Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1890-10-30
A SPECTRE HELMSMAN.

In the summer of 1889 the ship Vul-
can, under the command of Capt. Isaac
johnson, was on her homeward bound
passage from the Indies with half a
cargo Of tea. and she stopped at Cape
Negro, on the coast Of Benguela. after a
lot of ivory to make up her load. Hav-
ing gone ON shore at the Cape the
captain learned from the native con-
tractor that he would have to go some
fifteen miles up the Cannibal's river, as
the elephant hunters had all the boats
further up in the country, so that con-
sequently they had not been enabled to
bring the ivory down.
Capt. johnson was somewhat disap-
pointed at this cause for delay, but with
out waiting to find useless fault he de-
ter1nined to man his own boats and pro-
ceed at once up the river. 1t required
four trips to bring all the ivory down,
but as they had opportunity to take adj
vantage Of the slight tides the task was
accomplished in four days. On the last
trip the captain went himself, leaving
the first mate in charge of the ship, and
on arriving at the small village where
the ivory was stored he was not a
little surprised to find that nearly all the
miserable huts were deserted. Several
times Capt. johnson inquired the mean
ing Of this, but the natives were either
unable or unwilling to give any plain
answer, and it was not until the last lot
of 4,1cl-c J,a5 1,aa,, oop.-ox-o1 10 4I,a Ioo+.
and the natives had been remunerated
for their labor that the least clew could
be obtained as to the cause Of this strange
desertion, and then for the first time the
captain received the startling intelh-
gence that the cholera was sweeping
down the riverl
As soon as this fact became known to
the seamen they wildly huddled into
their boats, as though the fearful death
angel was at their heels, and silently,
yet with powerful strokes. they pulled
down the fatal stream. At length they
reached their ship, and though they
breathed somewhat more freely as they
trod their own deck, yet each counte-
nance bore the stamp of deep fear. The
ivory was soon got on board, and with
all haste the old Vulcan was got under
way. 1t was nearly night when the
ship got off, and with a good breeze
from the northward and eastward she
stood well on her course. On the next
morning, shortly after breakfast, and
while the crew had begun to think that
they had no occasion for further fear, a
young man named Walter Addison was
taken suddenly sick.
Young Addison was the favorite both
of the officers and the crew, and as it
was reported that he was thus i'll gem
eral CONSERVATION seized upon all hands.
The young man felt at first giddiness
and a sickly chill, and in the course Of
two hours he sank into an alarming de-
bility, the countenance assuming. a
deadly paleness and his skin bearing all
the appearance of corpse. Poor Addi-
son suffered till noon, and then the
startling announcement went through
the ship that he was dead.
This was the first, but who should be
the next? A panic had seized upon the
men; the cholera was with them, and
none dared remove the form of their
dead shipmate from his berth. Night
approached, and with it came an almost
dead calm, but the corpse still remained
in the forcastle, nor did the men dare to
go thither. The captain urged that the
longer presence of the body would breed
more dangerous contagion, but the only
answer he received was a mournful
shake of the heads about him.
AT length, finding that all arguments
were useless, he turned to his mate and
asked him if he would assist himself in
throwing the body of the dead man over
board. The mate at first hesitated, but
in moment he signified his consent, and
together himself and the captain went
down into the forecastle. They dared
not remain long enough with the corpse
to sew it up, nor even to attach to it a
sinking weight, but throwing over it a
single blanket, they managed to get it
upon deck and lay it across the bull
wark of the starboard bow. A moment
Capt. johnson hesitated-he opened his
lips, breathed prayer for the soul of
4 the departed, and then, while shudder
ran over his frame, he let the cold form
/ Of young Walter Addison slide into the
blue wateri Instinctively he cast his
eyes over the side as the deed was done,
and by the pale phosphorescent light he
could just see the corpse sink, then rise
and sink again, and then with a heavy
step and a still heavier heart he wal Nd
aft
The first watch had been set, but the
other watch dared not go below, and
huddling themselves beneath the long
boat they sought the repose which they
feared to seek where their companion
had died; but each seemed to fear his
neighbor, for none knew where the con-
tagion might be. AT II o'clock the
slight breathings Of the air, which
seemed for the last few hours to have
had no settled point, began to gather
more force from the northward and
westward, and ere long a good fresh
breeze filed the ships canvas and started
her through the water. The wind con.
tinued to increase, and before midnight
all hands were called to take in the top
gallantsails. At 10 o'clock the mid
watch was set, and all hands were for q
few moments brought in contact with
each other. No further symptoms Of
the dreaded pestilence had appeared. and
they began to take hope.
1t was half past 12 o'clock. An old
seaman named Bill Shippen had the
helm, while the remainder of the watcl
were either in the gangway or else for
ward. The wind continued fresh, but
yet steady, and the old ship was clost
hauled upon it, lying some two points
off from her true course. The ships bel
was suspended over the pinnacle, ant
old Shippen reached over and struck tht
first half hour after midnight. He hai
just resumed his position, and was gaz
ing intently at the compass, when h'
felt a hand laid upon his shoulder, ant
: l. 1-<1114 IL.