Oil of Winter green and Herb Davis
in his own words
|
By the time the ship pulled out of Panama everyone had some kind of heat
rash in varying degrees of severity. The heat usually didn't bother me too
much but because of working in the steaming galley and not being able to
sleep topside at night, I also had a bad heat rash. Dusting down with baking
soda mixed with cornstarch didn't seem to help very much and the itching
was about to drive me nuts.
Butler had been suffering from a sore shoulder and the chief
pharmacists mate had given him some oil of winter green to rub it down
with. I'd never heard of oil of winter green but it smelled cool and minty. I
had been complaining all morning about my insufferable rash so Butler
casually suggested that I put some oil of winter green on it.
"This will be good for it, Hidebone." He said as he set it on the stainless
steel shelf in the galley. "Look out for things" he added. "I'm going down to
the head."
The tone of his voice sounded suspicious but the smell of the winter
green suggested very strongly that it could be cool and soothing. The more I
would glance at the bottle with its green content, sitting alluringly on the
shelf, the more my rash cried out for relief. I'm going to do it I thought, and
grabbed the bottle as I stepped back into the pantry to lower my pants and
skivvies. I applied generous portions to the entire area. If I had been a baby,
this could have been the worst case of diaper rash in the annals of history.
The relief was instantaneous and I quickly replaced the bottle cap and
pulled my clothing back into place. By the time I stepped back through the
pantry door into the galley to place the bottle back on the shelf, the cooling
effect began to warm up somewhat. Just when I placed the bottle back
where I had taken it from, my skin began to really burn and the sensation
seemed to grow worse with each passing second. In just a few more
moments I became delirious from the pain and began to panic. What if it
kept getting worse? What would I do?
I could drop my pants and sit in one of the coppers while I let the cold
water fill the kettle to its brim. I dismissed that idea quickly as being
unsanitary and taking too long. The idea of sitting in the stainless steel sink
filled with cold water was the second thought that flashed by. That would be
more sanitary than sitting in the copper but it still wouldn't look right to men
passing by the galley and looking in. The burning sensation was worsening
and I was now hell bent on finding relief. I didn't care when Butler was
coming back, I'd just have to leave the galley unattended and turned to
leave. Just as I got to the hatch leading out to the main deck from the spud
locker, I came face to face with Butler returning from the head.
"Move!" I shouted, as I started through the hatch where he was
blocking my exit.
"What?" He responded with surprise.
"Move!" I repeated with more urgency in my voice. "I put some of that
stuff on my rash." I wailed as I passed through the hatch and headed aft
towards the crews head.
Butler let our a boisterous laugh and continued to laugh hysterically as
he followed me down the main deck.
I glanced over my shoulder back at him and saw him doubled up
holding his stomach as he laughed. I grabbed each leg of my trousers and
was fanning them the best I could, hoping to create a bellows to force some
cool air to the burning area. We passed a couple of men coming forward on
the main deck. Each of them looked at this strange spectacle with quizzical
expressions.
"Hidebone put winter green on his ass." Butler told them, though his
explanation was barely understood through his gasping for air between
spasms of raucous laughter.
Before I got to the hatch leading into the aftercrew's head I'd actually
considered leaping over the side to find some relief. I didn't reach that
drastic conclusion and found my self in the head, facing a bewildered
captain of the head. He had everything secured and cleaned so getting relief
here was going to be a problem. I had dropped my pants to the half mast and
my butt was looking for a place to cool off. At this point I didn't care. If
necessary, I would clean up afterward, but I was going to get relief.
Butler entered the head right behind me and somehow managed to
relate the cause of these bizarre proceedings to the captain of the head.
Great, that's all I needed, now I had two howling hyenas rolling on the floor
laughing at me. I peeled off my clothing and jumped into the shower with the
cold water running full blast. Water conservation be damned, I thought. This
was a medical emergency.
The whole episode didn't end in the head. No! Butler had to tell
everyone who passed by the galley that day what happened. It didn't stop
that day either. He had to tell everyone, every day, the entire story and they
would all double over with laughter each time. Sometimes Butler would just
look at me and say "move," then start laughing just as hard as he did the first
time. It was a long trip from Panama to San Diego.