The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-10-31
SUPERSTITIOUS SAILORS,
ODD FANCIEs OF THOSE WHO LIVE
ON THE OCEAN.
Curious Sea Animals and Their
Characteristics-Why the Steam
ship Oregon Was Lost.

Joseph w. Gavan in the New Y York Press,
are two distinct characters, each pos.
sessing their own singular attributes.
On land no other being has a more utter
disregard Of premature dangers and Isis
haps, as his daily actions and nocturnal
orgies demonstrate, so when once on sea
he blossoms out again into smiles OF ex-
cessive obsequiousness. There when
danger dogs his footsteps at every track
superstition is his idol, to it he sacrifices
every selfish sentiment, and in it he
trusts for those happy presentiments
which may afterward save him from
destruction.
Even while .partaking of their meals
sailors rarely lose an opportunity of dis
cussing and rehearsing stories which the
average man would regard as the product
of n maniac's brain. The days happen
ings are interpreted by each and notes
exchanged. The most gifted rOmancer
is then looked upon with feelings of
reverence and respect. A visit to their
sleeping quarters will reveal miscel
laneous collection of horse hoes, nails,
palmlike leaves and nunerous other
articles, each Of which has a history Of
its own. When birds are swept aboard
in storm they are invariably left un-
touched, as sailors eye them with de-
light and satisfaction as the spirits of
some dear departed fliend metamor-
phosed. The birds of the sea, notably
the petrel, immortalized by Proctor, and
the sea gull, are held sacred in con-
sequence of the latter apparently resting
on the surface of the sea after the man
ner of the Saviour on the Lake OF Genes
areth
Whenever this occurs in the immedi-
ate vicinity of ship calm is predicted,
and the jolly tars lose little or no me
in notifying the captain of the glo ious
vision. In sailors eyes the pOrpOises u c
never pleasant objects TO contemplate.
When they suddenly appear du'ing a
calm the sailors look for another wind
from the same quarter as that which was
llown out, and if they skip about it
means that a gale is coming.
The common barnacle which adheres
to q ships side becomes, acc ording to
their belief, later on in life goose But
among all those signs nothing is so well
calculated to fill them with awe as the
appearance of shark. When this mon
ster of the deep is seen to follow a ship
| for several days death is to occur on
board, and while clambering up the
rigging extra pains are adapted in max
| ing their Journey safe and successful
one. The ship is then evidently haunted,
aud the faces of her crew, but recently
| smiling, are now decorated with expires
sions at once thoughtful and lugu.
brious.
The common mirage fills sailors with
| dread, and betokens an early death 10
some of its observers. Carrying n corpse
on board appears to them to be inviting
disaster, and cases are on record where
! the crew have become mutinous and re-
| fractory until the distas efu freight was
lowered into the sea,
Peter Scannell sa lor, who was
rescued from the ill-fated Oregon, few
years ago in speaking terward of the
| disaster, said. 81 knew wei that some
tn ng bad was to happen to us. After
| leaving Queenstown the boatswa'n un-
fortunately for US all, killed a cat.
Whether it was knowingly or otherwise,
| he forgot to dump it into the sea, aud, as
it was his duty and no one else's TO do
| so, we took no pains in doing his work,
! but YOU bet it occasioned mrny hard
and acrimonious dispute. The dead cat
was finally thrown aside by some pas
| senger into some remote corner of the
vessel, and was never aferward discov-
cred until one of Mcrritt's ship rescuers
/ found it in secluded corner decom-
posed
.'But do you attribute the Oregon dis
aster 10 that incidentW was asked.
Al do, and believe that had such not
occurred that vessel would have never
sunk, at least not on that OCCASION"
Norwegian sailors are inveterate slaves
to a form of superstition exclusively
their own. They believe in the existence
of heck or norman, sea animal repre-
sented as having Il fish body with the
head of man and the flowing ringlets
of a boy. The norman sits upon the
waves, plays the harp and, following,thC
example of the Morse fisherman, wears a
red cap. 1t is never seen more than once
in seven years, and no matter how many
vessels appear in its sight they all must
inevitably perish.
The crew, according to their belief,
are then transplanted in the merman's
regions, where, after brief stay, they
go to swell the shoal of hecks, and arc
then in themselves as disastrous as the
originals. The kraken, a sea monster
whose existence has been so often at
tested 10y the evidences OF alleged eye
witnesses that one is at a los to know
whether it is real or has a being only in
the minds of superstituous sailors, is q
constant source of alarm to them.
The back or upper part Of the krakeu
is believed to be mile in circumference
and looks like a number of small islands
surrounded with something that floats
and fluctuates like seawCed. On this
back several bright points appear, which
grow thicker and thicker the higher they
rise above the surface, and sometimes as
high as masts of ships. These are sad
to be the creatures arms, which if bound
around the largest man ol.war would
pull 1t TO the bottom Many assertions
which have been made at times regard
ing the existence Of this leyiathan, wh;cl
occasions 50 much dread in the minds oil
the Morse fishermen, have been re ected
as mere superstition. Still some authentic
grounds for a belief in its existence are
on record.
Laughter Once a MisdemeanOr.
Because a man is the only animal tha