Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-22
BURNING or TIE PALATINE.

BURNING or TIE PALATINE
A Pet Superstition Among Block Islanders
The Eerie Blaze Appears TO a Phiiadel.
phiaD.
A Block Island Or. L. letter says
The summer visitors to Block island
are discussing the rare and ghostly visit
recently made to the insular visitors
who occupy quarters about the Clay
Head or north section of the island.
The spectre came in the black, sulIen.
easter)y storm Of Wednesday night.
and its visit has revived the weird
Will-o'-the-Waif story of Block islands
fiery phantom ship. This is the pet le-
gend Of the island, and the old resi-
dents and histories have been heavily
drawn upon since to satisfy the popular
thirst for knowledge upon this all
absorbing subject. Mr.. Eric Mont
gomery. Of Philadelphia, is the hero of
the hour in consequence of the vista
ton. He is an ardent fisherman. and
for years has summered at the Calvin
WHY'S homestead on Clay Head, near
the north fishing-grounds. He was adj
miriDg the ominous majesty Of the
storm from Mr.. Wyllys's veranda
when the eerie blaze appeared. 1t
lasted about fifteen minutes, ard the
gentleman was converted from skep-
tic as to the truth Of the phantom
simmer into a profound believer in
the yarn. Fully twenty people be-
sides Mr.. Montgomery saw the phan-
tom, and their descriptions are very
vivid.
Block islanders generally believe that
the golden spectre is brought by the
spirit Of a cremated woman as per-
petual reminder to them of fiendish
act committed by their forefathers in
the burning Of the Palatine. There is
more approximation to the square inch
among the natives here than would be
deemed possible in the whole United
States. And yet they are said to have
rid themselves Of much of it in the past
twenty years. Even now, however,
their stories are very interesting. Old
times and manners are chung to, and
their old silver and crockery is eagerly
sought out by their gay summer yisi-
tors.
The dark story Of the Palatine COM
bines poetry, fiction, and pathos.
Whittier has immortalized it in verse,
and in it lies the foundation for a fresh
romance. Old Grandma WHY'S, now
ninety-three years old, heard it from
her grandparents. In 1852 the ship
Palatine, with load Of well-to-do emf
grants from Holland, was bound to
Philadelphia. During the passage a
mutiny occurred, and the captain was
killed by his crew and thrown over
board. The mate, with the officers,
starved the passengers and forced them
to expend their personal effects for
the barest necessares of life.
The ship sighted the capes of
Delaware bay, and then put to sea
again, the plundering of the helpless
passengers being continued. At length
the vessel came ashore on Block island
at Sandy Point, the northern extremity,
on a bitter winters night between
Christmas and New Years. False bea-
con-lightS are alleged to have been set
for her. A score of the settlers here
rushed eagerly TO the wreck the next
morning, and, the story goes, FASTENED
the people ashore, not giving them time
to save anything. Then the pratical
wreckers sacked the vessel and burned
her to hide the traces Of their plumber
ing. One woman was burned to death.
She perSistently refused to leave her
treasure, and it was torn from her
grasp. When looked for she could not
be found, having secreted herself in the
debris of the wreck. The helpless aud
diseased passengers in their starved
condition deyoured everything within
reach, and, as consequence, scores of
them died. Their graves, known as
1.-The Palatine graves" are still to be
seen on the southwestern part of the
island. A few Of the strangers lived
and remained on the island which had
received them so inhospitably. One
woman, called Long Kattern " to dis
tinguish her from a sister Kate, who
was diminutive in size, married negro
and had children. All her descend
ants are now dead.
Lsng Kattern was a fortune-teller.
and reported that the crew of the Pals-
tine starved the passengers to get their
money. She was believed to be
witch, and the islanders were afraid Of
her. According to the story, not a
few OF the wreckers Of the Palatine
were glad when she was dead, for they
fell out among themselves as to the d.
vision Of the plumber from the wreck.
and 1t was only by the iron nerve Of
harks Dodge, their leader, that their
terrible secret of murder and robbery
was kept. All Of the wreckers became
the richest men on the island. None
knew from whence they obtained their
money. All of them died miserable
deaths Tradition SAYS the close of
their lives was apericd of exquisite tor
ture. Soon after Long Kattern died,
and late in the last century, strange,
uneartbly phantom light appeared
around the north end OF the island near |
the spot where the Palatine was de-
stroyed. 1t was always seen at night
and before dark, easterly storm. That |
light has been seen with greater or less |
frequency ever since. 1t is the ghost |
Of the Palatine. 1t was the light that
...n naa. Ia