Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1874-01-03
A TERRIBLE TALE OF THE SEA
A Maniac Captain Sets Fire to
his GunpOwder Laden Ship
Bravery, Humanity, and Mi
raculOus Escape of the Crew.


Bravery, Humanity, and Mi
racuIOus Escape of the Crew.
The Eden, a ship Of over 500
tons burden, sailed from London on
18th Of October last, bound for Val
paraiso. She was loaded with $50
tons Of gunpowder, and -follOwing
the statement of the crew, as given
in the Liverpool Daily Post with
general cargo, i'll which 4 quantity
! OK matches conveniently figured
The ship was making good passage,
and all was going well till she had
! had about twenty days out, when
symptoms of insanity began to APP
pear in the conduct of the captain.
| The symptoms rapidly increased in
! intensity, and presently manifested
| themselves in an exceedingly unmis-
| taxable manner. At midnight on
! the 9TH of the present month the
crew, sleeping in their berths,
were aroused by shouting and the
shufiling of feet, and rushing on
deck they found their captain, with
loaded firearms i'm his hand, gestic-
ulating, raYing, and threatening 10
shoot the watch. This was not q
pleasant situation, 10 be at sea with
captain prone to turn out OF his
cabin in the dead of the night with
loaded pistols, aud an evident rcck-
lessness as to where their contents
might 90. But the sailors seemed
to have taken the matter very cool
ly, and soothing the mailman in
their kind but very clumsy manner,
they induced him TO turn in again,
he promising, like a child that had
been naughty, to ego to sleep and
not make any fresh disturbance.
Haitian hour passed away, the
ship meanwhile pursuing her course
over the darkened sea, and the sail
ors all asleep again save the watch.
Suddenly there was another alarm,
and they crowded again Oh deck TO
find a sight more startling even
than that of q mailman armed with
loaded pistols. The captain had, in
accordance with his promise, gone
down into his cabin, fastened his
door, but so far from "gOing TO
sleep" he had set the place on fire,
and, looking down through the sky
light, the Mortified crew could see the
flames through the lurid cloud of
smoke that filled the room. With
$50 tons of gunpOwder in the hold,
the case was plainly one that de-
manded instant treatment. The
cabin-dOOr was shut, and so they
dashed in the skylight, aud tried to
get down through that. But this /
course was found to be impracti- /
cable, and the second mate and the |
carpenter volunteered To 90 down. |
break open the cabin-dour and Sc /
cure the mailman, who still armed /
to the teeth, was pacing round the /
cabin, utteriug shOuts of demoniac /
glee. The men succeeded in break |
ing down the door, and the second |
mate, entering, was shot in the /
head by the captain, and retreated, |
followed by the carpenter. The |
flames were spreading with a ra- |
pidity which presently led to the |
that the captain had care !
fully prepared for the fearful scene |
by soaking parts of the vessel in pa |
raffine oil. When the sailors learned |
this they gave up all hopes of saving |
the ship, and a move was made for |
boats. AS the long-boat was swung |
round ready to drop from the da- |
Wits the Infatuated captain, having /
now added bay Onet to his arinOry, |
OH the deck. and, seeing |
the preparations for escape, rushed /
at the crew gathered around the /
boat, fired at the head of one, and |
stabbed another iii the shoulder /
with the bayonet. a sailor, picking |
up a handspike, smOte down the /
arm, and the rest rushing
upon him he was overpowered and
disarmed. The crew then got into
the boat and rowing round TO the
stern implored the captain TO leap
over and join them. But he was
not going to leave q spectacle which
he had prepared with such fore
thought and trouble, and waving
the boat away he continued to walk
up and down the deck, above which
the flames were already beginning
to leap. Should they leave him to
the fate he had designed for them
and gloried in for himself? He was
a violent maniac, perhaps best out OF
the way and moreover, the gentle wind
that drove the almost deserted ship
the waves slowly but sure
ly blowing sheets of fire over the
hold in which were slowed $50 tons
Of gunpOwder and the convenient
of matches" 1t was
situation in which men might well
hesitate, and it seems from the
story that at first the doubt was de-
cided against the captain, and the
boats crew turned their back upon
the ship, drifting towards the
Line" with its fearful cargo and its
solitary passenger. But on second
thoughts the sailors decided, as is
the general habit of English sailors,
TO do the thing that was right and
manly, at whatever cost; and so
they pulled back, got the raving
mailman safelyinto the boat and row.
ed away in time to view, from a safe
distance, the sudden going up sky
ward of the good ship Eden, by the
explosion of a hundred and fifty
tons of gunpowder. AT daybreak
the boat had the good fortune 10 be
sighted by the Juniata, of Scarbor-
Dugh, bound for Bahia, and all
were got safely on board. The cap
lain of the Eden, being still raVing
mad, was put in irons, where he re-
NAMED for four days, after which
period he ''gOt an anchor loose"
ind running to the side of the yes
,el, leaped overheard, and, weighted
with his irons, went straight down +:
n the sea and was never more seen.
AS for the crew, they went on to !
Bahia, whence they were sent home
N one of the Pacific Company's |
boats, and, arriving in Liverpool on
Wednesday, were comfortably !
housed in the Sailors Home.