TIBESTI—an area of northern Chad.
TINHORN—a braggart, or a person pretending to be important, possibly named after the cup that is used to shake dice.
TURBINE—Ships like the SS Lichenfield get their power from steam turbines like the ones used in municipal power stations. Steam pressure from boilers turns the turbines, which, after going through a series of gears, turn the propeller.
UP TRACKS—the Union Pacific Railroad.
VENT PIPES—pipes that release the vapor from a tanker’s cargo tanks. They end high above the deck to allow the wind to carry away any dangerous fumes.
VENTILATORS—occasionally known as wind scoops, the large hornlike tubes that are seen on ships’ decks. They allow wind or the forward motion of the ship to funnel air into the cargo holds and engine spaces.
WAKE—the trail of disturbed water behind a ship.
WASTE—leftover or otherwise useless cloth used for janitorial duties.
WATCH STANDING AND BELLS—Seamen’s traditional watches are four hours long. They stand the same watch both A.M. and P.M., so a man on the eight-to-twelve watch will work from eight in the morning until noon and then from eight in the evening until midnight. Watches are divided into eight thirty-minute sections, each of them marked by a bell. Thus, when a sailor hears eight bells, his watch is over.
WHEELHOUSE—the cabin on the navigating bridge that contains the ship’s wheel.
WINCH—a motorized or steam-powered mechanism for winding up or letting out cable. Winches are used in conjunction with the ship’s derrick arms to hoist and move cargo.
WINDJAMMER—a sailing ship.
WING TANK—Tanker ships carry liquid products in a number of individual tanks to prevent liquid from shifting or sloshing too much in heavy seas. The wing tanks are on the sides, as opposed to the tanks placed along the centerline of the vessel.
WIRELESS—early radio equipment. Before it was practical to communicate over long distances by voice, shipboard communications were transmitted and received by radio using Morse code. The ship’s radioman, or “Sparks,” would often be an employee of a radio service, which supplied not only the operator but the equipment itself. One of the best known was Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Company.
For my father…finally.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Obviously, none of this work would exist without my father, but in addition to the original manuscript I was lucky to have access to his thoughts on both going to sea and life in San Pedro. I not only got to record interviews with him, but he also left behind journals, short stories, and notes about those long-ago days. I’d also like to note the work of Howard Pease, a writer of my father’s era whom I read in my early teens. That material taught me things about the life of a merchant seaman my father could not and inspired me to revisit this story time and time again. Additionally, my great friend Michael Pizzuto was good enough to lend me his apartment in San Pedro so that I could more easily visit the archives there and get a feel for the location.
Over the years Paul O’Dell, Jeanne Brown, and Charles Van Eman have helped me find and organize thousands of pages of material on my dad, and Marleene Boyd from the Bill Laxon Maritime Library at the New Zealand Maritime Museum was a valued resource. Liz Ruth-Abramian from the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and Anne Hansford of the San Pedro Bay Historical Society were very generous with their time, knowledge, and copious archives. Janna Jones was gracious enough to both read this manuscript in its developmental stages and offer many thoughtful comments. I would also be truly remiss if I didn’t thank my lovely mother, who has continually cheered me on in my quest to discover more about my father and her husband. I couldn’t have done it without her—heck, I wouldn’t even be me without her! Thanks, Mom!
BANTAM BOOKS BY LOUIS L’AMOUR
NOVELS
Bendigo Shafter
Borden Chantry
Brionne
The Broken Gun
The Burning Hills
The Californios
Callaghen
Catlow
Chancy
The Cherokee Trail
Comstock Lode
Conagher
Crossfire Trail
Dark Canyon
Down the Long Hills
The Empty Land
Fair Blows the Wind
Fallon
The Ferguson Rifle
The First Fast Draw
Flint
Guns of the Timberlands
The Haunted Mesa
Heller with a Gun
The High Graders
High Lonesome
Hondo
How the West Was Won
The Iron Marshal
The Key-Lock Man
Kid Rodelo
Kilkenny
Killoe
Kilrone
Kiowa Trail
Last of the Breed
Last Stand at Papago Wells
The Lonesome Gods
The Man Called Noon
The Man from Skibbereen
The Man from the Broken Hills
Matagorda
Milo Talon
The Mountain Valley War
North to the Rails
Over on the Dry Side
Passin’ Through
The Proving Trail
The Quick and the Dead
Radigan
Reilly’s Luck
The Rider of Lost Creek
Rivers West
The Shadow Riders
Shalako
Showdown at Yellow Butte
Silver Canyon
Sitka
Son of a Wanted Man
Taggart
The Tall Stranger
To Tame a Land
Tucker
Utah Blaine
The Walking Drum
Westward the Tide
Where the Long Grass Blows
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Beyond the Great Snow Mountains
Bowdrie
Bowdrie’s Law
Buckskin Run
The Collected Short Stories of Louis L’Amour (vols. 1–7)
Dutchman’s Flat
End of the Drive
From the Listening Hills
The Hills of Homicide
Law of the Desert Born
Long Ride Home
Lonigan
May There Be a Road
Monument Rock
Night over the Solomons
Off the Mangrove Coast
The Outlaws of Mesquite
The Rider of the Ruby Hills
Riding for the Brand
The Strong Shall Live
The Trail to Crazy Man
Valley of the Sun
War Party
West from Singapore
West of Dodge
With These Hands
Yondering
SACKETT TITLES
Sackett’s Land
To the Far Blue Mountains
The Warrior’s Path
Jubal Sackett
Ride the River
The Daybreakers
Sackett
Lando
Mustang Man
The Lonely Men
Galloway
Treasure Mountain
Lonely on the Mountain
Ride the Dark Trail
The Sackett Brand
The Sky-Liners
THE HOPALONG CASSIDY NOVELS
The Riders of High Rock
The Rustlers of West Fork
; The Trail to Seven Pines
Trouble Shooter
NONFICTION
Education of a Wandering Man
Frontier
The Sackett Companion: A Personal Guide to the Sackett Novels
A Trail of Memories: The Quotations of Louis L’Amour, compiled by Angelique L’Amour
POETRY
Smoke from This Altar
LOST TREASURES
Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures: Volume 1 (with Beau L’Amour)
No Traveller Returns (with Beau L’Amour)
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Our foremost storyteller of the American West, LOUIS L’AMOUR has also thrilled readers with his work in the adventure, crime, and science fiction genres. He wrote ninety-one novels, a book of poetry, and over two hundred short stories. There are more than three hundred million copies of his books in print around the world.
BEAU L’AMOUR is an author, art director, and editor. He has also worked in the film, television, magazine, and recording industries. Since 1988 he has been the manager of the estate of his father, Louis L’Amour.
louislamour.com
louislamourslosttreasures.com
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