Arizona silver belt., 1892-12-31
A ehILoR's eURlAl.
An Impressive Service at Sea on Board a
 asan.of-war When a Seaman Dies.

An Impressive Service at Sea on Board
 asan.of~waT When a seaman Dies
 When maritime Jack dies he is buried without much undue ceremony A brief prayer. slotted hammock, the lee rail, and all is ovel But on board a ship-of- war q sailor'a i'.peral is pathetic in it's dignihed simplicity. No muster of the ships company is, naturally, go sad as this, and you can sec it on the faces of all when the subdped shniing of tie bo'sw'n's whistle is followed by the long drawn out ard nodulated call of "All hands bury the deadr
 The men como aft quietly and take their allotted stations. To leeward, if il be at sea, or upon the port side of the quarter deali, if not in port, the seameD are ranged in the front rink; behind thom are tho ordinary sea'nen and in the rear of both the apprentices and the landsnml. h the g;lngWay forward of tha mainlnast on such ships &s still have sail power senior petty officers stand at attention Around the coffin, folded in the jael, orn;,tioaal ensign, are grouped the pallbearors, selected usually from the dead mans mess or gun division, and close gt hand. resting on arms, the
 marine guard is paraded. Nearest the coffin arc the chaplain and the captain, and then iu order of their rank stretch aft the other officers of the ship.
 ghe ensign al the peak or staff futters irenlblingly at half mast, and from over
 head the yard and stay tackles swing lazlly, ready to lift the coffin ouiboard. Wben the weather permits the way of the ship is stopped, and, 1t may be, little dickers of idling steam curl upward and to leeward dltc incense, and the wind in
 the backed and fre.ting topsails mur-
 murs dirge. The order to uncover 1 is passed gently, and while the beaBti. 1 ful words of tho burial service are being
 read the hush of the living is accen.
 taated by the low accoIapa of sea
 soUuJs-by tllc runple of eager waters
 eGdying steTnward, aud by the surging of the breeze in the hollows of the can.
 vas and through the rigging and gear When the closing prayer is said, the ! last blessing given, the tackles are manned the coffin is stripped of is haga { and slarg ia straps, md slowly, reyer ] ently is Loisted above 3he rail aud clear ! of the ship until it s poised over ihe Bii | lows. The marines load, Gim, fire, iu ] all three v5tleys, that awaken rattling 1 echoes in the hidden spaces of the ship 1 ihe bugle soanas taps teuderly and sweetiy with a newer meaning of sleep ! aud rest; tho ccllia swings further out aud is lowered gently until the foam i and spooG3rift moiatcu ii; the iacklcs gre 5a,aclad with ssl1eu jerk. and in au ilsaut tae weighted box shsots 1 downward. bc3del il foam and bubbles, aad all i5 ever uutil thC sea gives up the
 dead
 In lit,'e 'il.ls tho cheer4 whistles triil ont cali Sa duty, he half nasted
 ensign clills to the dashcr blcck; the
 slipis brought b her courSe, and dazedly
 the men take up the weafying routine l Of lAe lives so sadly broken Au iii usUal qaiat r apoa the vessel and
 aT..d the mes sables, but in fhe groups 1 gathered to smoke during the supper
 hour and after tAe hammocks are Idped down the Yirtues-those heroic and
 honest aea Yirluca--cf the dead sailor are recalled, and yi,a 9 tenderness born of
 q conlradcsl.p closer than any other men except soldiers ipar know New
 York Tall