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Folklore
FMB
Personal History of Informant
Washington
J. J. Stauter
Seattle, Washington
December 19, 1938
"Tugboat Yarn"
Captain Bill Ammerman, Seattle, Washington
1. Not obtainable
2. Not available
3. Not available
4s Not given
5. Not given
6. Not milling to give this informatiOn now skipper of S.S.Border King
7. Not given
8. Not given
9. Not given
10. None
Folk Stuff Stauter Dec. 19, 1938
A Puget Sound Tugboat Yarn;
"I was skipper of a tugboat towinl a boom of logs from Vancouver Island
to Ballard in 1911. Most of the way down we had one of them frozen fogs, and
it kept gettinl colder all the time. The seagulls had slim pick14 that time
of year up theAund, and they swarmed onto the log boom till you couldn't see
the bark. One morning, about six hours from Ballard, one of the deck hands
noticed that they were flappint their wings considerable without gettinl anywhere, and
we come to find out, beljeeze their feet was frozen to the logs.
'ilhen we got about opposite Meadow Point, sompin vent wrong with the engine.
The Chief reported that it couldn't be fixed without vine onto dry dock, and
there we was, driftint out there in the fog, with little chance of gettin' any
help for twelve hours or so, and a darn good chance of fouling on the point
and losinl the boom and our skins besides. It looked pretty tough until I got
an idea.
'Then I says to the Steward: riCharlie, how much sack coal we got le;Zr45
Charlie says: (614:got five sacks in the hl and one part sack in the gallt)
r
I says: - ZThat's fine, I think that will be enough to get 118 into port." He
looks at me as though I had sompen wrong with my head, and goes off mutterinl
to himself.
"Theq calls the two deck hands and tells them to get the sacks of coal
out of the hole and carry them way aft. Then I order all bands an, the cook
to stand aft and throw coal at the seagulls on the log boom. And bejeeze, them
seagulls flew 118 and the boom into port."
Told by Capt. Bill Ammerman, of the S.S. Border Zing.