Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-08-10
THE ST0WAW Az.

Reading in the papers the other day of the
arrest of the mate of the Rio steamer Fl
nance for cruelty to three or four stowaways
who made their appearance after the vessel
was well on her voyage, has recalled vividly
an adventure l had when boy of Ia, and,
though was n very humble individual my
self, the particulars of that adventure stirred
the people of a great kingdom.
know the sailor from topmast head to KEEL
son, have sailed In all sorts of crafts, with
all sorts of crews, and have served many
captains. know that sailors are rough and
uncouth, and that there is always n DISPOSE
ton to find fault and to magnify evils Jack
would have his growl, no matter how well
fed or how well used. On land there is a GER
tain antagonism between employer and en-
ployed. On ship board this Is intensified but
that is because the employer has so much
more power over the employed. l frankly
admit that / have never met half a dozen
sailors, no matter what sort of captain they
were serving under, who were without com
plants, but it does not follow that all the
others complained without reason. The ship
may be comfortable and full handed, the
fare all right and the captain a good man.
but the mates can still make the craft mighty
uncomfortable for the men, / venture to as
sert that there are not half n dozen long voy-
age sailing crafts leaving our shores in which
abuses calling for loud growing do not ex-
list, and what is true of America is true of all
other countries. The Dutch, Swedes, Rus
slams and Lascars will stand over work, poor
grub and the abuse Of officers, and as much
for this reason rs any other the Yankee sail
or has been driven from the sea and his
place filed by these substitutes
When was IL years old my mother died,
and my father decided to go to Australia. ]
was his only child and he was by no means
burdened with money. He was n master
plumber, and he set out for Sydney under
contract Three months after our arrival he
married ngain, and it was not six weeks be-
fore my stepmother pushed me into the
street was under sized and sickly, but /
never gave her the slightest cause for even a
harsh word She simply took an aversion to
me, and somehow her hatred came to he re-
aected in my father. He saw me thrown out
on the world with hardly protest, and two
days later when he met me in the street he
gave me about eight shillings In money and
advised me 10 set up as n bootblack and news
boy. / should probably have followed his
suggestions had ! not on that same day
CHANGED 10 fall in with two or three lads who
were planning to stow themselves away
aboard of an English brig called the Charles
II. Churchill. They were boys who had run
away from home or been thrown over like
myself, and the idea was that they could do
better In England. was invited to join and
when our plans had been laid there were four
OF us OF about the same age. We looked the
brig over, found that We could get aboard,
and made our arrangements.
One night when the brig was nearly ready
for sea, / stole aboard, carrying with me
about two quarts of water and four pounds
Of bread and meat. This was the share was
to furnish. l WINS to be first aboard, slip
down the midship hatch, and the others were
TO follow ut brief intervals A fire on board
q ship few hundred feet away collected the
crew Of the brig aft, and got aboard with
out risk. The hold was nearly full OF bags,
barrels and boxes, and after waiting a few
minutes made my way over these toward
the bow, and found n very comfortable place
on q lot of dry hides. / remained awake and
alert for two hours, and then fell asieep
without realizing that was q bit sleepy 1t
was morning when awoke, and as the sail
ors were at work below dared not move or
call out. i figured that my companions were
In hiding around me, and rested easy
through the day, sleeping most of the time
At about shutdown felt the ship under mo
ton, and an hour later the matches were
closed and | was in midnight darkness, /
had matches and stub of candle and after
striking a light, moved around and whistled
and called to my companions l could make
my way over the freight pretty easily in any
direction, and would not give up that was
alone until | had searched for a full hour
Then / was positive that l was alone; the
others had either backed out or had been
baffied in their attempt to get ab0srd. / was
much upset at the discovery, aHd crawled
back TO my bed and cried myself to sleep
1t had been agreed among us boys that we
should keep secreted three days after sailing.
None of us anticipated any trouble when we
should make our presence known. had no
way of computing time, as it was night all
the time in the hold, but after my bread and
water had been used up and was hungry
and thirsty, / decided that the three DAYS
were up. Crawling to the cover Of the hatch
knocked on it and shouted, and after little
1t was opened and l was helped out. 1t was
O'Clock on the morning of the fourth day
The first word from the captain was a curse,
and his first act was to swing me about the
deck by the hair. Then he called for a rope
and beat me until tainted away, and while
lying unconscious he and the first mate
kicked me several times When came to
was ordered forward among the men. They
gave me kind words, satisfied my hunger and
thirst and hoped that the worst was over. 1t
was not, however. AT about noon / was
called aft, and after the captain had interro-
gated me as TO my identity and why had
selected his vessel he gave me another beat
ing and turned me over to the mate with the
words
"You can have him now, and hope you'll
kill him before the week Is out"
"Aye sir, leave that b. me" was the reply.
IN find n dozen ways TO make him wish he'd
never been born"
had committed an offense but nothing
deserving such punishment as / received for
the next three days. / was logged, Kicked,
cuffed and maltreated in every way captain
and mate could think of, and was more than
once rendered insensible by their cruelty.
heard the men cursing the officers for their
conduct, and encouraging each other to in
terfere, but was passive. Indeed, after q
beating or two, was SO harried that could
scarcely remember my own name. On the
AFTERNOON OF the fourth day, soon after din
ner, while ! was forward with the watch
and assisting the sail maker to repair sail.
the first mate called me aft. The wind was
light, and the sea smooth, and a few fathoms
astern OF the brig was an enormous shark.
IL had occurred TO the two brutes TO have
some fun with me. The mate noosed a rope
and passed 1t around my waist, and then,
while struggled and shrieled and begged
Tor mercy, he carried me to the port quarter
and dropped me overheard for shark bait.
The shark made rush for me, but / was
hauled up just in advance of his jaws. The
captain and mate laughed uproariously, and
the latter had picked me up to drop me from
the other quarter when the entire crew came