The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-07-14
SAILORS ON COMETS.
Oae Testiaes 10 His Contempt fer A.trsi
sers, While Anether Says ID Means War

''What d. tn sailors think o. tn comet Well,
they think it's purity thin T. look ut. Did 'ey
ever see 'em afore. Guess icy did amt much
goin' at sea sky at sailors don't see; got moth
in else to look at, 'cept tn riggin', an that's
nothin more N lookin' N tn sky all tn time
guess sailors see bout all ats gon' on"
II was an old, weather-bronZed sailor, with a
face like brightly polished railroad signal, a
gray, wiry beard, partially bald head, with
little tufts of iron gray hair, a pair of shaggy
ont from small apertures underneath the shaggy
brows. lie stood on the deck of brig, with
foot resting on the deck Hoor. In hand he
held 4 broom, with which he had been scrub
bling up the deck, when his work was summari-
ly interrupted by the appearance of a stranger,
the object of whose visit was explained in the
opening sentence of this article.
.'laSser," said the sailor, after brief spell of
chewing tobacco, during which there had been
a solemn silence, the visitor not wishing to say
anything that would be deemed personal TO
the guile" and the sailor being occupied with
| his own meditations. 'Yssser," continued the
sailor, "sailOrs most all tn comets goin, an
all tn meteOrs, too. | seed Us comet myself
Friday mornin' bout ) o'clock. 1t 'ad TAIL ~
said the old sailor, taking up his broom and
putting down his foot sit 'ad q tail bout as
long s this boon-stick, an bout wide IS tn
! broom"
''Are not the sailors afraid of this comet. Is
| it true they believe it means the end of the
| world :"
9Th world" said the old sailor, with an addi-
tional wrench of his jaws over the tobacco,
''comes 10 an end ev'ry day, fur some man an
woman an child; Their amt q day as passes as
| don't end it fur scme 'un"
But some astronomers say that il the comet
strikes the earth it will consume it; that this
| globe will be annihilated in an Instant
''Huh" said the old sailor, turning his
| heel and shaking his head, with an expression
Of.disgust, ''wiiat damned nonsensem
But these astronomers are men of learning
| and experience
"Aye," said the old sailor, coming hack to his
former position again; % astronomers hev to
make a Twin well s sailors"
"But everybody believes it. Scientific men,
the world over, support the theory"
"Everybodys fools, said the old sailor, TAX
| ing leaning position on his brOomstick. "'Ey
don't know what 'ey believe. Ely see q spell O.
| cold weather, an twonee gwiIitu excitement
| overt, an say rs 'ere's never been anythn like
| t since Fey was born, while eve been any num-
Der o. jes sech SPELLS nearly ev'ry season. 'Ey
talk 'bont col weather las winter, an 'ey never
see anythin' like it. I've seed lots O. sieh in my
time. 'TwOuld be ten years ago at / was lynn
| in Atlantic llarbor, in New York, an seed
thin at nobody's ever seen since, l wager my
neck. Twas seven o'clock o. the mornin', an
tn water was free from ice is ere river is
now, an by IL o'clock noon twas froze up so
hard as twas rs much as tug boats could do to
get through it. AT seed myself, wi my own
| eyes; yet peOple'll tell y'u as 'ey've never seed
didn't forget EN-"
"Then you think there's no harm in comet ~
| mo more harm in a comet an ere is in Jup-
ter, or tn sun, or anythin' else Comets is more
| irregular AN others; ats bout all; Fey don't
| come 81 ofen-trav'lin' bout an travelin' bout
| as 'ey do"
At this juncture, another bronzed and grizzly
seaman climbed mp the side of the brig and was
duly greeted by Bronzed and Grizzly Number
One, as one of the crew. word sufficed to get
him talking about the comet.
| "DOn't ye tell me a comet means nothin',"
said he, turning to his more 0bdurate brother of
the wide trousers; "'ey mean at it's a bringin'
| o. tn worl to an en- nOthin' less I've seed
comets afore; seed tn comet o. 1865, an seed
things then showed ere was somcthin' meant
| by it. / was lynn in port o. Newberg, Den
mark, an tn moment-the very INSTANTLY
comet appeared, tn water begun to boil rOun'
til ship, like water in pot. Twas in midsum-
mer, too. An AT boilin' lasted three days"
Closer questioning brought the old sailor down
to particulars. The comet, he said, was first
seen about . o'clock in the evening, by himself
and the mate of the vessel on which he was EN-
ployed. No sooner did they discern il than the
noise of the water around their vessel caused
them to look down below. 1t bubbled and
spurted up like volcanic eruption, at first, and
in a moment had generated dense steam, which
soon obscnred everything from sight.
9TH people ashore said the old sailor,
''thought tn world was comm to an en-, GER
tain, an made preparations fur it. They give
up ey'rythin'; the Danish farmers give up Their
farms, an storekeepers closed ther business, an
ev'ry'un sat an waited fur tn en- to come but
| it didn't come that time. 'spect it will, purity
| soon, now
The old sailor said there was one infallible
| consequence of comets; n consequence which he
had observed never missed; their appearance
| was a sure sign of war. "Just wait and see -
the old sailor said, ''if this comet don't bring
war He certain of this as 'that he
lived an drew his breath. '-Phiiadeiphia Times.