Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-12

ham OF the ships company was down viii
y Every officer in the ward room and
sne captain were also taken With he fever, but
ssfAneely enough, there was not . ease Of Il
among the midshipmen. On the second night
ron 81 Thomas all the oficers we're down
1sn the FEVER but the midshipmsn- Six Of NJ
divided Ourselves into watches Of two each.
one TOOK charge Of the deck while the other at
Two days regular funeral services were held, but
aiter that they were dispensed with on account
OF tnear depressing effect The. formula sub-
snsused was. Are you ready? We commit his
mortal remains to the deep.
Meanwhile the weather was 40 bad that "A
was necessary 10 battsn down the deck. thus
sealing up in confined quarters the seventy
cases OF yellow fever below. The three doctors
were all sick, but two Of them did duty by
crawling around on their hands and knees On
came to me and said that there was q scene on
the berth deck which had wrung his heart 90
that he could not stand il any longer. / went
down to the berth deck and found there sea-
man named Phillips, who was the idol Of the
crew, dying in his hammock. Grouped about
MIN were dozen rough and weather-beaten
tar. on their knees, praying and weeping.
Inc scene was one to sadden and unnerve
the strongest heart, the stencil on the closed
aeck, where seventy men lay sick with the
lever. was overwhelming, and lost no time in
returning to the. upper deck, Fifteen minutes
later Phillips was reported dead and, -
Quickly as the report was verified officially by
the apothecary, he was hastily sewn up in his
hammock, with a shot at his feet and brought
on deck Tho hammock lashing had been
neck and the canvas showed the form Of his
heac. My first Impulse was to have the ham,
mock relashed, and shortly afterward I had
reason to regret that it had not been done.
Two Of US midshipmen we're dividing the
duties Of the watch. Four bells struck and my
fnS,E hra txrr "a f.f al rnxk
while 1 took my turn in charge of the deck.
There was no call Of All hands bury the dead
tPe more quietly it was done the better. Only
seven men stood at the gangway and single
lanterns dull light shons upon the body az
It lay on the plank which was soon to be
tipped up, permitting the remains to fall into
the sea- Ten bodies had been thrown over
board during the previous twenty-four hours,
ana We had ceased even 70 stop the engines to
bury the dead for fear of the effect upon the
knows the alarming effect that is produced
upon the mind by the unexpected stopping Of
the engines at night in mid-occan.
IN THE WAKE OF THE SHIP.
II watched from the hurricane deck 90 the
ship sped on in the darkness. while the corpse
was held ready to be cast into the foaming
water abaf. the paddle wheel, which made .
long wake Of brilliant phosphorescence.
John Phillips. We commit thy mortal re.
mains to the deep. With these words the body
was slid into the water, and then l saw a sight
which will never pass from my memory.
For the corpse had hardy disappeared when
it bobbed up again, standing erect and with
head and shoulders out of the water. As it
foated away down the track of white foam,
held upright by the shot at its feet and rocked
by the waves, it seemed to bow repeatedly to
me. as much as to say. Goodbye, good-byer
The illusion was weirdly horrible that it
made me SILVER.
when we were off the Virginia coast sailor
fell from yard and was killed. His body was
the twenty-second thrown overheard in four
days. Soon after that our fuel gave out and
when we finally anchored in the lower bay. at
New York, in the midst OF bitter northwest
gale. we were burning provisions to make
steam. while In the steerage every Granny was
pasted over with newspapers and the table was
covered with dozens of candles lighted to keep
US from freezing. That was Christmas eve,
1867, and such is the story of my first six
months of service in the navy"