The Portland daily press., 1894-06-04
HE WEATHERED THEM.
A Portland Seaman and Four Epidem.
ic Diseases.

Small Pox. Swamp Fever, Yellow Fever
and Cholera-A Remarkable Expe-
rience
A Portland man while conyersine about
the small pox at Togus the other day, relat-
ed the story of his own extraordinary expe-
rience with the worst epidemic diseases
He is an old sailor, though not so very old,
as he is only So years of age. But his expe-
rlence has been more than falls within the
lifetime of many of the Oldest men. When
he was boy in this city about Is or l6 years
OLD, he entered without knowing it, the
house and sickroom. of small pox patient.
lie took the disease and was very sick, but
being of unusually strong constitution sur
vlVed 1t. When he was about 20 years old he
went as sailor from this port. to the city
OF Savannah. singular coincidence Tor
supernatural presentiment) occurred as
they sailed away from Portland Head
Light.
The Captain said to the young sailor,
only one of us will return in this ship and
that one won't be me. Il feel it and know
it, He was in earnest and persisted in
the statement and his hearers thought him
little daft But when they reached Sa-
vannah, the captain fell overheard in the
harbor and was drowned. They found the
Swamp fever" socalled OF 'sshagrack''
nthere with awful violence. People
were dying in the streets. Most of the crew
were taken sick. The young man was taken
to the hospital and for two weeks was
very sick there. The surgeon took a
great interest in:the young Northerner, be-
cause he was young and so prepossessing
and one day said to him,
Look here, young fellow, you've got to
get back North. you'll die sure, if you
stay here"
And the kind hearted surgeon did all he
could for him. He added more money to the
few dollars that the young sailor had and
told him that he must brace up and walk
to the ticket Office and aboard the steamer
as spruce as he could for if they suspected
that he had the dreaded disease he'd never
be allowed to go to the north. He sent a
negro with him to give him an air of impor-
taf.ce.
so the poor young man who wasn't fit to
be out of bed, spruced up with mighty
effort and walked to the ticket Office He
got his ticket and got aboard all right. He
went on to the lower deck and lay down on
a bale of cotton. When they had passed the
bar and gotten outside the harbor, stran-
ger came along. set down a valise and asked
him if he would look out for it while.
He said he would. When the stranger re-
turned he noticed the young fellows pal1or
spoke kindly to him, and gave him some
wine from bottle that he took out of the
valise. The stranger was a professional
gambler. but he took care of his new &C.
quaintance during that awful voyage, saw
that he had everything of the best and
every possible comfort and no doubt saved
his life
The sick sailor landed in New York with
out a cent. He went to the Boston boat
and asked the captain for passage but, was
refused. There was no help for it. 1t was
life Or death with him, SO he slowed away
on the steamer.
After few hours out he was discovered
along with other stowaways. ''HuIlo,''
said the mate I guess we've found a
ghost this time.''
He was quite as sick as he looked He
was treated kindly and when he reached
Boston easily secured passage on the Port
land boat. since he knew the officials
Arrived home his relatives hardly knew
him, he was such ghostly shadow of his
former self. He had fallen away to almost
skin and bones. Under the best of care he
did not regain his health for a year. He
was troubled with night sweats, and great
weakness through very little pain Large
carbuncles formed on his body and the scars.
are still visible.
A popularity of his condition was that
his appetite and digestion were those of a
wolf. He could eat the richest cake and large
pieces of cheese withuot any i'll effect. But
one day,he bought a pint of peanuts on the
street, ate two or three and had to be car
ried home in hack.
Finally he regained his former vigorous
health and in 1864 when he was 2S years
of age, he was so unfortunate as to ship
on a vessel bound for a port on the south
ern coast of Cuba, where they found on ar
rival the yellow fever was raging. Foreign
ships were in the awful harbor, without a
crew or master, all having succumbed to the
disease.
The ship from Portland sailed away as
soon as possible but several sof the sailors
were sick among them the subject of this