Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-08-09
GETTING NEWS AT SEA.


How Shipload OF Passengers Learned OF
Lincoln's Death In 1865.
What was the news from home?
How was the great war progressing,
or had it ended? Intensely interesting
to me were these questions. In India
had heard of the reelection of Lin
coin. AT the Mauritius, where we put
in to mend the breakage by a hurri-
cane, no news was had, or at least
none that reached my ears. The cap
tain was manifestly wild with eager
ness for intelligence. In his black
rubber coat and sou'-wester he steadied
himself on the wet and heaving deck
with a knee against the port rail and
hand grasping one of the mizzen
shrouds. With the other hand he
held a trumpet.
Ship ahoy" he yelled through the
brass.
A man on the quarterback of the
Catherine, high above us, likewise put
a trumpet to his mouth, and we could
see the muscular action of his face and
throat; but not 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 cap
tain of the Catherine, who was for US
a mine of news, was powerless to give
us any thing. Neither vessel had the
ffag-signal system.
Our captain bawled to him that we
were with rice from Rangoon, Burmah,
to New York; that we were a long
time out and had heard nothing from
America for nearly five months, and
old news then; gave him our longi-
tude, asked him to report us at New
York, and yelled and yelled for intel
ligence about the great civil conflict,
which the other captain with a trum-
pet threatened to split his windpipe in
the effort to give, but couldn't. This
might not last long. Each craft was
keeping exactly: to her course. The
Catherine was leaving us. Her master
was willing to tell what he knew, but
had no disposition to shorten sail for
the pleasure of our slow-going COM
pany. But an idea had seized that
other captain. He tossed away his
trumpet and we witnessed some quick
pantomime. Then in 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 paint pot. 1t was
a hard job for him to hold on in
| that fashion, so heavy was the ships
but he was too much of a grampus to
let that get the best of him, and slowly
crept forward, using brush and white
| paint as he went, a row of heads show
ing over the rails to watch his per-
| Torrance while our whole 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 a sign-painter. But the
| letters were plain enough to be read
half 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 in
| terview. A few hours after she was
out of sight and l never saw the ship
| again. american