The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-27
A WEIRD TALE OF THESEA
The Tragic Fate of Very Wicked Sea
Captain.
n souttled His Ship For the Ifsos pr
Phantom Vessel Is GhastIr Cre,r
- The ST. Louis Globe-Democrat

1900 --115 last night Wnen the mixed
- s=r rhe crowd talking OF the mys-
-.-.ss Of ths sea
=. was somewhere about SO or 60"
.ue7 that shipped as a sailor be
-. re mast on the brig Flying Gull.
..-z 4~7-a Hull 10 Australia. She carried
-+ve- cargo and q mixed crew. Among
-. 1.--=- we're Dutch, Japs and Swedes.
-. .e--ain was an Englishmsn, I an
-..-v 70 say, the first mate was a Scotch
.- and only two other men on board
,...s.s myself could speak much English.
-. name Of the captain was Murray. and
rss the toughest customer I ever en-
uttered IN all my experience. If he had
-,-A INTO the business a hundred years
-.,-.- he would probably have been just
49, ordinary pirate. AS it was, he was
r,-ss than pirate.
IN common with the other members of
.,s ,rsv. I was told that the Flying Gull
-,-r,4d a very rich cargo. mostly merchan-
.+.s saw lot of boxes stored in the
,,r5 bu- made no attempt 10 ind out
aha they contained. The vessel was an
,i5 one but appeared TO be strong and
.savorthy
II learned by accident on the day that
,s sailed that the brig carried just as
.,reh insurance as could be obtained on
,o-s vessel and cargo. That fact, together
With The wicked look in the eyes of the
..Dtsin and the peculiar makeup of the
rev made 1t a bit suspicious. but had
oeasd articles for the voyage. and it was
Zoo late to back out.
lust before the vessel left her dock
misunderstanding old man came on
hard and had a long talk with the cap
tain in the cabin. There We're no pas
i .spgers on board. For the first few days
ot nothing unusual occurred, but then
-a4 cautain began to show his real charac-
fsr He drove the sailors about like dogs.
ari the slightest show of resentment on
their part would be met by blows.
For some reason he did not act the
same toward me that ne did to the other
men. although 1 did not try very hard 10
conceal the fact that I detested him. The
mate and I soon became fast friends, He
mas a Jolly scot, Mcbride was his name,
/. and his kindness 10 the men in some meas
IRE made up for the rough treatment of
the captain.
.It was not long until I saw that the
4 .z.-4in distrusted both the mate and my
sst When he saw US talking together
On deck he would watch US like a hawk,
and many ines at night I caught him try
i Ing 70 slip up on US unawares, for the
purpose. I suppose. of trying TO learn
" ff+ a 2
The mate. too, had noticed the strange
Fl actions Of Capt Murray, but if he had
. any suspicious he kept them to himself.
81 One day. however, after the captain had
n been IN one of his worst passions Mcbride
whispered 10 me to keep a sharp look
nj. aooard as we'll as ahead. That was
. al he said, but from the way he said it
knew shat something was wrong.
We had not been long at sea before
discovered that the Flying Gull was moth
& ing more than a rotten old hulk that would
a 60 TO pieces in the first hard gale she en-
,ountered. The first chance that l got
. after making that discovery I examined
some Of the boxes in the hold. and. s
. expected, found them empty.
I tried TO tell the mate what I had
learned one day. but he shook his mead.
la1 placing his fingers over his lips
rs signal 20 me. turned and walked
away
From that time on did keep a sharp
+. lookout on board 1t was q lucky thing
F. thar We did not strike a stern, for, if
a 70 -5ll his story. We had good weather
and fair winds right along until we were
vav down in the South Pacific
As VIC drew nearer to the end of our
voyage I noticed that the captain was
d Spending much time alone i'll the hold
n the vessel. One day, just after com
ing on deck from the hold, he made
el:s-ul inspection of the boats. I pre-
tended rot 10 see him, but from the
glimpse of his face that I got I knew
hat he was up TO some devilment. l did
ROT have long to wait TO ind out what
b was
That night I was at the wheel on the
middle watch. We were sailing before
In 5!gat-Enot breeze, with q clear sky
1Ad smooth sea. During the day the
-4t7 had avoided me, but I saw from his
manner that something was UP, and that
TOO was keeping a close watch on the
#capta!n
Jus before midnight the mate came
% deck from below. AS he came toward
IL ! could see by the moonlight that
Ns Iacs was CHASTITY white.
jack said he, we must take TO the
Wat has happened?' I asked.
.eveE mind, now. Get some water and
..oVlsons in the boat; we must look out
u ourselves and the others of the crew
we can make them understand in
~ 1t what IS the natter I insisted.
---e mate came a step nearer, and,
ing forward. ne started to say some
ing ing 20 me in a whisper.
O-sl then dark shadow fell across
"aeel' and looking up we saw Capt.
80 facing US with the scowl of
non on his face.
,,r- -1oi'-e sprang back step and at the
Ing ia! las tant shouted to me:
- '5ht fer your life, He's scuttled the
w., 'or fellow. those were his last words
low srowl, like that of a wild beast
n gae an lea9ed forward. I saw a long
o5,,5 ash In the moonlight, and before I
n. make move the mate lay dead on
~ r. stabbed to the heart.
L. so startled and Mortified that I
H. AIne TO attempt to defend my
h. lure the enraged captain turned
N. 70, ,ehlng me about the arms. threw
y-,.r ~ s"e deck with a force that almost
n r-r.-.t NE. lie was a giant in size and
IN 81 ana / no more than a boy in his
.asi Aaelt over me. and while I could
h ,1e ~ - not breath in my face, he planted
r-... -'.ee on my breast, then placing the
h SIZE. "a bloody knife at my throat, he
4. Hs -. 81 d voice that sounded more like