Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-15

1890.
about the real monsters and inhabitants OF
the Deep Whalers have tale OF an enor-
nous white whale which moves about the
world with incredible speed. and who has a
particular spite against them and their
boats. This is the hero of Herman Nell
ville's "Moby Dick" Sharks, too, are re-
garded with superstitious awe when they
come about ship in great numbers. Even
one following ship is an omen OF approach
ing death.
Cape pigeons are said to be the souls OF
deceased sailors, and it is a bad omen TO
have them fall on the deck exhausted. Dur
ing the trip of the baseball club to Australia
this occurred, and the resulting superstl-
tion of the crew was noted by the CORE
spondents on board.
BAPTIZING A SHIP.
Few superstitious ceremonies or obsery-
ances are performed by our sailors. A daily
paper related that the mate of whaler.
some few years since, made VOW that in
case of his deliverance from a storm, he
would bestow aims upon 200 poor persons,
and 60 through the ceremony of being
Crowned at Pentecost" 1t is said that
the privateers of Newburyport used to re-
quest and obtained the prayers o. the con-
gregation before setting out to sea. The
ceremony of baptizing the ship at launching
her, aud that of initiating novices upon
crossing the line, are no longer looked upon
as anything more than mere custom, al
though both are survivals Of heather cere-
monies of sacrifice to the gods of the sea.
Some sailors believe, however, that disaster
will result to the ship if the wine is not shed
when she is launched, or if any accident
happens during the launching.
Some of the oldest seamen vet cling to
their belief in The appearance of the ely
ing Dutchman" and "Barney's Brig" and
the veritable phantom ship has made its
entrance into many ports OF our coasts. Our
poets have recorded the legends related OF
it, and the spectral craft has even made Its
appearance in the Pacific. Perhaps the
best known of these is the phantom of the
burning Palatine, which reappears occa-
sionally on Bloch Island:
Behold again with simmer and shine.
Over the rocks and the seething brine,
The flaming wreck of the Palatinei
Sailors aver that they see, on dark, rainy
nights an old clipper. the Tennessee"
standing in toward the Golden Gate, of the
California coast, with all canvas out but
she suddenly disappears upon reaching
certain headland, and never gets into port.
PARSONS AND LAWYERS.
There is one thing, however, in which it
is hard to shake the sailors belief-his re-
lance upon luck and omens. A "parson" is
unlucky, and decided opinion exists that
there Is no good thing about lawyer. Many
officers are thought unlucky, and instances
have been known where it was difficult to
get crews for merchant ships whose captain
or mate had bad reputation. Cooper
records the fact that Lieutenant j. T. Shu-
brick was thought lucky officer to have
on board. He served in nine ships in ten
years, participating in six great and sue
cesstul actions, without wound. Lieu
tenant Somers was, on the contrary, thought
unlucky, as we'll as the ship named after
him.
This element of bad luck is considered to
extend to the ship and even to the name.
The old Constitution was a lucky vessel,
while the Americas have been invariably
lost at sea. The Chesapeake, afterward cap
tured by the Shannon, was considered so un-
lucky that the men did not want to sail in
her. After the first Monitor was lost the
men never were willing to go to sea in tow
of the same vessel-the Rhode Island-that
was with the lost ironclad. Some think it
bad thing to give vessel a new name, and
point to that as the cause of disasters and
bad luck.
1t Is regarded as unlucky to spill salt at
mess, and many will not feel easy after
having accidentally crossed knives with a
messmate. Fishermen do not like to have
you ask about their luck, and some of them
ascribe the loss of luck to certain acts such
as Swearing Off drinking, stumbling ON
the way to the boats, etc. As to the luck OF
days, there is still lively belief among
merchant sailors especially, as to the evil
effects Of sailing on Friday. As a recent
instance OF this, it was related in the Chi
cago papers IN 1886, that the vessels of the
grain fleet would not sail on Good Friday,
and the next year, that a dozen OF more Of
these boats sailed after midnight, declining
to commence the season by sailing on Fri
day.
THE GREAT OCEAN STEAMERS.
A New York paper calls attention to the
fact that none of the big ocean steamers sail
on Friday, and says that it would be re-
garded as disastrous by all, from captain to
cabin boy. The superstition against this
day is not so prevalent in the navy, although
occasionally an officer or a man may be
found who regards it as bad sailing day.
Many sailors think, on the contrary, that
Sunday is an auspicious day on which to
begin a voyage. The Arctic relief steamer
Bear postponed sailing so as to avoid Fri
dav.
Virgins, the Canadian weather prophet,
having predicted storm on such date, it
was found that men hesitated to ship until
the date had passed. The horseshoe may
occasionally be seen nailed to mast or
"cuddy home" of our coasting schooners. I
have been told that it used to be difficult to
get crew for the barges on the Ohio and
Mississippi some years ago unless q horse
shoe was nailed up in sight.
There is decided unwillingness on the
part of many sailors to wear the clothes of
anyone vino has died on board. or who has
been accidentally lost overheard. Some
would prefer to have on their best suit of
clothing in case of a wreck or disaster, and
many believe that the sea will not cast up
the bodies of sailors, although it possesses
no such respect for those of Iandsmen.
Sailors everywhere are less superstitious
than formerly, and steam and modern i'm
provements are fast causing many Of the old
beliefs to die out. Only the "old hands"
adhere to these notions, and many of them
are ashamed of their beliefs.
f. S. BAssETT,
Lieutenant q. s. N.