weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. I could not help but think what a man Ole would have been if he had lived in the days of his ancestors, the Vikings. No sooner had we gotten under way for home than the weather began to change. The sky took on a yellowish copper color which soon changed to a lead gray, and then to a deep black. A slight breeze passed over us and then the elements began their strife. Wind and rain came together forming a rushing deluge. Foam in long waves seemed to skim over the lake. Flash after flash of lightning lit up the sky in rapid suc- cession. The thunder cracked, peal followed peal, and then rumbled on to what seemed a never ending distance. The rain stopped but the wind IllIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIlllllllllllllllllllllllll IIII III I Il lllllllll Il l HH llllllllllllll IIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllIlllIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllll IIIIIIIII I l lillllllllllllllllllll Illlllilllillll IIIIIIIIIIIHHHlllllllll I ll Illlll ll ll I