The organ of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, O. [Ohio]) 1852-1853, 1852-08-13


Some time in the summer of 1S4--, having
occasion to 90 to the North from Charleston,
and thinking a short trip by sea would be an
agreeable change from the heat and dust Of
terra fTma, ! took passage in the brig Ellen,
for Portland. was the only passenger. The
vessel, indeed, was mcrc trader, not design
cd for the accommodation Of travellers. had
provided myself with few books; but much
reading, when one has nothing else TO do, is a
wearinCss to the flesh.
After | had exhausted the conversational
powers of the captain and mate, | was accus-
toned to 90 forward among the men, listening
to their yarns sometimes taking q part in
them myself. One warm, pleasant night, hav-
ing been driven from the cabin by The COM
bined force of yermin, foul odOrs aud lamp
smoke, lighted a cigar, and strolling forward
to the foreCastle, seated, or rather stretched
myself upon quantity Of loose rigging that
was gathered into a heap under the weather
bulwarks, where | could either listen to the
men, or commune, undisturbCd, with my own
thoughts. There was fine, fresh breeze from
the southwark and westward Every thing
was set that could draw, and the crew were
nearly all ON deck, lounging on and about the
windlass, and telling stories, true or imagi-
nary of their past lives. Little OF their con-
Yersation, however, attracted my attention.
until my ear was caught by the word, That $
not bad yarn, boys but | can spin you bet
ter one--were any of you ever hung2'
"Hungl no, nor you either; though you are
in no danger Of ever drowning
"Well, | came so near hanging once, that
any Of you would be greener than fresh af-
terguard hand, if you would have given aquid
of tobacco for my chance OF having anything
to stand upon half an hour longer. .g
Here there was a general demand upon the
speaker for his ''yarn," while the men gath
cred more closely around him. My own Gu
riosity, also, was excited and having turned
over towards the windlass upon which he was
sitting, and settled myself as comfortably as
circumstances would admit Of upon my rope
couch, listened to the following tale,
The speaker, who wont by the aeme d
"Ned " was a middle aged, but muscular
man, whom / had before observed, as indica-
ting in his countenance and conversation more
general intelligence than is found i'll the com
mon run Of seamen. He may have been orr
| ginally educated for higher sphere than that
| TO which his vices, perhaps, had reduced him.
II is very possible, also, that his knowledge Of
the fact that he had me for an auditor, modl-
fled in some measure his mode OF expressing
himself His narrative, however, was thlckly
linterlarded with oaths, which a regard for the
morals and respect for the good taste OF the
readers OF this paper, induce me to omit ,
| have, also, for manifest reasons, omitted
the names of the ship in which, and OF the Of
ficers among whom, the events narrated oc
Cured. .,. ,,.r,-
"You know, shipmatcs, that have been in
Uncle Sans service 1t was when | was
wearing his livery, that / came so near being
taught new lesson on the tight-rope. was
aboard the old frigate --, on the West In
dia station, though the greater part OF our
cruising consisted in running up and down
Pensacola harbor, between the Navy yard aud
the town. We were the flag ship, you see; so
we staid snug in port, and sent out the sloops
to do all the work. The captain was a good
enough sort OF man, for anything that l
know; we never saw much OF him. In tact,
the captain Of man-O' war doesn't have
much to do with the management OF things,
and the less he NEEDLES, the better. He gen.
orally leaves it all to the first lieutenant. II
the skipper interferes with the first lutt, he
will save his dignity by coming down on the
watch officers. and they will pass it on to the
reefers, and they, in their turn, will ride it
rough shod over the men; so that Jack gets
the worst of it at last. But il the first officer
happens to be a Tartar himself, look out for
squalls, that ALL There's no getting away
! from him! He knows everything that going
| on in the ship, from the taffrail to the figure
head, and you'll find his spoon in your soup
when you think hes blowing up the purser in
| the ward room.
"Wcll, that the sort of man we had in The
old frigate, and the rest of the officers caught
| his disease. The worst Of it was, there was {
lot of youngsters in the steerage, not mucl
longer thah monkey tail, babies who Ough
not to have been out Of sight Of their moth
ers--who were allowed to order abont, ikt
dogs, men old enough to be their grandfath
ers, and who knew as much in one day as they
did in month.
Here the speaker wandered from his story
to enlarge upon the abuses attendant upon tht
practice Of giving authority over old seamen
| to boys Of from fourteen TO sixteen years o.
age, in which discussion his hearers took par
with a considerable degree of enthusiasm
| Some bOasted rather valOrously, that they
would act thus or thus, in certain supposed
circumstances; but Ned cut them short by
telling them, with more decision than cour.
tesy, that they were pack of asses, and had
better wait until they smelt powder be-
fore Dragging how we'll they could stand fire
After having discharged their surplus indig-
nation, they called upon him to continue his
story.
81 wasn't brought to be kicked and cuffed
about, and never could learn to take it quietly
When man strikes me am apt to let him
have il back, and generally give him his full
change, too. So, | got the character, among
the officers, Of being surly, insolent sort Of
fellow, who would not work well in the har-
ness, until had been broken in by the cats.
"Well one day, when | was cook Of our
mess, one Of the chaps split some grease on
the deck, and one Of the midshipmen hap
pened TO see it and told me to scrape it up.
didn't do it to snit him, and he called me back
and set me at it again, and gave me cursing
for grumbling. Ididn' hold my---tongue,
as he ordered me to, SO he hit me over the
head with his hand l started up, and before
had time to think where | was, up with
my fist to strike him back. But you see had
that cursed knife in my hand that / was scra-
ping the deck with, and If had hit him,
don't believe he would ever have had strap
on his shoulder. But two or three fellowe
Jumped on me, and before gotmy wits well
about me, was in the brig in double irons,