New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-05-04
DANA'S OLD SHIPMATE.
A SURVIVOR OF TWO YEARS BEFORE THE
MAST
MAST

MAST
n,ov AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUNE.
los Angeles Cal. April Coat Santa Barbara, san
podro SON Juan CapisranO and San Diego one Is sure
IN have "Two Years Before the Mast and its author
brought to ones attention. not only from the pleasure
dor;,od in noting how the remarkably accurate and
commemorative descriptions Of the features OF those
u,ccs though written in 1885 arc just as correct IN
400 Int this American classic Is constantly broue"O
10 the front by residents of the places named VINO take
- ,c., nrdo in the renown achieved by the book, ana
so indirectly by the place Of their habtation IinS
local sefsufciency and Jealousy Of other points mas
become a characteristic feature OF Southeri' '"'
for,isns Possibly prompted BY this desire for htie
hit NJ local notorety, friend who resides AZ eah
Dieco writes me that he has discovered human relic
In the rrIzz,ed marled. sailed person OF one JACK
stewart who claims TO have been shipmate OF Danas
an Tho vovaoe of the Alert from this coast to Boston,
and whose story IS fully substantated wien 'acA
snrana ashore with Dana at Boston, lie was HV''c'
active able seaman; today he Is, my correspondent.
writcs :. q decrepit palsied old man Of eighty ODD
Years He sailed out of Boston harbor on the Alert
% ber neyt trim TO the West Coast, and ne sa'ed ouo
20 bs saxon energy In the Lanzed languor OF span
sh American existence at Old san Diego. sd" 'aoh
n., lie lives in an old adobe in the shadow OF
tho ruins Of the old Mission Church. the mouse Has
no windows no convenienccs the moor wore OUT pos
sgll ha
,ie in which TO repair It, 1t was probably dapldated
ars aco vhcn Jack Just in the first stage OF being
voxconized took to his his dark skinned, nan
indian and half spanish bride, perhaps pretty thel'
hut now n wrinkled black old woman. JACK mas
daughter good looking young woman WIN i'n
enough ambition to get public school educa'o o"'
N hcr no more than her father are repaired hoor'
windows, or anything el9o ''"' ''f
secure necessities
4. rocL after brief stay In Boston, had sailed back
10 california on the Alert her second mate she
came into san Diego Bay TO load up with hides again.
and here Jack had some hot words Win the captain
and by some means getting his liberty came ashore ana
STAYED asked him II he had ever read MI Dana
hook Yes. he had heard Dana had written a oook
about his seafarng life and he had bought copy Oh
/, and no had read it until he came to a part which
~, 49, ,n = nasty blow there was reefng which Dana
Aid becanse the rest hung back and sodiered ana lie
did not care 30 read any In fact, the Oh sea
dog broadly intimatcd that Dana had painted hnSen
In very glowing c0lors. lie dld not seem ID thii'h
n,uoh Of Dana as a sailor nor As chronicler' asheu
the brown eyed black haired daughter II She nan reaa
the hook NO. she had not read H. she had not ihuc"
time in which 10 read 49,
lack I found cared little or nothing Tor anything
in the outside world He had rarely been away rom
uid rorn since the day that he went ashore from the
,,er, All through the wonders worked since l7f'
Ia has sicstaed away life in his adobe casa Win HIS
semi-raced scmttropic helpmate lie carcd ho'"i"s
for the reflected greatness tried 10 thro" upon '
SD | came away leaving the two relics OF inc pa.
