Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-10-18
a STOWAWAY'S STOR!

a NIUYY AW "A US SIUR.
Reading in the paper, the other tay of
the arrcs: OF the mate OF the Rio stcar Ter
Finance for cruelty to three or four
stowaways who matte their appearance
after the vessel was well on her voyage.
has recalled wildly IN adventure | had
when Il hoy Of fourteen. and thounl, [
was Il very humble individual myself, the
particulars oil that adventure stirred tic
people oi Il great Kingdom.
know the sailor from tonmast head TO
kcison, have sailed in all sorts of
crafts. with al! sorts OF crews, and have
served many Captains | know that sail
ors are rough and uncouth. and that
there is always disposition 10 lind fault
and to magnify evils. Jack would have
his growl, no matter how well fed and
no" well used. On land ,ilcrc is a Ger
tain antaGoaiNm between employer and
employed. On shipboa,l this is intens;
lied, bu; i,iat is because the employer inns
50 much more power over he employed
] frankly admit that | havc never mes
NAH dozen sailors, no E,I:tcr what Snr:
oi Captain they were sailing under, who
Were without complaints. Du il ,lo., nn;
follow ii:at ali the other; complained with
out reason The ship may he comfor,a-
Bile and ullhandcd, The fare all right
and the Captain good m,n. bnt the
mates can still make the c:alt mighty .ni-
comfortable for the men, | venture 10
assert ina. there are not hali u dozen
a long voyaGe sailing crafts leaving our
shores i'll which abuses calling for loud
growing 10 not exist, and what is true
OF America is true of all other countries.
TIC Dutch, Swedcs, Russians. and las
cars will stand ovcrwork. poor grub. and
the abusc of officers. and is much for
this reason rs any other the Yankee sailor
has been driven from the sea- and his
place filled by these substitutes.
When ! was eleven wears old my
mother died, and my fathc: decided to
go to Australia. | was his ONLY ciild
and he was by no means burdcncl with
money He WAS master! plumber, and
he set ont for Sidney under contract.
Three months after our arrival he married
again, and it was not six weeks before
my stcrnoihcr pushed me into The
street. | was understood and sickiv.
but never gave her the slightest cause
for even harsh word. She Simply took
an aversion to me, and somehow her
hatred came to be reflected in my father.
lie saw me thrown ont on the world
with hardly protest, and two days later.
when he met me in tho street he rave me
about eight shillings i'll money and adj
vlscd me to set up rs boo;black and
ncwsboy. should probably have fol-
lowed his suggestions had not on that
same day Glanced to fall in with two or
three lads who were planning to stow
themselves away aboard of IN 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 bet
ter i'll England. | was invited to ioin.
and when our plans had been laid there
were four OF us OF about the same are.
We looked the brig over. found tina. we
could get aboard, and made our arrange
mcnts.
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. w.s to
board, slip down the midship hatch, and
the Others were to follow ut brief inter
walls. fire on board ship IA few hun
dred feet away collected the crew Of the
brig aft and l got aboard without risk.
The hold was nearly full Of bags, barrels,
and boxes, and after waiting few minutes
made my way over these toward the bow,
ana found very comfortable place on Il
lot of dry hides. l remained awake and
alert for two hours and then fell asleep
without realizing that | WAS bit sleepy.
1t was morning when awokc, and ms the
sailors were at work below, | dared moi
move or call out. | figured that my com
panions were in hiding around nc, and
so rested easy through the day, sleeping
most of the time. At about shutdown
felt the ship under motion, and an hour
later the matches were closed and | wos
i'll midnight darkness. | had matches
and stub Of candle, and, after striking
a light, moved around and whistlcd and
called to my companions. could make
my way over the freight very easily in
any direction and would not give up
that was alone until had searched for
a full hour. Then | was positive that |
was alone; the others had either backed
out or had been balllcd in their attcmpt
to get aboard. l was much upset mt the
discovery and crawlcd back to my bed
and cried myself to sleep.
1t had been agreed among us boys That
we should keep sccrctcd three days after