Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-03-23
SUNK BY A METEOR.
a Sailors Yarn of Strange Incl
dent In the Pacific.

or, who had cruised in every ocean on
the face of the globe, but whose sea-
taring days are nearly over, because
/ his joints are growing stiff and his eyes
weak with age, was asked by New
York Sun correspondent what was the
strangest thing he ever saw at sea.
The old man stirred his toddy and mus
/ cd for few moments, and then said:
81 saw something once in the line OF
! what l call the unnatural because IL
doesn't happen in the ordinary run Of
khings-that gave me queer turn. II
was when | was mate of the Antelope,
= British bark, sailing between San
Francisco and Liverpool. We cleared
from this port in the winter OF 1866,
but the Antelope never reentered Liver
pool. She caught fire, from the.cook's
galley probably, and was burned when
about four days from the end OF her
voyage, and only two of us were pick
ed up.
II wasn't going TO tell about that.
Lots Of sailors have had that kind OF
luck, and there's nothing strange about
It. So you don't want to hear that
story What | started to tell was u
| queer thing about a shooting star. We
were becalmed in the Pacific about nine
Or ten degrees north of the equator,
and, if recollect right, in something
like 1923 degrees west longitude. The
Antelope lay there like log, rolling
on the swell fit to make man sick.
The sails tapped against the mast with
dull, booming sounds, and the only
1raught of air you could feel was what
they made. The water was like mol
ten lead. tapping heavily against her
sides. II you never were in one Of
those Gains, you can have no idea how
gloomy it makes man.
1T was the second night in the calm,
and the port watch was on deck. The
moon was shining clear; every thing
was still, but for the creaking noises
always about ship aloat. and as there
was nothing to keep lookout for ex-
cept indications Of a breeze, which
didn't seem likely to come along, al
though we had puckered our lips out OF
shape whistling for it, the men were
browsing under the bulwarks, and the
man at the wheel was snoring.
~ was leaning over the rail looking
at a brigantine becalmcd about three
miles away on our starboard quarter.
/ We hadn't spoken her, and didn't
know what she was or where she was
from. could tell by the taper OF her
masts that she was American built,
but that was all. She was trim little
craft, and it was enough TO break a
seaman's heart the way she was wiped
of the face of the earth that night. To
be sure the Antelope wasn't treated
much better a few months later. but
fire is one OF the things sailor rcck-
ons among the chances Of his calling,
and many good ship IS burned at sea.
But don't suppose any other
craft ever met such sud-
den and unnatural fate in the
world as that brigantine. Mind, don't
say know 1t never happened before,
because strange things always are hap
pening at sea, and some OF the strang-
est never got told. Because why? Men
don't live to tell EN-.
well, / was leaning on the rail, at
about six bells, with my cheek in my
palm, looking away where the
origantine lay in the moonlight The
motion Of the bark on the swell was
slow and kind Of soothing, and I had
got sort Of half dreaming with the lazy
roll Of her, when was startled broad
awake by bright light in the sky.
Looking up saw a great ball Of fire
rushing down through the air on a
slant, and there was dark cloud above.
By the time had hauled in the slack
Of my mind enough to know that IL was
shooting star, the glare Of It got so
bright that the light Of the moon was
Of no more account than slush lamp,
and the stars were put out altogether.
"'There was rushing, Kissing sound
in the air as the thing came down.
When it got pretty near the light al
most blinded me, and / could see moth
ing but the fiery gleam OF It on the
water. 1t wasn't as long from the time
1t hove in sight until il struck as I've
been telling how it looked. It must
have been travelling like a cannon ball,
or many more knots a minute. In the
glare ! lost sight Of the brigantine.
heard crashing sound, and the ball OF
fire disappeared, leaving everything
black before my eyes for a moment.
"When | had blinked the right sight
back into my eyes and got used to the
moonlight, that seemed pale and sick
ly, ] glanced over the starboard quar-
ter 20 where the brigantine had been,
but there wasn't trace OF her to be
seen. could hardly believe my own
eyes, although they were good pair
In those days, before the dust Of the
sea had dulled them, and I thought