St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-12-26
The Perils of the Sea.

like that of the 4 AIdHtic or the Vile du
Hdrre comes to remind us with startling
and terrible distinctncsS, that the ordi-
nary perils of the sea, in spite of all
human provision, are sufficiently great.
But ut rare intervals we have the story
of some exceptional danger which. for Il
moment, inclines us to think with
HoHACt concerning the mortality of the
wretch who first tempted the treachcry
of the inhospitablc ocean. Such was
the nature of the mishar which hrfclk
the crew OF the ship Eden. of 800 tons.
cleared from London on the 18th of last
October for the port of Valparaiso. IIrI
carg" was scarcely such as a prudent
man would care to go to sea with. 1t
consisted mainly of $50 tons of gun
powder. and to add to the general at
tr;ictiveneSS and safety of the vessel, Il
large quantity of matches figured prom
iucntly in the invoice. Still. with care
and luck. even glInpowdrr and matches
may be safely carried. and for the first
twenty days out, wind and weather
faVOring. nothing occurred to man what
promised to he an unusually prosperous.
voyage.
About that time, however, certain
peculiarities began tu he noticed in the
behavior of the Captain. Such little
ccccntricities aS curSing till he fnamcd
at the mouth. and knocking down with
hamdSpikes everybody who came with
in reach. are pleasures to which the
average sailing master is So prone that
no well-rcgulatcd mariner would stop
to notice them. Even when the Captain
of the Eden took To running up "n deck
i'll the dead of night. there Io perform Il
sort of war dance. with loaded pistols.
which he threatened tn fire prOmi>cu-
ously into the ships company. his crew
were not greatly disturbed. They ap-
pear To have taken it quite as Il matter
of course. and when the good Captain.
having tired of his amusement. consent
ed to 60 to bed. they too retired to
their hammocks without the slightest
apprehension. The next freak Of THEN
superior. however. awakened them To a
different sense of the situation. Ilasti
" summoned once more on deck 10y the
frantic cries of the watch. the alarmed
crew gathered around the Captains
skVlight, and Saw ii sight which might
well make a brave man ucmhlc. The
Captain had set his cabin on fire. and
. III lllt lllltl>l bl lIt' ililllt anu ~ll'lkt
could bc dimly di>cerucd dancing about
madly. firing pistols. and "utterln"
shouts of dcm"niac glcc." lie was cvI-
IDENTITY insane.
y situation seldom occurs more dos
pcratr than that of these poor men IN
mid-oce;rn. on Il ship loaded with gun
powder, already in flames. aud COM
mandrd hy maniac. armed {" the
teeth. and bent on destruction. What
was to hc done had to he done quickly.
The second mate aud carpenter V"lun-
tccIcd To break into the cabin and over
power the luuatic. They We're received
with Il fire which Wounded the mate
and put both To- flight. Then it WIS
discovered that the Captain. with that
dilholral cunning 81 often associated
with mental disease, had prepared for
his Triumph 10y soaking various parts
of the vcS>,l in plratfin" oil" There
upon the crew. now thoroughly dis
hcatcmrd. turned t" the boats, and
were about lowering the first when the
Captain suddenly appeared. with a
pistol in one hand Il haInnct in the
other. and made II terrific chaIg gr. Two
men fell before he could hr leNrlcd with
Il hand>pilc aud the boat safely lowered.
The Captain refused t" 20 with them.
and they had To bind him To got him
into the boat. They had scarcely
cleared the vessel when the glmpowdrr
exploded. and the Edcn Disappeared.
TIc crew were. luckily. picked up ut
day break 10y another English vessel.
from which the Captain. VIII" had /" Ice
put in irons. lcaped four days attcrward
and was drowned.
\ novelist VIII" should invent Il >ltua-
tion 81 fraught with horror would Ice
Justly charged with cXaggcrati"n. 1t
/ may hc said. however, that the columns
! of daily newspaper contain every day
much more that j. ot dramatic and r"-
mantle interest than the majority "i the
/ plaNS and rnmanccS that arc written.
II