Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-09-16
Saint Nafg's Beacon.
HOMETOWN, MARYLAND.
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR IN ADVANCE.
A WIERD YARN.


above the water line. There were ten
or twelve Of us all told when we hauled
out and were about ready to trip an.
Choir for home, and of all the hard
cases ever saw put aboard ship
this crew capped the climax. The cap
tain and myself we're the only two left
Of the crew which had come out from
Liverpool. Some ofthe men had died,
some skipped out, and we had picked
up negroes, Lascars, Americans, En-
glishmen and Swedes, just as we hap.
pened to find them, until we had a
sprinkling of everything under the sun.
We had hauled out into the harbor to
sober up the crew and finish the re-
pairs, when the captain was taken
suddenly i'll. This was directly after
dinner, and he was rowed off to the
town to consult doctor. The proper
thing, as it seemed to me, would have
been to send and bring a medical man
aboard, but things took place as | told
you.
"The old man was no sooner clear
of the brig than the half-sobered men
broke loose from all restraint. The
mate was seized and secured in his
state-room, and the mutineers, for
such they had now become, carried
things with high hand. They rum
mayed the cabin and the stores, drank
themselves into frenzy, and, as night
came on, they hoisted out the long
boat, filled her with the plumber, and
all deserted the brig together. l had
not joined with them, and, but for my
having found safe hiding-place, they
would have either done for me, or
forced me to go along in the boat. AS
soon as they were all away we took
the dingy, which had returned after
leaving the captain on shore, and
rowed in to inform the old man of
what had happened. As the cook
went with the mutineers, not soul
was left aboard of the Clarence. It
seemed that the captain was taken
much worse after getting ashore, and
when we found him, which was only
after a couple Of hours, he had high
fever and was out of his head. The
doctor said he was in for it for half
month at least, and SO Mr.. Carpenter
that was the name of the mate-and
myself started back to the brig We
had not yet reached our boat, when a
sudden and violent storm arose, and
it continued during the entire night
with such fury that it was idle to think
of leaving the wharf. During that
storm ship in the harbor was dis.
masted, a schooner dragged her anch-
or and crashed into brig, and thou
sands of dollars damage done to ship
ping. Wewere out at daylight to look
for the Clarence, but she was nowhere
to be seen. The crew of the dismast.
ed ship reported having seen the brig
drive out to sea with the gale, and
there could be no doubt of her loss.
I'm a day or two we heard from
the mutineers, or at least the long
boat was picked up at sea, bottom side
up, with every chance that not a man
had escaped. Inside of week the
captain was dead, and the mate ship
ped one way and the other. / made
voyage to Rio Janeiro and back, and
then shipped for a run around the
Horn and up the Chill coast. Sixty
five days after the Clarence drove out
to sea was in the American ship
Henry Jorden, with the Falklan Is
land bearing due west and thirty OF
forty miles away. 1t was midafter.
noon, with fair sailing breeze, when
heard man from aloft hail the decl
with:
" 'Dismasted hulk dead ahead and
about five miles away, sir.
There was a general stir among
officers and men, and every one Of us
had the wreck under his eye long en-
ough before We came up to it. She
was driving broadside on, masts and
jibboom gone, and tangle of wreck
stuff alongside, but the hull appeared
perfectly sound. When we had APP
preached her within a quarter of a
mile the ship lay to, and a boat was
lowered. 1t was my luck to be sent
along, and to be allowed on board
with the mate. / had no sooner pass
ed over the rail than l recognized the
hulk as that of the lost brig Clarence.
The bulwarks were steven in places,
but not $50 damage had been done to
the hull. She was dismastsd, as I
have said, but she hadn't a quart Of
water in her hold. and her cargo had
not been disturbed or damaged. That