River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-01-12
A SAILORS BURIAL.
Incidents of q Funeral at Sea from q
Man-of-War


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 sailors funeral is pa
| thetic in its dignified 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 long-drawn-out and mod
ulated call of IAN hands bury the
deadl''
The men come aft quietly and take
their allotted stations. To leeward.
il il be at sea. or upon the port side of
the quarterback. l. 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 pall-bearers,
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
the order of their rank stretch aft the
other officers of the ship
The ensign at the peak staff flut-
tiers tremblingly at half-I.ast, and from
overhead the yard and stay tackles
swing lazily. ready to lift the coffin
/ h. e.
the way of the ship is stopped, and, it
may be, little flickers of idling steam
curl upward and to leeward like in
cense. and the wind in the backed and
fretting topsails murmurs dirge. The
order TO uncover" is l..ssed gently,
and while the beautiful words of the
burial service are being read the hush
of the living is accentuated by the low
accompa niments of sea sounds-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 its
flags and slung in straps, and slowly,
1 II iOAHitb dbONC bhC run
and clear of the ship until it is poised
over the pillows. The marines load,
aim, fire in all three volleys that
awaken rafting echoes in the hidden
spaces of the ship; the bugle sounds
staps" tenderly and sweetly with a
newer meaning of sleep and rest; the
coffin swings farther out and is low
cred gently until the foam and spoon
drift moistens it: the tackles are de-
tached with 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
trill out call of duty, the half-mast
ensign climbs to the dasher-block, the
ship is brought to her course, and
dazedly the men take up the wearying
routine of the lives so sadly broken.
An unusual quiet rests upon the vessel
and around the messtables, but in the
groups gathered 10 smoke during the
supper hour and after the hammoclxs
are piped down the virtues-those
heroic and honest sea virtues-of the
dead sailor are recalled, and with a
tenderness born of comradeship closer
than any other men except sailors may
| know Y Tablet