Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-06
NrTINY At SEA.

When you come to speak Of dreadfu
things, You may SCI il down that a mu
tiny at sea can hc classified first II is il
most cases the turning Of the worm Mcy
who have had it drilled into them fol
years that they must put up with suCl
food As hogs would refuse. obey every or
der without question: peril their lives a
the word. cringe and trcmhle before Oh,
NJ their own species hrcau~,' he il in an
thOrity are not 10 hc driven into mutiny OF
the high seas without extreme pruvuca
ton
" hen the worm turns then look Outl
Nour crinrnc fnrrmast hand, who only
the day before thanked the mate foI
knocking him down, may be Il tyTant il
turn.
The ship becomes floating hell The
slaves Of yesterday are the masters to-day
If once they take the step which render
them mutineers, they will not hesitate t.
20 farther and add murder to the crime.
In the year lN,i-, after having served on
cOasting vessels for several years, and
| made one voyage from New York 10 Liv-
erpool. shipped as second mate ON the
| bark Medway, bound from san Francisco
| To the Sandwich islands and thence on a
| trading voyage to the islands Of the south
west The bark was a small one. but Il
| good sailer and dry ship, and ! believe
was in luck in securing my berth The
| captain, whose name was Burrows. seemed
| very pleasant man. maxim" use of no
| prOtaue language. and appearing to be rs
| nlId tempered aS a parsOu. Mind you. /
am giving my first impressions aS | sized
| him up while We yet Icy at the wharf
| ! shipped at Honolulu. he bark having al
! ready completed the first part Of her vOy
| age. heard rumOrS TO the effect that her
| whole crew deserted her on her arrival
| at the islands, but rUmorS among sailors
are not to be depended on, and gave the
| matter no Investigation, though saw that
| she was shipping fresh crew. We left
| Honolulu with twelve men before the
| mast, and we were not yet off
| soundinEs when the trouble began.
| The meat which had been boiling away
in the cooks coppers during the fore
| noon gave ont STANCE Odurs From the
whiffs had caught now and then knew
something WAS wrong and when the meat
was carried forward i'll the kids at noon
the stencil was enough to turn ones
stomach. The mate whose name was
Berry, saw that | was surprised such
meat should be placed before the men on
a voyage just begun, and he gruwled
"Ah, d EN-; its too good for such rs
they. just let me catch EN- making IA
fuss over it, and I'll work up their old iron
in a way to open their eyes"
was astOunded. Mr.. Berry had seemed
quiet, even-tempered man, and had
said to myself that there would be no
bullying aboard of the Midway. The
watches had not yet been set, but the
bark was on her course before light
breeze, and things were being made ship
shape. The captain was already at din
ner, and soon after uttering the remarks
quoted above the mate went down to join
him. ! was thus left in charge of the deck,
but the crew, with the exception of the
man at the Wheel, were forward with their
kids. As the beef made its appearance
there was a movement of surprise, and
heard several of them utter expressions Of
disgust The meat was picked up and
closely examined, and then all faces were
turned in my direction. Then, after a
brief consultation, an old sailor whose
every look and action proved the genuine
tar, picked up the meat tub and came aft
with 1t. He was going to make a com
plaint which he had a perfect right to do,
and |, as officer of the deck, had no right
TO refuse to listen. He put down the tub,
doffed his hat, and very respectfully said:
Mr.. CarlinG, the meat isn't hardly fit
to bait a shark. 1t is probably the fault
of the cook. Will you kindly forward our
complairsi to the captain"
At that moment Captain Burrows ap-
peared on deck Taking in the situation
ut a glance, he walked straight up to the
sailor and numbered:
What in hells name does this mean,
you dOg:" Finding fault with your pro
visions before the first meal is begun! Get
forward, you Internal whelp"
The man retreated without a word in
reply, but left the tub behind him. Pm
telling you the solemn truth when say
that the Odur of it was enough to turn my
stomach seven or'eight feet away.
Its just like 'em, the hounds" roared
the captain. Its the beef they find fault
with, Ell; Here every mothers son, come
aft!7
The men slowly Obeyed knowing that
storm was at hand. The captain picked
up the tub, held it out toward them, and
said, is there anything wrong with the
meat? Who says this isn't as sweet beef
as was ever placed before sailors? Who
is the man.
For a minute not one of them answered
him. Then the man who had brought the
tub aft stepped out, made respectful sa-
lutte, and replied, Captain Burrows, we
didn't find fault with you, but with the
cook. The meat is SO far gone that no
man aboard can eat it"
oh, it's bad is it," sneered the captain.
as he placed the tub in my hands NO
one can eat II, ehy Let's see about that"
With his naked fingers he lifted up
piece and hit off a mOuthful and swal-
lowed it. At that moment the mate ap-
peared on deck, and the captain called:
MIR Berry, the men declare this meat is
unfit to eat. Come and taste it, and give
me your opinion"
The mate came forward and tasted il
saw him vince as he chewcd at the stuff,
hut he bravely swallowed it down, and ex-
claimed: The best beef | ever saw
aboard a ship
You wheips! You hounds, You gang
of lazy sojers, but Ill teach you to find
fault" screamed the captain as he threw
the tub at the nearest sailor: and then he
dashed among them, followed by the
mate, and four or five men were knocked
down and kicked about in the most brutal
manner Not one of them made an at
TENT at resistance, and they were not fol-
lowed beyond the fOremaSt.
There l guess they have had an intro
duCtiOn TO me, and WIN know hereafter
how to brace their yards" chuckled the
captain as he came aft. Il run this craft,
Mr.. Carling. and | want every man
aboard 10 know it. ! want no man in
the cabin who cOddlcS the focastle Why
didn't you knock the dog down when he
came aft with the beef"
Capt Burrows" replied, Il was never
aboard of a vessel yet where the master
would not listen to a complaint when re
spectfully and regularly set forth"
"Oh, you weren't, And SO I've got