Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-11
rHE THIEvEs OF THE SEA.
supplying the Forecastie with DeIiC2-
ies-''Broaching Cargo"
Nes1 York Sd.


from the cargo. As itwould be very dit
licult for a dishonest sailor to land the
proceeds Of his burgis ries on the high
seas. be usually confines his depredations
90 such articles as he can consume dur
ing the voyage On 8 vessel loaded with
machinery. coal, guSlO, or some other
heavy material theCaptain has little 70
fear from the sailor. But when portion
of the cargo consists of wines. canned
meats, or fruits, or other articles in tie
fancy grocery line, tbs different. This kind
Of freight * usuallyStOwed in such man.
ner as % render Il difficult of access. and
Captains frequently instruct their officers
to keep a sharp watch on the mes and to
report any unacc0Untable additions to the
fOrecastle bill OF fare. Jack, however,
considers himself entitled TO breach cargo
when he can do so without being found
out. He reasons shat it is for the inter-
ests of the ship, and consequently of the
cOnsi gnees of the cargo, to have rim we'll
fed. The delicacies which he abstracts
from the cargo might not have been placed
there Tor his benefit. but he thinks that
they should have been. If it is discovered
during the voyage that the se8nen have
preached the cargo, they are hs uded over
70 the authorities when port y reached.
Then, n the Otense Is proved against them,
they are punished, but it often happens
that the preaching is not disco cred until
after the seamen have left the ship and
have had time to get out Of the way.
1T is curious said an old sailor. re-
Gently, chow suspicious some Captains
are about brOaehing cargo. l. they hap
pen 10 have cargo worth brOachng
they'll watch their men as a detective
would a gang OF thieves from the begin
ming to the end Of the voyage. But | re-
member one voyage that | took with a
Captain who never seemed to have heard
tf mi
his officers were all just like him. But |
reckon that voyage changed their ideas a
little bit. 1t was about TWEEN " years ago,
and the ship was bound from New York
TO san Francisco. One of the sailors had
watched them putting in the cargo. and
he said there was lots of canned goods
and other good things to eat, besides a
stock of wine and bottled beer, on board"
"All the regular matches were kept
locked, but right in the middle of the fore
castle was a little hatch that had been
calked down 50 YOU could hardly tell it
from the deck. We went to work when
we had been a few DAYS out and raised
this hatch. Some of us got down into the
hold and found that the stuff we wanted
had been left well up IN the cargo, SO that
we could easily get at it. We passed up
enough things to last for several DAYS. and
then we put down the hatch and made it
look about as IL did before. We had beer
and Wine and canned lobster and canned
oysters and raisins, and let's of other good
things. OF course we all got Jolly tight.
but somehow the Captain and The officers
didn't seem TO have a suspicion of what
was going ON. although we yelled and
sung ana made tremendous noise in the
fOrecastle.
the next dav when il was dinner-time
none Of us wanted the stuff they sent us
from the galley. One man was going to
take the dinner back to the cook. but |
threw down a can Of oysters that | was
emptying and told him | wouldn't allow
anything of the sort. Says 1: If that stuff
goes back 10 the galley they'll suspect that
we have got hold of something else to eat.
We must stow it away until dark and
then chuck it OverbOardv After that we
threw overheard everything from the
galley that we didn't want. Whenever
the good provisions and drink gave out,
we'd take up the little hatch and get up
fresh lot. Some Of us would keep tight
for days at time, and yet, strangely
enough, none of the officers suspected us.
Every night when / went on lookout l
took a can of oysters along to keep me
company. One Sunday evening l got
little tighter than usual, and as it was my
turn at the wheel | filled my pockets with
raislns before l went aft. The Captain
was walking up and down before the
wheel, and every time he turned his head
I'd put few raisins il my mouth. l was
feeling mighty jolly and reckless. so l
saved handful of the loose raisins. and
once, when the Captain was leaning over
the tatfrall with his back to me, l fired
them at him. / could see him start up
when they struck about his head He
looked at me, but l was as solemn as a
preacher. Then he looked up, and seemed
to think that whatever hit him came from
sr.H.a IL . -
l ever had. When we reached Frisco |
was paid of, and 1 managed to spend my
money and ship again before they dis
covered the cargo was preached. | heard
afterward that when they found it out
there was a great fuss made, but all the
sailors had shipped again, so they couldn't
arrest any One.'
An amusing story is told Of the mysteri-
GUS disappearance Of a sailor who was
thought TO have been lost overheard, but
who turned out to have been the most
bold and deceltful of cargo brOachers
This seaman, who was known as Liver
pool TOm,' shipped on q vessel bound
from London for Melbourne with a gen
eral cargo Tom was very goOd-natured
fellow but he was lazy. NOtwithstand-
ing his fOndness for Sinking his share of
the work, he was very popular among his
shipmates, and one morning when it was
announced that he had been lost over
board tears We're shed in the fOrecastle.
The seamen spent some days in discussing
the virtues of the lost sailor. No one had
seen him go overheard. but it was infer
red that &c had fallen from the forecastle
head shortly after midnight, when his
watch came on deck and he went on look
out. Great Indignation was aroused by
the mate, who had the heartleSsness to
say that it served Tom right for going to
sleep when ON the lookout What if he
had lain down on the fOrecastle head and
gone 10 Sieeps argued the sailors
Hadn't ne done this so as to dream
of his mother or his wife or his sweet
heart or his sister. To be sure, he never
had mentioned any such loved female. but
ne certainly must have been supplied with /
at least one e. them. The only wrong 4
thiug which he lad done. said his partial I
5hipmates, was 50 allow himself % 20 to /
sleep IN place where there was danger /
o. his rolling overheard. The vessel was 4
III the South Atl8uti- when Tom disap-
peared, and the greater portion Of the vow I
age was still to be made. The men were I
sOHle what supersuGOUs, and before the I
Cape q Good Hope was passed several of /
them Insisted that the snip was haunted
by poor Toms ghost. No one could
swear that he had seen the shadowy out
lines of his spirit either in the fOrecastle
or on deck or alOft; but fully half the
on watch a ghosJly voice which greatly
resembled TENS. TWAS generally heard
about midnight, and Oftener in stormy
than in good weather. The Captain and
officers laughed at the report, and attri-
)uted the strange sounds to the hGWling of
The wind through the rigging.
But the majority of the sailors could not
be convinced that the ship was not 7
haunted. The voice of the ghost was too
natural, they said. They could even re-
'Ognize the yells aud bacchanalian airs
which he was accustomed to indulge in
N shore after having refreshed himself
with a quiet glass or two. During the re-
naiuder Of the voyage, the voice of
Ih0mes. the ghost, continued to be heard
It intervals by superstiticus sailors.
When Melbourne was reached, the sea-
men obtained some money aud went
ashore to celebrate their arrival. They
proceeded to a tavern, where they drank
heavily for some hours. One of them