The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-10-08

ydru pdEEdAlS, Tue pap Oh reel pOluIS duS
the gurgle of the water about the rudder, a
the ship occasionally settled in the loni
swells. -Four men, with such help as th'
cook and steward can give from time {,
time, are mighty small crew for an 500
ton ship, with forty or fifty days voyag,
before US, even II the calm breaks within &
week" / went on, as Mr.. Farr. who seemed
In deep thought, did not Immediately reply
"and as / say, it's hard situation"
I've been in a harder one," was tn,
rather dry answer. For Mr.. Farr, OF
whose grave, bronzed features the strang'
experiences of nearly thirty years of sctiI
sea life had left their imprint, was natu
rally reticent of speech and used as few
words as possible.
''It was in the summer of 1856, F" he saio
abruptly, as be turned away from the raj
and seated himself On the edge of the after
house, directly facing me as stood lean
ing against the wheel. 81 had passed tn
admiralty board of London, receiving
second mates certificate Our regulation.
in these respects are better than yours in
America A passed second mate is pre-
sumed to be competent to take charge ol
the vessel he ships aboard of in any ex-
treme emergency.
Il shipped in an English bark calico
the Thorwald; a lump of bark shN
was, too. being 1,150 tons, bound for Shang
hai with general cargo.
''Tbe crew were all a bad lot. Don't
ever remember a much worse Made NJ
of all sorts'-Dutch, Irish, Swedes, Span
ish, Italians. one Yankee, and four Malay
or Lascars, whichever you've a mind te
call them
There was trouble from the start out.
Mr.. Lull, the mate, was a surly fellow. II
was a word and blow-a blow first Cap
tain Geary upheld him in it, too, though
of course, he himself didn't use open VIC
lence.
Now was a comparatively young man
and, though it's who say it, don't back
down easy TO any one. l knew my duty
too. And with it knew that by Englisl
laws l wasn't justified in treating meh
harshly without good and sufficient reason
even if I'd had mind to do so. In Yanke>
ships, though, | find brutal officer car
bang the men about at his will, and youI
American laws either can't or won't bother
him, except in very extreme cases.
"Well, Captain Geary and the mate both
got down on me for being afraid-so they
said-to discipline the crew. And be
tween them and the crew / had hot berth
I'VE had bad weather in the channel fol
a couple of weeks, with head winds con
slant. That didn't help things at all
and by the time we were a hundred miles
or SO to the westward of the mouth of tn,
Bay of Biscay, the ship pretty well de
served the name Yankee chap Dan called
her-a bear garden af1oat.'
l. 4
watch l was IN my stateroom for mo
ment, and | heard a scrimmage on thI
main deck Then the mate sung out blut
murder, and knew what was up.
"Of course my duty was plain enough.
Captain Geary ran out, calling for me
to arm myself. got a capstan bar from
the rack outside the cabin door, and, as
you Yankees say, sailed in But the mat,
was down and done for before either the
captain or myself got on deck.
Captain Geary had a revolver, and fired
twice before it was knocked out of his
hand. didn't see the rest. The Malays
had their knives lashed to slaves they haG
whitfield out of dunnage wood. laio
about me right and left, and l fancy
made headache or two before they drov.
me to the rail-the four of 'em. To dodge
a jab from a spear knife jumped on the
rail, my foot slipped and over went.
''The ship was going free-say five knots
in a smooth sea When | got the water
out of my eyes | family heard some on,
sing out 'OverboardP as swung into tn
ships wake Yankee Dan was at tn
wheel, and suppose owe my life to him
No one else would have cut loose one o.
the patent buoys at the stern, pulled the
trigger to set the match alight and flung
it over
Il saw the blue flicker, and struck om
for it; got my head and shoulders through
the buoy, and was all right. But the ship
was swallowed up in darkness. listened
all l knew, hoping TO hear the creak o,
yards swinging and blocks rattling, but
bless you, | might have known better
The mutineers had something else to think
Of
well, it was tremendous long night
Lucky for me it was midsummer, and the
water not over cold, so l was not badly
chilled. But il you were ever so placed
you may know | didn't feel over cheerful
The chances of being picked up under suck
circumstances by passing ship seemed
small enough when you call to mind the
size of the Atlantic, and how one may sal
for days without sighting a ship, even IL
the vicinity of the ocean highways between
frequented ports.
'But about noon the next day made
out sail, square rugged, standing toward
me from the nor'ard- Just at sundown sh>
was almost in hail | could see she wa
foreign built Her bows sheathed ul
for'ard, the paint was worn of her sides
which were fearfully battered and bruised,
and | decided she was an arctic whalel
full TO the matches and home bound.
Il sung out Justify as the ship neared
me, but not a soul was in sight, either
aloft looking over the rail or on the top
gallant forecastle The wind was light
and as she WAS moving slow let go of the
life preserver and swan TO meet her.
caught hold of the main chain plates ano
climbed up over the side
I've seen some strange sights, like al |
seafaring men. But this got ahead of most
of them. Lying on the main hatch, sidt |
by side, were i've dead bodies, with tar |
paulin covering their faces and the upper /
part of their persons. Five men, whc /
looked more like living skeletons thar |
anything else, were crawling, hardly walk |
ing. about the deck One OF them stared I
at me as sprang down and then uttered /
a sort of Stihed yell, as though / had been 1
q ghost, while the others huddled together |
in evident fear
a tall man, emaciated beyond anything /
/ ever saw in my life, came out ofthe cabin 1
and approached me
Mon DieuF he muttered. and then. in /
tolerable English, asked me who was and |
how came on board. which a few words /
suficed 70 explain
The others crowded about me- Their 1
story was something extraordinary, but as
IL is a matter Of record, you will know II /
10 be true The ship was the Disne-s |
French whaler. owned ii La TeSte Two 4