The Republican., 1888-12-22

hilarity with these serene, Old-time
oceanic pictures; but when Jack steps
out Of his armor, carries his hair to
the spinyarn-winch and works a pig
tail OF it, slaves his casks OF canary.
and breaches his puncheons of rum.
then the 'shindy" begins. As good
an account as any of the modern
ceremonies practiced in crossing
the equator is given by Marryat.
Indeed, the Jacks of his days
were so obstinate in the observation
of this practice that if the ship course
did not carry her across the line the
crew performed the ceremony in the
tropics. So says Marryat in Frank
Midway" and he shows US the picture
by introducing Neptune riding on a eau
made of a gun-calriage, drawn by sis
semi-nude seamen painted black and
spotted with yellow paint. Neptune
has Il long beard and ringlets of oalzum
On his head is an iron crown and in hi.
hand a trident with n small dolphin be
tween its prongs. His attendants arc
n secretary, armed with g bundle o
/ sea-fowl quills, a surgeon with a lancet
/ pill>boX, and so forth, and a barbel
/ with a large wooden razor, the blade 0
which is formed of an iron hoop. Thi
barber has a mate who makes his ap
/ pearance with small tub for u shaving
box. With Neptune comes Amphitrite
/ habiBed in a woman's night-cap v
! sea-weed for ribbons. She carriesJQ
boy on her lap as a baby, whose t9ath
she helps to cut with a marliu spike,
, Three rough sailors dressed az jymphs
form her retinue. These ladies' are
furnished with combs, mirrors md pots
of red paint Here we have tie prin-
cipal actors Of the play. Th people
who have not crossed the equtor pro-
vide the fun.
A sheep-pcn is made water-tght and
filed. The victim is blindfoHed and
seated upon platform placedlpon the
tank. He is then shaved. Ii is wise
if he does not demonstrate, fo' man
stands by with tar brush which he
will pop into his mouth if he parts his
lips. Half the skin of the fac having
( been removed amidst roars OF .aughter
from the assembled salts the sufferer
is plunged backward into TIM &ater.
/ Hone, in his Table Book" describes
the ceremony as performed en- board
whaling vessels early in the present
century, either on the first day of May
or on crossing the arctic circle. The
fellows who were to be dealt with were
I kept below. A barber's shop was fitted
up with a sign: Neptune Easy Shay
ing Shop, kept by John Johnson. =" Ter
fiddlers dressed in mats and rags
formed procession. They were fol
lowed by Neptune riding on q gun
carriage. They made a straight course
for the quartc"dec5, where Neptune
questioned the captain as to the ship,
her destination, himself and the like.
Then three quarts OF rum were pro-
duced and the shavers drank the cap
tain's health, These ceremonies over,
the novices were brought up. and the
skylarking began. Wearisome .as
tho descriptions of this kind "
jolse grew. ~ 90
| less, that the rOmancist should fn(
much to fascinate him in it as an inspi
ration for picture easy to paint anC
rich when done. On board a man-of
war-some frigate. say, with decks a.
white as peeled almonds-the spectacle
for the moment, that is to say until thC
Jacks grew frolicsome, must have beer
wonderfully fine and quaint. The sal
and fanciful costumes OF the masquer
adcrs-Ncptune with his oakum beard
attire Of seaweed, and iron crown, tht
raddled faces of his companions
would blend strangely we'll, one woult
think. with the flowing Jack Tar raj
mont OF the OnloOkers, the rows o
black cannon, the sparkle OF brass an(
! glass, the soaring Of the star-like can
vas, the delicate shadows Of the rig
ging softly swaying with the movemen
of the ship upon the milk-white planks
No effort OF imagination coald recon
cile custom Of this kind with the
steamship. Imagiue Neptune crawling
over the up-anl-dOwn stem of 5000
ton mail boat sweeping through tht
water as fastas q hurricane could have
blown an old frigate along! The decay
of this ceremony exhibits in Jack {
! nice sense OF the laws of keeping. HI
is obviously keen in his recognition o
the absurIity OF perpetuating sucl
a practice as this in century O
smoke-stacks. 1t was but a coarse bi
of foolory, and it is happily ended
The early inspiring sentiment of it hat
ages ago died out, and nothing survived
but the opportunity for the forecastle
to prove how rough and brutal it could
be when licensed.
BLEW Himself Up With Bomb.
An extraordinary suicide has jus
occurred at a village near Anglers. 4
peasant named Bordereau was working
1 in a field with his wife and brother-in
law, when Il trifling dispute took place
/ LOT E.,1l