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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1914)
Page Four East Oregoni&n Round-Up Souvenir Edition Pendleton, Oregon, Friday, September, 25, 1913 Twenty-eight Pages Early Adventures of Henry LaZinka The Stirring Tale of a German Sailor Who Hat Made Good as a Cattleman E.F. A. I'tM ta ttmy be born but a highly uc, nwifiil nilnr run be transformed tn-j 1o Juot as auocewiful a 'rancher. It triH)' not Imrix-n very often. Indeed It wm like nn lncormitency, but Henry Iilnka, the Ctmai Prairie t.Kkmin, Ik a living testimonial or the fact that It can be done. Hoi n In Oermany almost exactly 5J year nun, Henry Lnxinka went to xra at tbe Under aire of 14 yearn. He tie came a "Jeep-water" sailor, soon was of the wind but very little of the cold. The appetite of the seven were as those of no many hungry wolves. Tho bacon and syrup were soon gone. Even j the bacon rind was cut up and cooked I wiih the potatoes) and flour. j The conditions of life In this shack : ai-e beat described in Lai'.nka's own I words. ' ' J "There were seven of us. We had t no real (tedding so we all lay on a bear rug on the floor with a cougar r ao murh In love wllh fh v. i vir ... t ... u k . i- j .. . cnne to roilow it and though for SO haa been mole than 4 00 miles from the ocean be aaya It !t!H calls to him i aa his life work J large cougar but any one who has l years his home j ever tried to stretch a roug-.tr skin until It will cover and keep seven peo' pie warm on a cold winter night will to become an officer and some dav have a hip of his own. A Life tit Adventure, The life of a sailor, always exciting and romantic, was exceptionally so In the case of Mr. Latinka. In the even years he followed the sea he was five time around the tempestous Cape Horn, four times around the Cape of Good Hope, in Worms with out number and in several wrecks. He pastM-d through plagues of cholera and jellow fever where hla fellow aallors died like file. At the age of 21 years Henry La tinka was third officer on board the h!p Solitaire, with Captain Sewell In rommand. In the words of 'Mr. La alnka, "Captain .Sewell was an old man a good man but weak. W'eak-r.eaa- at ea Is as bad as badness. His crew were the scum of the, water front. The sailors discovered the cap tain was easy going and lacked cour age. They mutinied near Cape Flat tery. I alone against the whole crew could do nothing. I aaw a sight that made me writhe with disgust and shame the captain of the ship plead ing with his men to come up oa deck and man the ship to prevent It being wrecked in the etorra which was rag ing. He ought to have taken a belay ing pin and beaten their blocks off. "We got to Seattle between Christ mas and New Tears. The crew. In cluding myelf, took to the lifeboats and went ashore, leaving the captain alone on the ship In the harbor. Fear ing wfe would all be hanged for hav ing mutinied If we remained in Se attle and were caught, we scattered to the four winds." Destiny Oianges UTe Plans, Here is where destiny stepped in and changed the tenor of Laxinka's life. It so happened that there" was a young Englishman on board the ship with whom the future cattle king chummed. The English boy told his chum he had brother near the town of Heppner who had written that he was the owner of a large ranch and thousands of head of sheep, so they decided to go see this brother. Neither had any money but the Englishman had a watch so this was pawned for enough to pay their way to Portland but they had very little to eat. By walking and riding on freight trains they finally reached Lexington. Here they made Inquiries and found the supposed wealthy sheepman was- in reality only a herd er. To cap the climax he had lost his job and was flat broke. Short Rations. They hunted him up and he took them In with a crowd of four other young fellows who had a little shack In the foothills between Lexington and Heppner. The toUf capital of the even was leas than $J.. Their larder contained a side of bacon, a can of syrup, a sack of potatoes and part of a sack of flour. Those pioneers who can recall the last part of the winter of 1I8!-S3 will remember It was bitter cold. The wall of the little shack kept out most nt times. His grentrH ambition waknow it cannot be dom. It fell to m.v lot to have one of the outside po sitions. When a particularly cold I last of v ind would come howling through the cracks of the cabin l! would try to pull a corner of the skiaj ever my shoulders but l!ie man on the other lde would Jork it back His language on such occasions be-1 ing far from polite." llarkcns to fall of Sea. It Is therefore hardly to be wonder ed that the sea with all its storms, mutinies and shipwrecks becan call ing to the young German sailor. The worst kind of a storm was not to he compared to an empty stomach, .ac companied by a shivering night on the floor. He told the other boys he was go ing back to sea. He was as full of Jokes and good humor then as he Is today and his fellow partners in mis ery tried to dissuade him, begging him to stick It out until spring when they would all be able to get work. The call of the sea was irresistable. however, so without a cent in his pocket he struck out for Portland. He walked to Arlington where ho caught a westbound freight train. Be ing active as a cat and as hard as nails he had no difficulty In getting to the top of a box car. He says he did not mind the swaying of the car but the top of it was glazed with ice and there was no rigging to cling to. Several times he came nearly being thrown from his perch but he finally reached Portland only to find the man he had left his ship's papers with had sent them to him at Hepp ner. He went down to the water front and found a ship due to sail in two weeks for England. The captain was in need of an officer and asked to see his papers. He explained his pre dicament and told the captain he would go to Heppner, get the papers ar.d return to Portland in time to sail with him. Waiting until dark he boarded an other train. This time he crawled In to a coal car. The night was one of the coldest he had ever experienced, his clothing was originally Intended for summer wear and after several weeks without change It was nearly threadbare. . He therefore burrowed Into the coal to keep warm. Late the next forenoon he crawled out ot his hiding place at a am all station. The surroundings were totally unfa miliar and even the river was flow ing in the wrong direction. In place of the sage brush and sandhills he had expected to find himself among, here were green fields and real trees. "I asked a man," says Lazlnka, "how far It was to Arlington. He said, '25ftrr.ne I thought he was crazy. I said. 