The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1888-08-29

How = ship-Load of Passengers Learned
OF Lincoln's Death.

OF Lincoln's Death.
from the Baltimore Americana
What was the news from home? How
was the great war progressing, or had
il ended? Intensely interesting to me
were these questions In India L had
heard of the reelection of Lincoln.
At the Mauritius, where we put in to
mend the breakage by hurricane, no
news was had, or at least none that
reached my ears. The Captain was
manifestly wild with eagerness for in
telligence. In his black rubber coat
and souwester he steadied himself on
the wet and heaving deck with knee
against the portrait and hand grasp
ing one of the mizzen shrouds. With
the other hand he held trumpet.
"Ship ahoyl' he yelled through the
brass.
A man on the quarterback OF the
Catherine, high above us, likewise put
trumpet to his mouth, and we could see
the muscular action of his face and
throat; but not a sound came to us, for
we were dead TO windward. The bulls
of Bashan couldn't have beloved sue
cessfully against the stiff breeze. We
could communicate matters of no par
ticular interest to him, but the Captain
of the Catherine, who was for us mine
of news, was powerless to give us any
thing. Neither vessel had the flag
signal system.
Our Captain bawled to him that We
were with rice from Rangoon, Burmah,
to New York; that we were long time
out and had heard nothing from Amer
lea for nearly five months, and old news
then; gave him our longitude and asked
him to report us at New York, and
yelled and yelled for intelligence about
the great civil conflict which the other
Captain with trumpet threatened to
split his windpipe in the effort to give,
but couldn't. This might not last long.
Each craft was keeping exactly her own
course. The Catherine was leaving us.
Her master was willing to tell what he
knew, but had no disposition to shor-
ten sail for the pleasure of our slow
going company. But an idea had seized
that other Captain He tossed away his
trumpet and we witnessed some quick
pantomime. Then in a few moments a
mariner, probably one of the mates,
got nimbly out over the rail, with his
feet ON the vale and hand on the rail
top, and we saw that he had slung to
his waist a paint pot 1t was hard
job for him to hold on in that fashion,
so heavy was the ships motion, let alone
doing anything else, but he was too
much of a grampus to let that get the
best of him, and slowly crept forward,
using brush as he went, row of
heads showing over the rails to watch
his performance, while our own crew
looked on with closest attention.
One by one great, uncouth white let
tiers appeared on the ships black side.
That sailor would never have made his
fortune as sign-painter But the let
tiers were plain enough to be read half
q mile away. This was what came into
view: "The Wars Over. Lincoln
killed. jeff Davis Ran Away with the
Money"
Our old man gave a hurrah for the
first sentence, sort OF groan at the
next. The Catherine was now nearly
ahead of us. As a parting favor the
man over the side painted the figures to
express the longitude according to
their reckoning. That ended the inter
view. A few hours after she was out
of sight and never saw the ship again.