The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-10-07
AN OLD SAILORS YARN.

l had shipped into the ship Robert
Bovine, in New York, bound for San
Francisco, and she pnt in to Rio for
fl esh stores, havin' passengers aboard.
She were logged as putin in for water,
but that were only on account of the
Insurance, cause, you see, water bein' a
necessity, you can go in for that without
makinga deviation of the wage, That's
what they calls it, you know, and your
insurance is all right but the real fact
were she went in for stores. and princi-
pally grog. Whether the skipper and
his passengers got it or not 1 don't know,
but I'm very sure 1 did, and when 1
woke out of the spree I found that the
ship had been three days at sea and had
carried all my dunnage with her.
Well, sir, of course, without money
and without clothes had to come on
the consul's hands, and it were the first
time L had ever done so, except in case
of wreck. Every scrape ever got into,
sir, and almost every scrape everybody
else ever 1 know'd got into, come of
drinkin' rum.
Well, the American consuls in foreign
ports has fund provided for sich cases
as mine, for you see when captain pays
man off in foreign port he has for to
give him three months extra pay, one
month ofwhich the consul keeps, and this
creates fund for to pay the board and
passage home of shipwrecked sailors;
and 1 were pretty we'll wrecked and no
mistake. Then every captain has for to
take these men when the consul sends
them on board, leastwise certain num-
Der accordin' to the size of the ship,
and no ic olloyppl for fn ,,o1ya ,a,,,
jist rs if they'd been shipped regularly
There was three of us consuls men on
board of this here Sarah Lucinda, me
and a chap named Jack Wilson, and
another chap named Billy Corr. We
were all pretty well "mops and brooms'
when we came aboard, but Billy Corr
was the worst, and he went right down
sick the day arter we left Rio. I'd heerd
of him ashore, and folks in Rio didn't
seem to make him out rightly. I'd
heerd tell that he come there passenger
like, aboard of brig from somewhere
on the south side of Cuba, and that he
had lots of cash, and all in gold pieces,
and that he'd swayed away on all taut
ropes, never drawin' sober breath till
his money were all gone, and then bust
in it out on tick as long as possible, and
finally fetchin' up as 1 had onto the
consul's hands. Well, sir, you can easy
see he'd been on a months drunk, ami
in that time it amt probable he'd ever
right over me and Jack, as hadn't more
than n week of it for want of means.
1t has almost always happened, sir,
that if anybody were sick aboard of |
ship where [ were it would be me that
I'D hn thn iph Of tolyi,,
and this time me and Jack bein' kind of |
supernumeraries, and comm aboard |
onto the same lay with this Billy Corr, |
of course, when he went down right bad, |
me and Jack was put for to look out for
him. We'll, he We're bad, there's no de-
nyin' it. 1t were like Paddy, when he
fell from alott he said it weren't the
fall that hurt him, it were stoppin' so
sudden, and this poor chap, as long as
he We're ashore he'd get some grog every
day, just enough to carry him along safe,
but as soon as he got to sea, where he
couldn't git any, the sudden stoppage
brought on the "triangles," and he had
,em about as bad as any one ever I seen.
Lord love you, sir, how that chap did
yell. For one whole night he KEEP shout
III Murdor - at the very top of his
voice. Jack and [ got rome canvas gas
kcts, and WE strapped him down to the
bunk solid, 50 lie couldn't do no hurt to
bisself nor to nobody else, and then We
took turn and turn about a. watchin' him.
Did you ever have them things, sir
No; well, you needn't want to, for
they're jist awful How it is that any
body as has had 'em once and got ever
1T, should ever go on a-drinkin' and have
'em agiu, is more than can tell, and
yet they does, "a everybody knows.
> lain t often, though, that anybody has
EN- as bad as this chap. I'd seen
plenty of it afore, AMI maybe had had
touch or two myself, but nothin' like
this had ever seen. The mates name
were Charley Richmond, and he were a
good man. I've heern tell he used some
times to bowse up his own lib pretty
taut-and he done all that could be done
for this poor chap, though he wasn't
nothin' but conslll's man. He whaled
the cook within an inch of his life, cause
he said he'd be hanged if he'd make
Cruel for a drunken brute like that
meanin' this here Billy Corr.
Well, sir, we got the southeast trades
good and strong and they carried us
away up to about six degrees north, and
hen we laid two days into the doldrums
lfore we got the northeast trades /; but
when we did get 'em they was SO strong !
hat we had to carry our to'gallan' sails
md single-reefed topsails, and she goin'
rec, TOO.
We lost the northeast trades some ]
where's about the latitude of twenty -four {
legrees north, and was a box haulin'
bout into the horse latitudes for over a
week, and then we got breeze from
outhwest, which come on light, with
loudy weather in the forenoon, and
,reezed on arter dinner with rain. 1t /
we're duff day, and a week day, so it {
must have been of Thursday, and our 7
ide had the watch from eight to twelve
# the night. The main to'gallan sail and s
studdin' sail were set when ,
We come on deck, and we were headin'
Ter about nor-norwest and jumpin' her {
long about eleven knots-a rainin' like :
'lazes and as thick as tar. We'd never /
eed the old man carry sail afore, and s