Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1888-12-14
SUNK BY A METEOR.
An OH Sailors Account of a Re-
markable Incident.
A Mysterious Ship Scuttled BY
a Fiery Aerolite.

Pete Wcrngrea, an old sailor OF s,n
Franeieo, who hts cruisod in every
oceann the face of the globe, but
whoseaoafaring days are nearly over,
bccauc his joints are growing stiff and
his eye weak with age, was asked Ly
q New York Sun correspondent what
was thestrangest thing he ever saw at
sea. To old man mused for few
momeas. and then said
"Ws were becalm d in the Pacific
about nne or ten degrees north Of the
eouatot and, if l recollcct right, in
sonetl hg like 1913 degrees west longi-
tudc. The Antelope lay thoro like
log, rolling on thu swell fit TO make
man sisk. The sails Tipped against
the mat with dull. booming sounds,
and tlF only draught Of air you could
feel ws whit they made. The water
was like molten lcal, tapping heavily
againsthor siles. II you never were
in anyof those calms, you can have no
idea htw gloomy it makes a man.
1T vas the second night in the calm,
and the port watch was on deck. Tho
moon was shining Gear; everything was
still, but for the creaking noises always
about ship noat, and as there was
nothing to keep lookout for except
Indications Of breeze, which didn't
see IN likely to como along although
we had puckerod our lips out of shape
whi-tliug for it, the men wero drows-
ing under the bulwark and the man at
the wheel was snoring
II was leaning over the rail, looking
at lriyantne becalmed about three
miles away on our starboard quarter.
We lndn't spoken her, and didn't know
whatshe was or where she was from.
coud tell by the tnpor of her masts
that She was American built, but that
was all. She was trim little craft,
and it wa enough to break seaman's
heart lhe way she was wiped off tho
face ol the earth that night. To DO
sure, he Antelope wasn't treated much
bet >. few months later, but fire Is
one the thing, a sailor reckons
among the chances of his calling, and
many a good ship i, burned at sea.
But | don't suppose a?y other craft
ever met such a su den aud unnatural
fate il this world as that brigautine
Mind, l don't say / know it never
happeled bcfor', because strange
things always are h'ppening at sea,
d some Of the strangcst never get
told. Because whyl Men don't live to
tell en-.
"Wsll, l was leaning on the rail at
about six bells, with my cheek in my
palm, boxing away where the bryan
tine lay in the moonlight. Tn9 motion
of the bark on the swell was slow and
kind Of soothing, and had got sort of
hall dreaming with the lazy roll Of her,
whoa was startled broad awake by
bright light in tho sky. looking up /
saw great bal OF fire rushing down
through the air on slant, and there
was dark cloul abov'. BY the timo
had hauled in the slack of my mind
enough to know that it was shooting
star, the glare OF 1t got so bright that
the igh! Of the moon was of no more
account than a slu7h lamp, and the stars
were put out atcgethor
There was a rushing, Kissing sound
in the air as the thing camo down.
When it got pretty near, the light a.
most b,indol me aad | could see moth
ing Tut the fiery CLEAN of it on
the water. 1t wasn't as long from the
time it hove in 1T until it strack as
I've bcea telling how it looked. 1t
must have boen travelling like a cannon
ball, or maybe a good many more knots
a minute. In the glare lost sight OF
the btigaDtine. head n crashing
sound, and tho ball of fire disappeared,
leaving everything black before my
ewes for momont.
When | hal blinked the right sight
! ack into my eyes and got use to the
mooali5ht, hat SCENE pale AID sickly,
| glanced over the star board qaarter to
where tho bri gantino had been, but
there wa,n't trace OF her to be see1. |
coulI hardly believe my own eyes, al
thou h they were a good pair in those
DAYS b9fcro the du t Of tho sea had
dulled them, and l thought l must
have been a bit dazad by what had
happened and got on'uscd in my bear
iagA BIT in no direction was so much
as spar ia sight, and off there on the
quarter there wal a rising and falling
of short waves, their tops c tching the
CLINT Of moon beams, that showed where
the shooting star had gone down into
the sea. That was where th1 brigan
tine had been.
"The fash and roar of the filling
star had aroused the watch on deck, and
the men were gathered in a group y
the foremast, blinking their eyes and
wondering what had happened. They
had seen al that had and l didn't know
what had made the great glare of light.
told them to look Tor the brigantiae,
and sent man aloft to see anything
could be made out where she had been.
They were just about struck dumb
when they saw the SEA clear of all craft
but our ovr, aad asked me if the brig
antinc had blown up. The man aloft
reportcd that he could not make out