San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-11-26
EISA.
A SAILORS BURIAL.
An Impressive Service at Sea on Board q
Man-of-waY When a Seaman Dies.

An Impressive service at Sea on Board
Man-of-waT When a Seaman Dies.
When maritime Jack dies he is buried
without much undue ceremony. A brief
prayer, a shotted hammock, the lee rail,
and all is over. But on board ship-of-
war sailors funeral is pathetic in its
dignified simplicity. No muster of the
ships company is, naturally, so sad as
this, and you can see it on the faces Of
all when the subdued shrilling of the
bo'sw'n's whistle is followed by the long
drawn out and modulated call of Cali
hands bury the dead!"
The men come aft quietly and take
their allotted stations. To leeward, if it
be at sea, or upon the port side of the
quarter deck, if not in port, the seamen
are ranged in the front rank; behind
them are the ordinary seamen and In
the rear of both the apprentices and the
landsmen. In the gangway forward OF
the mainmast on such ships as still have
sail power senior petty officers stand at
attention. Around the coffin, folded in
the jack or national ensign, are grouped
the pallbearers, selected usually from
the dead mans mess or gun division,
and close at hand, resting ON arms, the
marine guard is paraded. Nearest the
coffin are the chaplain and the captain,
and then in order of their rank stretch
aft the other officers of the ship.
The ensign at the peak or staff fiutters
tremblingly at half mast, and from over.
head the yard and stay tackles swing
hZily, ready to lift the coffin cupboard.
When the weather permits the way of
the ship is stopped, and, it may be, little
fiickers of idling steam curl upward and
to leeward like incense, and the wind in
the backed and fretting topsails muir
murs dirge. The order to uncover"
is passed gently, and while the beauti.
full words of the burial service are being
read the hush of the living is accen,
tuated by the low Accomplishments of sea
sounds-by the rumple of eager waters
eddying sternward, and 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 its flags
and slung in straps, and slowly, rever
emily is hoisted above the rail and cleal
of the ship until it is poised over the bill.
lows. The marines load, aim, fire, in
all three volleys, that awaken rafting
echoes in the hidden spaces of the ship;
the bugle sounds ''taps' tenderly and
sweetly, with newer meaning of sleep
and rest the coffin swings further out
and is lowered gently until the foam
and spoondrift moisten it; the tackles
are detached with sudden jerk, and in
an instant the weighted box shoots
downward, bedded in foam and bubbles.
and all is over until the sea gives up the
dead.
In little whi.e the CHEEKY whistles
trill out call to duty; the half masted
ensign climbs to the dasher block; the
ships brought to her course, and dazedly
the men take up the wearying routine
of the lives so sadly broken. An I'M
usual quiet rests upon the vessel and
around the mess tables, but in the groups
gathered to smoke during the supper
hour and after the hammocks are piped
down the virtues-thOse heroic and
honest sea virtues-of the dead sailor are
recalled, ana with tenderness born of
comradeship closer than any other
men except soldiers may know.-New
York Tablet.