The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-05-16
A MAD NaH On SHIP BOARD
THE PEERLESS BIG Dos Owned THE
VESSEL FOR A TIME.

Ino mate from the Aheel-1he snip
with Canvas Spread Sails Without a
Helmsman-KIlIed at LasA
We were homeward bound aboard one Of
the smartest Yankee clippers that ever
turned an evanescent furrow on the sap
pnire farm of Neptune. She was called the
Peerless. We were bounding along before a
| ten knot breeze, with every stitch of canvas
| on. 1t was q hot summer day in the first
year of the war Capt. Romans himself was
at the wheel, and. familiar as he was with
the vision of his snip with all her fair wealth
er buds on, he could not help casting an adj
miring eye aloft now and then. About ten
feet from the skipper, crouching on the deck,
was his big Newfoundland dog, Boatswain,
the pet of the ships crew and the idol of her
commander Boatswain was a soft eyed,
! intelligent creature, pure blooded and su-
! perbly formed. He had made half dozen
voyages in the Peerless, and could pull on
| halyard and help to tend sheet like a sailor
man. He was more like shipmate than
! dog to US. He had distinguished himself
while in port, and got his name in the news
| papers, by rescuipg two men who had tum-
bIed overheard. This was the limit of his
| achievements as hero
IKE DOJ CUES MAD
While the skipper was looking up at the
trembling sun kissed towers of duck change
came over Boatswain's face. His head was
pillowed between his extended forepaws and
he was painting, and had been painting for an
hour or so, from the excessive heat His
eyes, usually gentle, became unnaturally
bright, and he sprang to his feet and ran I'M
steadily forward. The captain, who had
noted the dogs changed aspect, called the
mate to the wheel and went after his shaggy
protege.
"Boats'nl Boats'nl" called the skipper,
coaxingly. Come here, good fellow-come
herem But Boatswaiu ignored his masters
invitation, and charged a sailor who was
holystoning forward. There must have been
something particularly ferocious in the New
foundland's appearance to cause the sailors
face to blanch and drive him on a run into
the forerigging The skipper got front
view of Boatswain a moment later The ami
NAL was frothing at the mouth. He rushed
with a low growl at his master who turned
and made for the port rail, along which he
ran to the main rigging, climbing into it
just as the dogs teeth met, with the clack Of
castanets, in the air, not two inches from the
bottom of his trousers By this time every
example of the captain. The mate and the
colored cook, Washington, were the only men
within reach of the mad brute. The cook
was sitting at the door of the galley. He had
yielded to the soporilc influence of the sun
shine and was nodding over bowl of half
cut scouse. The captain shouted to him to go
down into the cabin and get a shotgun.
Wash didn't hear the shouts until the dog was
within twenty feet of him. He was some
what afraid Of Boatswain anyhow, and Boat
swain mad, with flashing eyes and foamy
chops, filed him with terror.
HE OWNS THE VESSEL.
he was paralyzed for a second. Then he got
on his feet, upsetting the bowl Of scouse, and
backed tremblingly and quickly into the gall
ley, slamming the door just in time to shut
out the dog, whose body struck the lower
panel with a thud that made the cook shiver
some more for his salvation.
Two sailors made a dash for the cabin to
get the shotgun when Boatswain went for the
cook, but the cunning Newfoundland inter
cepted them and drove them back in the rig
ging. The mate made himself as small as
possible behind the wheel, but the mad brute
spied him and made plunge for him. The
mate knew that if he deserted the wheel the
ship probably would breach to immediately
and may be become partial wreck; he also
knew that if Boatswain bit him be would be
a doomed man. 1t didn't take him long to
make up his mind what to do. He sprang to
the rail and jumped into the mizzen rigging,
and Boatswain became absolute master of the |
Peerless. The gun Of a rebel privateer which |
we were not altogether sure Of avoiding |
could not have created such pauc aboard /
our ship The dog rushed from rail TO rail, /
aft, and made wild leaps up toward the rig /
ging in vain attempts to get at the frightened |
men. How long the dear old ship was with
out helmsman the captain and the super |
cargo were never able to tell. 1t may have |
been three minutes and it may have been ten,
but Capt. Romans said he believed it was |
about half an hour Not once during this /
critical time did she threaten TO breach to. |
She held her course nobly, as if guided by
phantom steersman.
KILLED BY STRATEGY.
The captain looked fearfuly aloft, expect
ing momentarily to see the ships sails set |
aback and hear a crashing Of spars.
"For Gods sake, Henderson, " he shouted to
a man forward, make a diversion there and
get that dog away from the cabin"
The sailor mounted the topgallant forecas-
tie and began laying about him with a rope
and yelling. The dog pricked up it's ears,
located the hubbub, and bounded forward
Henderson clambered out on the bowsprit,
and Capt. Romans and Mr.. Smith, the sU-
percargo, leaped to the deck and dashed into
the cabin. The dog seemed to realize that be
had been tricked when he got well forward
and saw nobody to bite. He wheeled around
and ran aft just as Capt. Romans emerged
from the cabin with a double barreled shot
gun followed by young Mr. Smith with a re-
volver. They were less than five feet from
the cabin door when Boatswain confronted
them. He sprang on his hind legs 10 bite
the barrels of the threatening gun. Three
reports, almost simultaneous, rang out and
Boatswain fell on the deck with his breast
torn away. A gentle futteriug Of canvas in
creased the captains pallor. He dropped his
gun and turned toward the wheel. The mate
was there, and he had, by less than half
turn, stilled the tremor Of the sails and set
the Peerless on her proper course.
As we dropped the carcass Of Boatswain
overheard every man felt as if we were bury
ing shipmate-New York Sun.