'Arlington is 138 miles from Portland. I left Portland last night and have traveled all night and now you say I am further away than when I started." ' He looked at me and sal 3, 'you are a sailor aren't you? "I said, 'yes, but what has that got to do with It?' he said, "If you, want to go due east and lay a course due south, how long will It take you to reach our destination. You got on the wrong train.- This Is the South. ern Pacific train and this Is Cottage Grove.' " A few hours after landing in the southern end of the Willamette val ley a trained pulled in from the south. One coach was loaded with workmen- Lazlnka mingled with these men and before the train pull ed out he walked Into their coach and when the conductor came through he did not observe the new p.tssen ger and the young sailor was permit ted to ride back to Portland under much more favorable circumstances than on his outgoing trip. When he reached Portland he hunted up tho English ship a second time, went down Into the galley and got a square meal. That night he started out a third time for Heppner. He was careful to select a- train eastward bound but being unable to find a car unsealed he took a standing position between two cars. In telling of this part of Ills terrible experience he said it compared very favorably with some of the worst, experiences he had ever had on shipboard. He says, "It was bitterly cold. The wind from the Co lumbia chilled me to the bone. My hands stuck to the Iron rods. My breath was like smoke. Presently 1 got so numb I thought I would sure ly be compelled to let go my hold and fall between the cars. I discovered one of the cars had a small door in the end. I thought if I could only get that door open and crawl Inside I would be saved. After struggling with the door for a long time I final ly got It open and crawled In, only to find I had landed In a car loaded with ice. When I discovered this 1 thought fate" was against me sure. Stuck in the Snow. "At Cascade Locks the train got stuck in the snow. Seeing something was wrong I tried to climb out of the window but was so benumbed by the cold I could hardly move. 1 finally pitched head-foremost into the snow with my feet on the coup lings between the cars. I expected the train to start any minute but I was so nearly frozen I could not move my body from its perilous posi tion for what appeared to be to be an age. Finally I got onto my feet and managed to stagger to a small bouse where there was a light. It proved to be the home of a railroad man who gave me something to eat and who built a hot fire to thaw me out." The next train to pass through was a passenger so Lazlnka climbed onto the "blind baggage," reaching The Dalles about 4 o'clock in the morning as nearly frozen as he had been before. The trains were blocked and as he could go no further on them he struck out a foot. Before he reach ad Arlington however, the trains had made a passage f or themselves through the snowdrifts and he was able to catch a ride into Arlington. Tramping Through Snow, From there he struck out across the hills toward Heppner. The snow was 'crusted j but-at times he would break through. Soon his light shoes were cut Wkjleces. He says, "It was dark and I nad 30 miles to go. I had a silk handkerchief which I had put oVer my head to keep from freez fijf;. I soon discovered my nose was numb. I rubbed It with snow until it hurt. Then I decided it would be better to lose my ears than my nose for I could let my hair grow long and cover my ears but there would 1 '' I : HOTEL PENDLETON J. C. Monahan" Fred T. Bloch PROPRIETORS Grill and Buffett European Plan PENDLETON. 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CLARKE PENDLETON, OREGON be no wa' to hide, my face If the nose should be frozen off so I remov- ed the handkerchief from around my head and fixed It so It would pro tect my nose. 1 "The country between Arlington and Heppner U rolling. I kept climbing one rise after another, thinking all the time 'this will be the) last one.' I became so nearly ex- j hausted It seemed I surely must drop i In the snow and die. Finally I said. ! 'I will climb on more hill and thenj If I do not see the cabin I will He : down and quit.' "It is funny how a man wants to; live. The next hill was like all the j rest an open expanse of snow with no house in sight. I decided I had come too far and had missed the; cabin. I stumbled on and at last at the top of the next rise I saw the f cabin. Then the strength which had enabled me to pass through the ex- perlences of the past few days seem- j ed to forsake me and It seemed I could never reach the cabin. I did, however, but my strength was so nearly gone I could only fall against j the door, awakening the fellows In-, side." They allowed him to crawl Into the ; middle of the bed thia time and he j lay there for 60 hours. The onlyj medicine they had was coal oil, to- l.ofrn gnil Hhprn AiTI. "TheV saw my face, hands and feet were all frozen so they rubbed coal oil nearly all over me. My face and hands and feet puffed up like water blisters. They pricked the skin to let out the water. After a while all of the skin peeled off and I fully recovered. ,But by the time I could travel the s,hlp had sailed and left me stranded in the sage brush so I resigned myself to my fate and accepted a Job as a sheep herder. "But I co'ild not wean myself from the call of the sea. 1 made up my mind I would herd sheep Just long enough to get money sufficient to en able me to get back to Portland where I would try for another posi tion on a ship. I told the camptena- ; er I was going to quit as soon as Ij had. money enough. I discovered aft- j erwards I had made a mistake by telling him of my Intentions for herd- rrs were scarce. The camptender , would therefore wait until I was out In the hills with the aheep berore bringing In my supplies and would leave before I returned In the even ing. I did not want to leave the sheep alone to be eaten up by the coyotes so I staid with them for four months, seeing scarcely a man in all that time. "After that I got a Job riding after cattle. I never had been on a horse but the man for whom I was to work saddled the animal up for me, help ed me on and told me where to, go The horse proved to be mighty lively and It seemed much more difficult to stay on his back than It did no the deck of a ship. I got awfully tired and sore but I was afraid to get off for rear I wouia not oe aoie io get on again so I siaycu on in me naddle until evening. 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