The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-01-10
A SAiLoR'S BURIAL
Incidents OF Funeral at Sea from a
Man od-SFzr.


Incidents OF G Funeral at Sea FROM a
Man of-Sgzr.
! When a 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 a
! ship-of-war a sailors funeral is pa
thetic in its dignifed simplicity. No
muster Of the ships company is, natur-
ally, so sad as this, and you can see it
on the faces of all when the subdued
shrilling of the bo'sw'ns whistle is fol-
lowed by the Iong-drawn-out and mod
ulated call of ''AlI 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 quarterback. 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 len6smen. In the gangwaY
forward of the ulainmast, on such ships
as still have sail power, senior petty
officers stand at attea tion. Around
the coffin. folded N ehe jact, or national
ensign, are grouped the peli-bearers,
selected usually from the dead mans
mess o. gun division. and close at hand,
resting on arms, the marine guard Is
psraded, Nearest the coffin are the
chaplain and the captain, and then in
the order OF their rank stretch aft the
other officers Of the ship.
The ensign at the peak or staff hut-
L. !
overhead the yard and stay tackles
swing lazily. ready TO lift tbs cozfin
cupboard. When the weather permits
the way of the ship is stopped, and, it
may be, little f1ickers of idling steam
curl upward and to leeward like ia
eense, and tho wind in the backed and
fretting topsails murmurs dirge. The
order to uncover" is passed gently,
and while the beautiful words of the
burial service are being read the hush
of the living is nccentuated by the low
accomplishments OF sea soun9s-by the
rumple of eager waters eddying stern
ward, and by the surging of the
breeze in the hollows of the canvas
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 it's
flags and slung in straps, and slowly,
reverently, is hoisted above the rail
and clear of the ship until it is poised
over thu pillows. The marines load,
aim, FIRE in all three voileys that
awaken rattling echoes in she hidden
spaces of the ship, the bugle sounds
TAPS" tenderly and sweetly with
newer meaning Of sleep and rest: the
coffin swings farther out and is low
cred gently until the foam and spoon
drift moistens 1t; the tackles age de-
tached with a sudden jerk, and in an
instant the weighted box shoots down
ward, bedded in foam and bubbles, and
all is over until the sea gives up its
dead.
In little while the CHEEKY whistles
triil out call OF duty, the half-mast
ensign climbs to the dssher-block, the
ship ? is brought TO her course, and
dazedly the men take up the wearyfng
routine of the Lives so sadly broken.
An unusual quiet rests upon The vessel
and around the messta bfes, but IN the
groups gathered to smoke during the
supper hour and after the hammocks
are piped down the yirtues-those
heroic and honest sea viTtues--of the
dead sailor are recalled, and with a
tenderness born Of comrsdeship closer
than any other men except sailors may
Lpow.-N. Y. Tablet.