The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-12-24
A CHRISTMAS TURKEY.
How an Old Tar Came Near Being Cooked
For Dinner.

without remember1n the time come near
to bein the turkey myself, said an aged
EGilor to the group of seamen who sur
rounded him as he sat upon the end of an
old spar on South street. New York
The ancient mariners name was Jack
Brown, and as he had followed the sea as
man and boy for over 80 years and had
cruised in every part of the world the
group listened in respectful silence, well
knowing that when old Jack Brown start
ed to spin yarn it was sure to be well
worth hearing.
sit was away back in 1910, and was
little more than a youngster then-only
about IS. 1 had bunked aboard the Jolly
Rover; but, mates, she didn't. prove to be
what her name indicated. We left this
port for Melbourne, weathered Cape Horn
as safe from Davy Jones' locker as a
mountain mile inland, and all was
smooth goin until we were a weeks sail
into the south Pacific. Then a storm
struck us that sent us scuddin along I'M
der bare poles like Mother Carey chick
en- afore cyclone.
GIVE run afore many a gale, mates,
but that hurricane could give points to
any of 'em. One minute the Jolly Rover
would plunge out of sight into big wave,
and the next she would seem to be perched
like the ark on a Mount Ararat of water
The gale blew nearly all night without
moments pause. All we could do was to
let her run. Suddenly she struck with
shock that made every timber creak. I
was below, but 1 rushed on deck, expect
in the ship would go down. An instant
later big wave came over the rail- washed
me overheard and swept me on and on. 1
kept my head above water part of the time,
every moment expectin to be dashed agin
the rocks. To my joy, 1 was washed up
on sandy beach. Luckily had strength
enough left to get up and run inland few
feet before the next wave caught me.
DAY was just breakin, and as looked
around 1 saw Captain Stout, Second Mate
Bill Fry and Jim English crawlin out of
a big wave and helped EN- up the beach,
" 'LookP yells Fry, shakin the water
from his eyes. There she goes!'
''As we glanced in the direction of the
Jolly Rover she staggered like some gigan-
tic animal with mortal wound and sank
beneath the waves. We watched the beach
for an hour, but not another man came
ashore Every Jack Tar of 'em was
drowned. Then we started inland to ex-
plore the place. We didn't feel at all at
ease, mates, because Captain Stout figured
as how we must be on one of the smallest
of the Solomon islands, which we knew
was inhabited by the toughest lot of can
nibals and head hunters in the Pacific
''We realized that we were dead men if
we were captured, and we kept sharp
lookout for the cannibals while we were
takin in the lay of the lard. We saw
many cocoanut and breadfruit trees, but
the island was apparently uninhabited. I
say apparently because about half an hour
after we landed dozen ugly, tattooed
savages leaped upon US from .h1 bushes
1 knocked one of 'em off his legs before
big warclub brought me to the grass, and
Stout, Fry and English had no better
luck. The savages were armed with clubs,
bows and arrows and bone pointed spears,
and their hair was thick and bushy and
was stuck full of sticks for hairpins
''We were all bound hand and foot, and
then the savages carried us to village
near by, where we were thrown into q hut
AID guarded by two big black fellows
armed with clubs.
Mates, says English, did you notice
what was hangin up agin the hut next to-
ps?' We all said, No Well says he,
1T was the flesh of human bein's, and, as
Captain Stout feared, these fellers with
clubs is cannibals.'
- If thOy are, our goose is cooked, and
and so are we, the captain says with a
hollow sort of laugh. Blast my eyes
he says, if tomorrow amt Christmas day
tool Perhaps these blacks are goin to
have us help EN- make their turkey din
ner a success We ell shuddered, and Jack
Brown for one thought he had seen New
York for the last time. We lay in the hut
all day and the followin night. The saw
ages fed US very well, and while we en-
joyd the mess we couldn't help thinkin
that the black villains were givin it to US
, to make us more fat and eatable. Next
mornin we heard a great yellin and pound
in of tamtams, and Fry, who could look
through a crack in the hut. snid that big
party of blacks had just returned from
somewhere in largo war canoes and had
with en- dozen native prisoners.
. 1t looks, says Fry, as if our captors
have been maxim war on another tribe that
lives in this village. The prisoners they
have with 'e1n evidently got away when
the village was attacked, but were chased
inland and captured
Fry guess proved correct, and we soon
found that our captors did not live on the
island, but on another large one about five
miles away. Just after sunrise Christmas
day we were loaded into big, handsomely
carved war canoes along with the dozen
native prisoners, and the savages padded
across wide channel to their own island.
On the shore was a native village, and
about 1000 dancin, yellin drum beatin
blacks of both sexes welcomed the return
of the war canoes, loaded down as they
were with Christmas turkeys.
"Well, mates, the savages carried us up
the beach short distance and dropped US
near an ugly idol 20 feet high. Several
hundred Tres were built near by, and then
most of the savages gathered in a circle
around the idol. Pretty soon a dozen of
the tallest blacks, all armed with long,
sharp spears, danced around the idol to the
music of a hundred tamtams, and then
they ranged the dozen native prisoners in
line facin the idol and speared the poor
blacks through and through.
81 won't describe the horrible scene that
followed, except to say that we lay there
expectin every minute would be our last
and saw the cannibals cook and devour
their victims
:" They're saTin US for dessert, says the
captain.