Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-03
A MAD DOG ON SHIP BOARD
THE PEERLESS BIG DOG oWNEDTHE
VESSEL FOR A TIME.

He Drove the Crew INTO the Rigging and
! the Mate from the Wheel-The ship
with Canvas Spread Sails without a
Helmsrnar- Killed at Last.
We were homeward bound aboard one of
the smartest Yankee clippers that ever
\ turned an eyanescent furrow on the sap
! phire 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 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 ship with all her fair wealth
er duds on, he could not help casting an adj
Iniring 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 SUI
perbly formed He had made half dozen
voyages in the Peerless, and could pull on a
! halyard and help to tend sheet like sailor
| man. He was more like a shipmate than a
dog to US. He had distinguished himself
! while in port, and got his name in the news
!
bed overheard. This was the limit of his
1 achievements as a hero,
THE DOG GOES MAD
! While the skipper was looking up at the
trembling, sun kissed towers Of duck a 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
I 1ltv
| bright and he sprang to his feet and ran un-
steadily forward The captain, who had
| noted the dogs changed aspect, called the
mate to the wheel and went after his shaggy
! protege.
! ''Boats'n Boats'nl' called the skipper,
coaxingly. ''Come here, good fellow--come
hereln But Boatswain 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 run into
the forerigging. The skipper got front
| view of Boatswain q moment later The ami
NAL was frothing Mt 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
man had abandoned work and followed the
! 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 soporiGc influence of the sun
shine, and was podding over a bowl Of half
cut scouse. The captain shouted to him to go
down into the cabin and get shotgun.
| Wash didn't hear the shouts until the dog was
within twenty feet Of him. He was some
what afraid Of Boatswan anyhow, and Boat
swain mad with flashing eyes and foamy
chops filed him with terror
lie OWNS THE VESSEL.
He was paraly2ed for a second Thenhegot
on his feet up5etting the bowl Of scouse, and
backed trcmblingly and quickly into the gal
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 SILVER
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 wheol, but the mad brute
spiad him and made a plunge for him. The
mate knew that il 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 he would be
Il 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 mi2zen rigging,
and Boatswain became absolute master Of the
Peerless. The gun of a rebel priyatesr which
we were not altogether sure of avoiding
could not have created such panic aboard
our ship. The dog rushed from rail to rail-
aft and made wild leaps up toward the rig
gng in vain attempts to get at the frightened
men. How long the dear Old ship was with
out helnsman the captain and the super
cargo were never able to tell 1t may have
been threa 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 noby, as if guided by a
phantom steorsman.
KILLED BY STRATEGY.
The captain looked fcartully aloft, expect
ing momentarily to see the ships sails set
abacll and hear crashing of spars.
"For Gods sake, Henderson, he shouted to
a man forward, "make q diversion there and
get that dog away from the cabin"
The sailor mounted the ropgallant forecas-
tie and began laying about him with a rope
and yelling. The dog prickol up its 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 he
had been tricked when ne got well forward
and saw nobody to bite lie wheeled around
and ran aft just as Capt. Romans emerged
from the cabin with a double barreled shot
gun followed by young LII Smith with re-
volver They were less than five feet from
the cabin door when Boatsvain confronted
them He sprang on his hind legs to bite
the barrels Of the threatening gun. Three
reports, almost simultaneous, rang out and
Boatswoiu fell on the deck with his breast
torn away A gentle lnttering Of canvas in
creased the captains palior Hedropped 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 O shipmate.-New York Sun,
BraziI's New Flag.
Senior Antonio da Foutoura Xavier, the
Brazilian consul at Baltimore, has received