The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-06-07
BEANS AND BIG FISHES.
Yarns Worth Telling Reeled or by a
Sailor Man.

Look alive, nowv' shouted red
faced sailor to waiter in Water
street restaurant
"Aye, aye, SIR replied the waiter,
taking the captains measure and mark
ing him mentally for plate of corned
beef and cabbage. "Wot shall ! bring
alongsideP"
Bring me a dish of Marblehead tur-
key, and look alive" repeated tho
customer, who a moment later was
deep in the mysteries of baked beans.
That's new name for beans, isn't
itP" inquired a person at the same
table.
my father called 'em So" replied
the skipper. I'm Beverly man my
self, and we consider that aour beans
lie a trihe closer to the wind when close
hauled than on the east coast. Beans
is the mainstay of New England folks,
They talk about fish maxim brains; l
tell We it's beans. Why, Lord blessye!
Look around here in New York. Look
at your prosperous Americans. They're
most of 'em bean-eatin' Yankees. De
prive Down Easter of his beans, and
| tell We you hit him where the cop
per's off. Ever hear the story of Capt.
Elder MugridgeP No? Wall, he was
elder and skipper both-a mighty pious
man-and once he took trip as far as
New York; big thing for him. Wall,
they got struck with contrary winds,
and bowed off shore about fifty miles.
Along comes one of these Cunarders,
and SEEM the schooner flynn her col
ors union down in distress, they slows
up and sends off boat, and after q
hard pull in a heavy sea-way they halls
the schooner, and the mate sings aout:
Schooner ahoy! Ye sinkin'?' Not
quite so bad, sings aout the elder,
but we're aout o beans. Kin ye let
us have pot?' Wall, they say that
that mate nearly bust his windpipe q
swearin'. There was poetry writ on
that" added the skipper.
by yourself?" asked his listener.
wall l tell ye," replied the cap
tain, "between you and me it was writ
by a chap by the name of Jumper in
the Sailors Own Book in Gloucester,
but ordinary, when spins the yarn,
it's supposed I'm the one that writ it.
Some O the lines wants lin and over
haulin', but it's wot they call blank
verse. 1t goes like this:
A ship once crossing over the sea
| tell the story as twas told TO me
Made q hundred miles or so from Shore
When Il craft was one day seen that bore
Her flag reversed, while 'gainst the mast
The torn sails tluttered as the wind rushed
past.
"Out with the boat2" the captain cried,
And the seamen darted over the side;
Their oars fell in with regular dip,
As they rapidly neared the silent ship.
When they reached the deck sight met their
eyes
Which made them start with fearful sur
prise.
All around on the deck the crew were lying,
And grooming aloud as tho they were dying;
The captain alone on hen-coop sat,
With his face IN his hands and u weed on his
hat;
He gnzed on them all with blood-shot eye,
And the crew looked up with heartrending
Sigh.
"Say, why do you raise the flag of distress,
And sit around deck in idleness?
| Arc you out Of toodf Have you used up your
waterf
Have you got the plaguef Or what is the
| matter|
1--WE came from Beverly, and that signal
| means,
That for fun three days we've been out of
| beams
That's poetry wot is poetry said
the skipper, "but food never bothered
me much. was always lookin aout
for fish, and I've got the name of fin
gering the biggest fish agoin'. l
brought halibut into Boston once that
weighed over GOO pounds. | reckon
that beats the deck. I've seen seven
halibut that weighed together l,732
pounds taken by the schooner John
Dove in 1871"
What was the largest Goldfish you
ever caught?' asked the listener.
Hundred and four pounds" was the
reply, land it was over five foot long.
But Capt. Martin, of Gloucester, caught
the biggest that ever heard on. 1t
weighed III pounds. I've caught a
lobster that weighed 20 pounds, and
horse mackerel weighing GOO pounds.
l once tackled onto the biggest fish in
the world" continued the skipper.
"a whaleph asked the other.
"a whale amt fish," retorted the
man of the sea. This one, reckon,
was q devil fsh-one O these 'ero
broadside fellows thirty foot across, all
beam, and DRAWN abaout six inches.
We was lynn in harbor, when | see q
big ripple movin' araound, and think
ing it big horse mackerel | jumps in.
to the boat and gifts the lads to pull
near it, and when alongside losses
the iron into it, and Lord bless ye! |
though the hull reef was arisin'. Atish
riz that looked like the vessel herself,
and in minute we was a-rushin'
daown the channel in way that was
caution to sinners. The channel
-ent araound an island, and as we
came around the second time the fish
went right for the brig. l see we was
a-goin' to hit, and sings aout, "Cut the
roper but the man didn't have any
knife. Cast it Off says l. Its
spliced to the painter, says he, and un'
der water That minute we struck.
The fish dove under the brig, and we,
not bein' able to dive, kind o tele'
scoped. The dingy just smashed al
to pieces. We fell into the water, anC
was hauled aboard by the hands, anc
the pieces kept comm up all day.
1.-The fish? Wall, reckon he!
a-goin' yet. Some of 'em are thirty
g., =. 80. o,l b,ro l,;,I -, bnrpc a