Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-03-21


t ship him for China on Monday. Al
: rived at the house again, he was take
! to small room at one end, wher
!. there was little cot, and ordered t
60 to bed, being diminished that if h
1 dared to try to escape during the nigh
it would be st the peril of his life.
= Left in the darkness, the boy eau
7 tiously felt the floor and the bed, 70
he had heard that there were places il
New York where they dropped mel
through traps; and then, finding moth
: ing that seemed like a trap, he sa
, down on the bed and abandoned him
self to his thoughts. As he though
of his posltion--a prisoner right il
the heart of the great city, and helC
by men who he was convinced would
not hesitate to murder him, anC
threatened with being sent to Chins
without even having a chance of let.
ting his mother know where he was
and as he thought of her agony over
his disappearanee-bitter tears came
to his relief, and he resolved to make
an attempt to get out 1t must have
been about four or FIVE o'clock In the
morning when he succeeded In pick
ing the lock on his door (there was
no window and cautiously opened it,
only to see that he was guarded by a
sentinel, whose vigilance there was no
hope of eluding. There was a faint
hghtin the larger room into which his
opened, and by it he saw an immense
bloodhound raise himself from the
floor, and, with white teeth and low,
savage growl, gather himself to spring
on the intruder. The boy drew back
for he was very much afraid of dogs.
having been badly torn by one in his
childhood, and feeling that there was
no possibility of escape, commended
himself to God.
The long night passed, and morning
came, and he was permitted to get
some breakfast; but during the whole
day was kept secure prisoner, either
Gleason himself or one of his runners
being always ON hand to check any at
tempt to escape. In the evening the
captain Of the Baltic sent up word
that if Gleason could do no better he
would take the man who had been re-
fused the night before.
Thereupon the considerate landlord
fitted out the boy for sea. The pea
jacket he had been wearing was of
some little use, so from box of old
clothes, long, swallow-tailed coat, or
what was left of what had once been
the property of some shangh@d bum
mer, was selected, and he was made to
exchange. This, with an old quilt.
two fiimsy check shirts, three clay
pipes, pound of plug tobacco and
sheath knife and belt constituted the
outfit which he he was to be
sent to round Cape Horn in the dead
of the southern winter. Making
the boy carry his bundle, he was
again taken down to heshipping office,
as on the night before, the landlord on
one side and the runner on the other.
Two or three men were in the little
room, but no one was paying any atten-
ton to him. He was marched up to a
desk and ordered to sign his name,
when the clerk pointed to a piece of
paper. Sign, whispered the runner.
Sign, "or will kill ycu, said the land |
lord, suiting the action to the word, and
striking him heavily under the jaw.
The boy wrote his name and was hur-
ried out and down to the wharf with |
a drunken man, whom he had no.
ticed in the shipping Office. On the |
way he ventured to ask when he was to |
get the $50 advance which had been
promised him the day before.
bVn1, xu1II oak that n. Aao-I - -,
the gruffreply.
At the wharf, boatman was hailed, |
the drunken man was bundled down, |
under the threat of being knocked |
down if he did not move quickly, he |
was hurried into the boat, which pulled |
off to the Baltic.
Take your dunnage into the star
board forecastle, said man whom he |
afterward found was the mate.
The boy started off toward the cabin. |
Where are you going?" shouted a
man, somewhat in liquor, who con-
fronted him, and who proved to be
the boatswa:n.
Il was just going back there, sir.
Are you the captain p
Going back there, you fool p half
laughed, half roared the bOatswain,
hauling off and knocking him down
with a blow of his fist. You're a
pretty specimen to come aboard a ship.
Go forward there, or | II kick you for
ward"
There was no help for it; the boy
found the forecastle, and found there
of men just like himself, who
had never been to sea before, but who
had all been shanghad in pretty much
the same way. He finally approached
the mate, who seemed a kindly man.
but who told him he could do nothing
for him. Men were scarce, and the
ship must go to sea, and $50 had been
paid for him. Late at night the watch
man found him crying on the topgal-
liant forecastle, heard his story and
agreed to take letter from him to be
mailed to his mother, telling where he
had gone. The last hope failed when
the captain and pilot came on board,
and the tugboats came up and pulled
the ship through the NarrOws and out
to sea, and the Baltic's white wings
were spread for an $1,000 mile voyage.
1t is needless to say that Staples did
not get his advance, and, when he spoke
of it, the sailors only laughed at him.
and advised him to make a cow-hitch
in the extremities of his swallow-ta tail
though they soon relieved him of these
by cutting off first one and then the
other to make blackball caps. But the
crew Of the Baltic was largely made
up in the same way, and there was
among them barber, tailor, a shoe
maker, a soldier, fireman. and car
penter, who hardly knew one end of
the ship from the other, and who had
no more idea of shipping as seaman to
go round Cape Horn than they had of
going on a journey to the moon.
The officers treated him we'll. The
first mate took him into his own watch,
and he was not even sent aloft until he
had got over his sea-sickness. The
treatment of the crew was excellent.
There was very little bullying and no
beating, and Captain Taylor did not add
to his sin of kidnapping men the
sin of tOrturing and killing them,
though the steward charged exorbitant
prices for the few articles which the
slop-chest contained. Arriving here,
he was taken to Sanders boarding
house, the third mate having given him
the abundant clothes in which he made
his appearance to Mr.. Morrow.
We have given, 10 connected shape,
the substance of the boys story, with
out color or establishment of any
kind. There is nothing improbable in
it to any one who knows anything
about the manner in which ships are
,.,o,roJ - An,ario.n DorfS. aud The |