Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-11-23
From the New York sun, Nov.
Happy Jack.
THE REV. WILLIAM wISASs, ONCE KING OF ONE
OF THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS.

| THE REV. WILLIAM wTNASs, ONCE KING OF oNE
OF THE cANNIBAL ISLANDS.
A short stout, ruddy-faced man. attired
| in a suit of heavy, coarse clothes, over which
was tightly buttoned Il long linen duster,
lmped briskly into the city yesterday. and
addressed himself vigorously to the task OF
organizing a temperance crusade. On his
feet were n pair of brogans, such as are worn
by the wayiaring men, faded red plush
| winter cap covered his head, and he carried
in his hand peeled hickory stick. His hair
| WAS cropped short, "A hedge OF SIM red whls-
kers encircled the rim of his fnce, and under
a cloud of bristly eyebrows CLEANED n pair
of honest blue eyes. Dropping his chin
meditatiyely on the crook of his cane, and
drawing n notebook from his pocket. he
said, with anair ofprde I'm Happy Jack, ."
| the reformed sailor, the wandering preacher.
the temperance apostle, and the king OF the
| Cannibal Islands otherwise, I'm the Rev,
| William Winans. and I've travelled the world
all over. preaching temperance, moral sua-
sion and the Christian religion in the East
and in the West, and fact everywhere.
In this book which you see before you is an
imperfect record of my pilgrimage I've
been lecturer and reiormer for over 10
wears, and my work has been very success
full"
The history of Happy Jack, as related by
himself, is about rs romantic as that of Sim
had the sailor. ''Born in Tyre, Seneca coun-
ty. n. y" so said Jack, 81 was left an or
phan at the early age of five years. Thrown
on an unsympathetic world, Il few years af-
terward, listed on a canal boat
The peaceful pursuit OF drowsy mule
along an Erie towpath was not congenial to
Jacks adventurous spirit, and he went to New
IPa.1t Il, 4 -h.l.
boy. 81 took to drinking at once he said,
.and thereafter for the best part of my life
there was no worse drunkard i'll the world
than |. | visited every part of the known
and unknown world during my life MS a sail
or / went TO the Arctic and the Antarctic
regions and to almost every part OF the At
lantic and the Pacific oceans. ! was ship
wrecked five times, and was once - days i'll
an open boat i'll the Pacific On that occn-
sion there were 40 of us. We had been
obliged to abandon the ship and take to the
boats. We were on the open ocean, and
knew not whittier to go. We apportioned
out our provisions and our water supply. so
much for each Days consumption, and then
We dritted. Day after day passed, our food
and water grew less and less the men began
TO sicken and die, and no sign of land APP
peared. The men became delirious and
sprang into the sea and at length only four
or five remained. Still we saw no sign of
either sail or land At las; | was left alone
i'll the boat, my comrades one by one, had
all been left i'll the wake. just as | was CIV
in1 up all hope espied land, and soon SAW
many boats Ill the distance coming toward
me When they reached me | found myself
surrounded 10y cahOes with naked saynges.
was taken on board, and the fleet of canoes
was rowed swiftly to the shore. | could not
understand the language of the natives, but
after II while | learned that was on one of
the Canribal islands of the New Hebrides
group. The natives did not attempt TO in
jure me, and war soon breaking out between
them and the inhabitants of another island,
| was taken along to the fight. We had II
great battle and were victorious. The chief,
pleased with the service that rendered him,
could hardly do enough for me. We had II
great cloritication when We returned home
from the battle, and soon afterward the chief
made me king over neighboiing island OF
40, 900 mhatitunts | ruled there Tor over
nine months, making laws for the people and
trading with whalers and other vessels that
touched at the island.
"At length | persuaded the captain of Il
whaler to take me of, and one dark night he
sent boat to the shore, and WAS taken on
board his ship. The food of the natives of
the island that governed was human flesh.
fish, cocoanuts, and bread fruit.
.'At one time worked in the Australian
mines. and had hundreds of narrow escapes.
both there and elsewhere. enlisted IN the
United States navy and was honorably dis
charged. 1t was not until about 10 years
ago that gave up drinking and reformed. |
gave up drinking in the Sandwich Islands.
Before that | had the delirium tremens sew
eral times and had been locked up for drunk
enness in many ports in different parts of the
world.
81 have preached the gospelo Christianity
and temperance i'll every town of New Eng
land, and have been through nearly every
State in the West. This Summer | have
preached and lectured in New York State,
mostly to sailors and canal men, and have
obtained over 10000 signers to the pledge.
In the last three years | have converted to
temperance over 100000 persons, and or
ganlzed 2e5 Temperance societies. have
spoken to immense open-air meetings, and
been wonderfully successful. l always use
moral suasion- -precept and example, you
know nothing else.
Il didn't have much success in Fall River,
for they couldn't stand moral suasion. They
wanted straight prohibition, and so didn't
have much support. You see l don't charge
ANYTHING for my services only what the
people :eel disposed to give. Its my own
sacrifice You see. In Fall River | received
only Sl.25, and had to live on five cents a
day. One dollar and twenty five cents, ]
said l thought was pretty cheap ; but then
suppose they ought to know the value OF
them. | expect to start the good work III the
slums of tins city Mt once. My address Is,
Sailors Reading Room. Catharine AMI Nadi-
son streets New York CITY"
Happy jack opened his large note book
and drew forth many letters OF recommends
ton from influential temperance leaders, and
showed complimentary notices of his work
by the Eastern press. One notice describes
HIM TINS
Happy jack is n reformed inebrinte. II
rough sailor, snatrhed from the burning pits
of wee and sin, and bears on his person
marks of his former rough and rugged lie
and conflicts with man and beast. He Is III
reality man of merit. The worst Of 1t all
Is, having been 50 eticctually ground up by
shark fighting in the bay OF Honolulu and
broken down by rheumatism, he Is unable TO
work