~ california. Jack stewart and Old Town. both OF
which Mr. Dana would recognize at glance 10,
s,v though both have been rudelv handled BY time
hone my friend is not deceived. There is poet'c
fitness in the idea OF old san Diego and this snip.
mate q, Dana's going through all these years 81
decay together
liz Grnu a
number Of men each year lose their lives While
crossing an American desert, yet such
IA the case on my desk as wHte'
wearing my hat rakishly cooked over us
polished forehead and its jaws perpetual grin,
Is the skull Of wandering fortune-hu VINO
doubtless died Of the thirst agony. Like score
of other skulls and skeletons found in the sands OF
tho saro Colorado desert this year there is nothing TO
toll ANYTHING OF whoever 1t who used this empty
hone a. a brain caskct A desert-man' who recently
returned from a prospecting trip brought IN this SKULL
which he stumbled over. a. u memento Inc coyo'cs'
the sun and the sand have cleaned and pohshed IL
until IL looks II prepared for doctors study ou'
IL the tongueless mouth could only speak what d
story IL could tell OF wandering over burning SANDS
under q mercless consuming sun, OF lost ROAD VI
cracked throat and swollen tongue, OF derium' ana
At last Of mercful death. Colonel d. n Nlen'
civil engineer and commander OF corps OF pro-,
pecors in the service OF the Mexican 'ol1lAa' WI.
coal fields this winter through the desert oouh.rS
estimates that this winter score OF people nay nV.
their death from thirst and heat, ana ihe''oh'
number OF CHASTITY discoveries. -.,. ,oas
one Of the most striking Of these grlesome hha;
was made by Colonel Allen in the lover oenu ~
T"y liver He here came across a blackboard staut
Ok alone in the sands without more 81 Pwbsy,
The vehicle stood and found that II was loadeu WIZ.
all the articles necessary for comiortio!e C'mpae
KIP yScpiyc Set of harness was found the ground
near by and little search resulted III nsu'e ,b~y
is Sa Scen pShccd With sun sncrSea nS bones
their necks. and were attached to me ',tHe, "G
yasc @ Of we Se oS SlGe e PS@d but not
nancr nor A letter was discovered which could give
s SlS Ave that most Of the coats bore the name, OF
iondon talors No trace of the travellers was then
ION nd but few days later George MlllaIu oi 'ahpu
.poi found two skeletons cleaned by the ecn.Hns
and 'ortSred and RPe ef%nr Ppyons to
Thcse we're evidently the remains OF the owners OF ,e
% most Of these desert tragcdie seldom Is IT that
the elements leave ythne whch VIII 'c" ue S'''
say Cuptdy arising from peculiar source has doubt
les s the the o Wsr pcnarmsHt formerly kept in
service telegraph line extending across tle 49,
from Yuma 10 San Diego eut re' en-, r ~ rrmo,c
,h wire and poles. number Of persons llNins near
the border OF The desert. taking advantage OF ts @
for some time in digging up the poles ana us d not
for lumber and fencing Is the telegraph lnT u'1 ths
f.lln lima,
mole hunting parties 10 wander from the rcguIa "a
- travel and several of these foragers are ocno''
81 10 have lost their lives.
This Colorado desert with It's turbld river emcrglnS
,rom Us wonderful canon. which some Denver 'ap"
iss propose 10 deseciate with railroad u r
strange things and possesses some peculiar PloP nanp
rhe Colorado River is universally by dcse. i q,
said never to give up It's dead to be en5aiieu ,mee
means instant death and disappearance, Sa' Wv 70
grSllrd dried old tcamsters and prospe..ors, r,n,
,yhom the desert seems to have never and
fnscination Sound Is given groicS'luo ,o,,o,rs
nmllllng properties, which are described a. H mIe"o
Hv Mr. II. wcyns resident OF bailena "a" Nv Ar
couuty settlement, the desert boruc, 80
weyms thoroughly explored this strange "'' "'''
NM The variation OF sound as heard the ooioraao
River Is amazing. The vibration OF one ' Sne.lsr
rertain places along the river will strike tnc sp
win awe and reverence; in Others tie enc.t II -,
vcrsed causing the listener to his own Wo"s W ,,
an the ground in mcrriment. As examples Oh soI T
oS heard along the river, give the iolVWlnST i n
morninC train crossing the river az the , W
thc Atlantic and Pacific Road Is distinctly hcLu a.,
Fort Moiolve which is thirty miles away Dy wa'et
and twenty four miles by land The morning s"', AZ
cnu no