Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-11-18

"One OF the Strangcst voyages lever
made" said Captain CroNon. of New
Orleans, "wa, in the summer of 1853.
Ihad Il thrcc-maStcd schooner named
the Southern Belle, and was in the
coaSting trade. II WI, about May |,
and had run into New Orleans with
"a consigned cargo. when u stranger
came aboard one day, looked the craft
all over and finally introduced him
self a. Joseph Harper, II native of the
State. lie said he was aman of wealth
and leisure, AMI was thinking of char
tcring schooner for four or five
months. lie was quiet. mild->pokcn
man, wcll-cducatcd. ana a perfect gem
tlcmn, hut there was something just
n bit queer in his actions. lie looked
AT YOU in furtiyc way, rs il hc thought
YOU mi,truStcd him, and hc had Il habit
oi giving sudden start and looking
all about him. os guilty men are sup
posed To do.
"Nhat sort OF charter do YOU sup
pose nc wanted % make? You'll
hardly believe me when tell YOU that
he took a seat in my cabin and gravcly
informed mo that he believed it his
duty to 20 forth against sharks. sin
garccs and devil fish. lie wanted
s,anch craft, aud he proposed to 30
along and help make war ON the rep
tiles mentioned. lie didn't act like u
crank, and could nc, laugh at him,
and he didn't appear to be insane 50
that could cut the matter short. He
Offered To III the schooner out for six
months cruise and pay mo 81 much
per month in cash, and he talked buSi-
ness just a. straight ~ any man YOU
ever heard lput him oil for u day or
two. but hc came again. Then lmadc
some inquiries about him, and | found
that, while ho was q stranger to all, lac
had plenty of funds and was cOnSid-
cred all right in his head. A. was
the sole owner of the schooner. and
~ his offer was far better
thin. than could hope for in
another direction. | began TO
think more favorably of it. The
result was that he put several
thousand dollars to my credit in the
bank. bound me in legal way TO
cruise where he directed. and then
went ahead to fit up the schooner.
From the hour of signing the papers
he lived aboard. Not only that, but hc
shaved clean. put on u sailors suit,
and completely disguised his identity.
Ny mate, whose name was Burrows,
thought strangely Of this, and insisted
that the man was lunatic; but after a
bit we concluded that he was crank
who was all right, except upon the one
subject, and no further action of his
surprised us.
Carpenters came aboard 10 fix up
quarters for him. and when that job
was finished a runway was made to
draw up captured sharks upon. and n
small steam engine was put aboard for
hoisting purposes. lie hired an engi-
neer at fifty dollars month and board
to take charge of the latter, and we
took aboard ten tons of coal 10 run it.
lie provisioncd the schooner. and he
bought the very best of every thing.
The stores for the crew were better
than those supplied for any coasters
cabin, and the cabin stores were equal
to those of any passenger steamer. He
had half a hundred shark and other
hooks made. bought chains and ropes
and lines. and one of the last purchases
brought down consisted of twenty-five
barrels of salt beef for shark bait. He
wanted 10 take on two hundred live
dogs, but | convinced him that the beef
would answer just a. well.
"Our first objective point was the
Florida coast. and after reaching Santa
Rosa Island we began our work. From
that point clear around the coast to
Charleston YOU can hardly run amiss
OF sharks and stingarees, though you
won't have much luck in hunting for
an octopus of any size. Our man was
greatly excited when we get on shark
ing ground. and he couldn't keep still
until we had made half u dozen capt
urcs. The first day brought us severn
,een-all msn-eaters. When ono was