Steamers
were taking the place of sailing ships and my next trip was
on the steamer Martaban which had a speed of 10 knots. I went
as Ordinary Seaman and made three trips on her. On all of
these trips we carried a general cargo; and there were also
a few passengers.
The first trip on the Martaban was from Glasgow. We stopped
at Liverpool and Naples and then went to Port Said where we
loaded some coal for our own use. We then went on to Rangoon
in Burma and through the Suez Canal.
We anchored in the Irrawaddy
River at Rangoon. This is a fresh-water river and we used
the water from the river to drink. However, we did not bathe
in it. We never got sick from this water. At twilight clouds
of mosquitoes rose up from the river. I became infected from
bites and got a fever that laid me up for a while. There was
a man on board ship who took the place of a doctor. He had
a doctor's book and medicines. He was kept on the ship to
act as doctor. I had a mosquito net on the ship here but the
mosquitoes got in anyway.
In Rangoon I visited a pagoda,
but took off my shoes before I went in. I had come by myself
but there were plenty of people around. There were idols inside.
They resembled various things, such as a dog, a cow, a man,
etc.
In addition to carrying rice
on the return trip, we also brought back jute and teak wood.
In this place I saw elephants
working with teak. It was not far from the waterfront, and
they piled up the wood. There were three elephants to a log
and they would put it on top of the pile. They worked all
day on this. The logs were 14 or 16 feet long.
Coming back we stopped
at Aden to load coal for our own use; then we went through
the Suez Canal and returned to Glasgow. The round trip took
three months.
In my memory, however,
I can still see Pop standing by the ship's rail - looking
out over the sea. My Father-in-law was one of the finest men
I ever met and it was a privilege and a pleasure to have him
living with us. Pop was unassuming, straightforward, and modest.
He was not overawed by anybody. To him, every man had a job
to do, and all work was honest work. He enjoyed the simple
things: the walk to the railroad station in the mornings,
a chat with a neighbor. He always saw the bright side of things.
To use an old saying: a partly filled glass of water to him
was never half-empty, it was always half-full. I considered
Pop one of the most successful men I ever knew. He liked people
and people liked him. He moved easily through the ocean of
life and he mastered the art of growing old gracefully. My
wife has a friendly smile, warm personality, his liking for
people, and his cheerful philosophy. Nobody can do better
than that.
From clockwise Dugald Roberts, Ethel Arnold (Daughter),
Viola Gourley (Daughter), Herbert Gourley (Son-in-law) taken
in June
1950 on the Graceline Cruise Ship in the Caribbean.
HOME