New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-06-03
. CHANCE FOR CONNECTICUT

| navicatOrs who mlght nave Deen WenhDcTs vi
tho connecticut Legislature had they resided
| in that State instead of on the ocean wave and
ro,l;ro deem are languishing this blessed June
| morning in the Tombs. Navigator John Wright
| ~ tho American steamer Paris and Navigator
patr;ck DOYLE of the Cunarder Camrania are
| tho gentlemen referred to. Their rank in the
merchant marine is not exalted. Readers of
| marine. submarine and ultramarinc romanccs
,yould no doubt recognize theM even in the
Tombs by their rolling gait and bellbottom
| trousers as belonging to the grads in the ser
| vice known as the honest tar" so Nallcd, not
| because landsmcn were so liable to get stuck
| nm him. but because tar was formerly IN such
concral Use on shipboard. Readers of Captain
Marryat's stories will, no doubt, remember the
| frcoucnt references Of his scafarng persons
to their tarry toplights," and the fcrvor with
| which when under pressure they "damncd'
| them. We do not know what precisely the
toplights wcrc-whether they were part OF
the person or the ship. We do know Or feel
| quite certain that they had to be tarry to be
properly rhythmically. and with due regard to
the prosody of profanity damned The article
Of tar is more used now on roofs and roads
than on ropes and rigging but the name sticks
to the seafaring man. 1t is a sticky name
But while we have INDUCED in this philo-
logical depression John Wright and Patrick
| Doylc have continued TO languiSh in the Tomhs
their tale untold their woes unwcpt, their song
unslInc Lot us kick ourselves once for hard
bc,rtedncss and take up the thread. John
Wright and Patrick Doyle differed as to the
relative speed of their respective vessels. II
was not strange. This creaking, stranng
world is full Of Just such differences. and the
noise of them frequently rises above the shrek
inr of the tempest through the corlage. And
spoakine Of Cordlge-wcll, on the whole, we
will not speak Of Cordagc, but leave it in the
| hands of the Receiver. As we were saying
those differences arc common. great many
| people make a comfortable living by betting
| on them There are Others, OF course, who
| don't do so WELL bu; that is simply because
| they bet the wrong way-a very rcprehenSIhle
practice which everybody is interested in frown
| ing down.
To resume the navigators. The differences
| between them and the discussion about them
| stimulated by occasional poiat0ns and kindled
| into n rudy glow by certain red-headcdncss
| Of native temperament, presently reached the
high level Of debate in the Connecticut Legs
, a,lre over a question whether damages snail
| he assessed by tho court or jury This * one
| of those questions that catch a Connecticut
Legislature in the very seat OF its emotions, or
| its intellect or its trousers. or anything th1t
| come, handy. and swShcs il up and down over
the vocabulary left by the late Noah Webster
| ~ If il were an ordinary horseradish on
crater. II accordingly goes without saying
that when the scafarcrs struck this high level
| their conversation became worth while. " You're
| a liar.r said Wright. Unconscious plagiarism
| ON an earlier hour of the same day the Hon.
Mr.. Gum. Of Milford. had made precisely the
| >1mc remark 10 the Hon Mr. IIcaly. Of Wind
| s,r Locks, in the Connecticut Legislature, ana
had neglected t. have it copyrighted. The re-
| ply Of Navigator Doyle was one Of those jewels
| five ten or fifteen words long " that on The
| stretched forofnGcr Of all time sparkle for
| ever Persons of "A controversial turn, or
| thcologians liable to be drawn into hcrc>y
| trial. will do well to commit it 10 memory.
"Yourc bow-lcggcd landlubbcr with bar
naclcs on your brain" said he, "and You don't
know porposc from bull pup" The Ian
| guagc, it will be observed, is salty, but its
charm is in its vigor. The Hon. Mr.. Gum
would hardly call it an innucndo." Ii leads
| an "innuendo" by several lengths. IL eX-
| haustcd the resources of scafaring vcrnacuar,
| and the rum having been previously exhausted
there was nothing left but a crisis; a full
| length nude crisis with nothing on but " jag"
| Ii was decided that the language, together
with one or the other or both navigators, must
be wiped OUT according to the codes To
make sure that the navigator who fell in the
| encounter should fall into his native element
they rcsortcd to the nearest pier. II was to
be fight to a finish, beginning with onions
at ten PAGES, onions being selected as the mis-
! silc which approached nearest in strength to
| the language of the debate. SO it happened,
| tho season for blossoms being backward. that
| at n very early hour Thursday morning, June
| with a great gush Of" onions g, tormcd the
| world.' Those present who remembered their
| Lowell took in the circumstance joyfully on
| top of their several jays. The first two
| three exchanges showed clearly enough that
tho navigators had been brought up in the
school of the French duci>ts, and that the
whole waterfront would be covered several
| feet deep with onions before either OF the COM
ba,anis-both Of whom showed great courage
could hit anything more than casual by
| stander. Somewhere about the fifth or sixth
onion took policeman-whosc on.y excuse for
| being there was that he didn't know there was
any disturbance going on-in the neck Why
prolong the painful tale? The policeman took
the navigators n and on Thursday morning
in the jefferson Market Court they were in
formed that i, would be $40 apiece. Not hay
| ing which, they are now languishng a> herein
before described. 1t will only cost the Con-
nectcut Legislature $50 to get them out and
procure their services az instructors IN The art
of extcmporancous debate. If there are any
more bills pending on the subject Of the as
sessmcnt of damages this year it might be well
| to withdraw Representatives Gum and IIealy
| from the arena of debate and let the dis
cusson be carried on by the two navigators, to
/ La a.,anad In snafarinn forms and 1la.ad ,,.;tL