Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-07-05
THE OCEAN MAIL.

In the year 1919, when so many of
those highly interesting characters
whom Mr.. Bret Harte has tenderly em-
balmed in moral literature as the affect
ing "Argonauts'' of that amazing pc
riod were swarming enthusiastically
away from wives and mothers-fn-law to
the new gold fields, Mr.. Nichols sailed
from this port to California on argonaus
tic scheme intent. The long voyage un-
der canvass was so prosperous as to
gales, whales and so on for many weeks
that much social profanity and other
worldly festivity prevailed on the ship
until the dreaded Cape was reached,
when prospects of storm induced the
golden mariners to think penitently Of
their errors. Mr.. Nichols, particularly,
was thrown into exemplary piety by the
rising Of the waves, and retiring devout-
ly to his 'sbunk'' proceeded to pen a
long letter of spiritual exhortatiOn to
his family at home. Scarcely was the.
epistle completed when the conduct of
the wind became quite serious, causing
the greatly embarrassed ship to assume
a variety of uncomfortable attitudes in
rapid succession. and developing in the
majority of the passengers a vein of 'un-i
the catechism IN his mind Mr.. Nichols.
light-headed with anxity to do some
thing good. added to his letter post
script of unconditional pardon for all
his foes, including his wife's mother,
and enclosing the whole in a whisky
bottle dropped it overheard. But the
vessel did not founder after all. Possi-
bly, the evolution of so much goodness
on deck had a buoying or gaseous ten
dency to keep the'yessel afioat, despite
the tempest. At any rate she outrode
the storm, and finally landed small
army of egrigious moral 'backsliders on
the anriferous coast. What time Mr..
Nichols could spare from mining, shovel
and poker after debarking, he de-
voted to a series of home-letters, by no
means SO orthodox as that which he
supposed was lost in the sea, and, in
fact, rather comic than priestly. Such
was erring human nature in the memo
rable days of 40, as almost any writer
for the Overland Monthly who must
have been about two years old at that
time, cannot help remembering. But
the letter in the ocean was not lost.
After knocking innumerable knocks at
Neptune's sashes and crystal doors for
nearly three years without tempting any
norman or syren to break the seal, it
went ashore in disgust at last ON the
west coast of Chill, and was picked up
bv a damp native A subtle, mysterious
kind, a free-masonry in glassware, en-
ables the denizen of any part of the
world to recognize whisky bottle of
any nationality at glance, and the
Chilian finder of the jetsuna in question
failed not to felicitate himself joyously
upon the capture of what his simple
faith construed as a miraculous dispen-
sation- OF superior tipple. Drawing the
waNed cork in ecstacy, instead Of cereal
beverage the parental composition in
| milk and water; and, striving to COM
pensate himself for. the disappointment
| bv the luxury Of reading what was none
| of his business, fell into such tremen-
| dous sleep that a passing American shiL
captain at first thought him dead. This
| same captain, however, having resusci
tated the sleeper. read as much of the
letter as his constitution wonld bear, anG
then volunteered to have it sent to it
| destination by the very next ship fol
| heavy freight. 1t was nearly a year la
| ter when the family in this State re
| ceived it at last; and now, in a frame
on the parlor wall of home in Port
land, Oregon, whittier married daugh
ter of Mr.. Nichols has removed, i
memorializes, says the Oregonian, one o
the longest postal journeys ever mad
by literary production.