Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-07-26

prOpcreSJ LOpplng-OH, 10 my IaSL0, 10
the fabric of a full-rigged ship. We
had been out a fortnight, when in the
afternoon there came on q sudden
squall. The fore and mizzen topgal-
liant sails were clewed up, with a hand
standing by at the main topgallant
halliards. l noticed some figures in
the fore rigging going a1oft to roll up
the sail there, and then on a sudden
there was a commotion, a running of
men forward and a gathering of them
into heap around something. l told
the mate to go and see what was the
matter. He returned with the news
that man in the act of going aloft
had fallen dead on the deck off the
rail We were without a doctor, and
all hands looked to me in case of
this kind. I walked to where the
man lay and found him to be an able
seaman /; an old, yellOw-haired man,
whose face had before taken notice
of for the CHASTITY complexion of it;
sort of dusky, parchment-like hue, the
color of sailors duff that's been too
long in the coppers. The lids were
half closed. nothing but the whites
showing; the lips were set hard in
sort of half grin, without froth, and
the arms outstretched. in the posture
of a crucified person. Short of
| skeleton, to my notion, one ought to
| never be able to say cock-surely,
pointing to a body, this is death
The fellow might be in faint or in q
fit, or a cataleptic his body in deaths
straight-jacket, and the mind within
all alive and wondering what the deuce
had gone wrong outside. l ordered
him to be carried to his bunk and to be
treated as if he was to be brought to.
| and if that failed then to be slowed
| away out Of sight of the men, but not
to be stitched up for a bit, SO that if
there was any spark OF life in him it
might have a chance. The fact is l
wanted to make sure he was dead
man before he was tossed overheard
a very proper feeling in me, no doubt,
| though there was touch of morbidity
| in it, too, for, to tell the truth, the one
quiet horror of my life in those days
was the thought of being buried alive,
| and what feared for myself was not
| the sort of man to put upon another.
"Well, after two days we were all
| agreed that he was dead, so gave Or
ders for him to be stitched up and
brought to the gangway, and next
morning after breakfast we held the
service. 1t was always my desire that
matters of this kind should be carried
out with proper solemnity. l consid-
| cred it worked wholesome influence
among the sailors, who were made to
understand that dead seaman on the
ocean was not to be treated as a dead
pauper out of the work-house; that a
show of respect and regret, at all
events, should go to his funeral, since
a shipmate is shipmate the wide
world over. The body, stitched in its
hammock, with a sinker slowed away
in the clews, was placed upon a grating
and covered with the ensign. Then the
grating was lifted by four men and
| brought to the rail, one end of it rest
| ing there, the other end supported by
two men, who stood ready to whip off
the ensign and let the body slide when
the time should come for so doing. All
hands gathered around, washed and
clean. It was a quiet morning, light
breeze of wind blowing, the ship under
all plain sail, every thing silent aloft,
the deck heaving slightly to the small
| beam sea- l came out of the cabin
with my prayer book in my hand and
started to read. the men barring their
heads, with the grinding here and
| there of a jaw upon hunk of tobacco
standing high in the cheek bone, and
| much wistful and inquisitive peering
at poor Jacks outline by eyes bleared
! by the gales of wind into which they
had stared. / was proceeding, reading
| with great emphasis and solemnity,
| when there arose from under the en-
sign short, muff1ed, groaning sort of
cry of For Gods sake, cut me adrift
mates. I'm suffocating.' The prayer
| book fell from my hand; the two fell
lows who were holding the grating let
go of it and bolted forward, whereup-
| on, off rolled the body on to the
deck amongst the feet of the sailors,
who, letting fly volley of curses in
their alarm, bolted in all directions,
| slime of them even jumping into the
rigging. Had bomb-shell exploded
| among us the clearance effected could
not have been more complete.
The mates had run away as well
as the seamen, and the cowardice of
all hands quickly put temper enough
| in me to rally my nerves. Quick
bawled. cut the poor wretch adrift, or
he'll be suffocated in good earnest,
| and it will be a worse murder done
than had we buried him. On this the
chief mate and some of the others came
to the body. shouldering one another.
and ripped open the hammock. Well,
dead or alive, it would have been bet
ter to have given the thing its
last toss than have witnessed such a