The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-07-08
THE BUCEPHALUS.

peak Oh MS Oilskln cup puiicu iM uoNu
over his weather beaten face and passed
out into the night
As he opened the door gust OF wind
swept the knob from his grasp, dashed the
framework against the wall Of the cham
Der and extinguished the flickering oil
lamp that made shift to render visible the
darkness OF the room.
Clarence Baxton hastily fastened tho
door after the retreating figure, relighted
the lamp and sat down on the SEA chest,
which served as chair and bed.
strange place IL was, this beachcomber'
cabin Timbers from every ship that had
come ashore on Coffin beach these 80 years
were woven into its heterogeneous frame
work. Here a part of steamships deck
house, there "a stanchion from the sturdy
hull of some long forgotten merchantmen,
yonder the patched wainscoting Of clip
per ships once gorgeous cabin-cheek by
jowl these relics of departed pride stood
like monuments of the dead past in some
strange nautical cemetery.
Outside the gale ragged with increasing
fury Low though 1t sat between the sand
dunes, the solid walls Of the howell trembled
and rocked under the impact OF the blast
like a ship In IA heavy sea. such spring
storm had not been seen on the coast for
years-not since the night (as a veteran
told afterward) when the clipper ship Blu
cephalus came ashore way back In the
fifties. In the angle over there the PROV Of
this vessel formed u sort of cornerstone for
the strange structure, and the horse In the
figurehead stared at Baxton with the
sightless eyes of an emblem Of death.
He would have been puzzled To explain
why he felt SO strangely, left alone In this
coy cabin. Baxton was not "a supersti-
tious man. nor one given to sentimental
vagaries or emotional weaknesses, and
yet, as the door swung to after the officer.
he felt for moment strange and unac'
countable thrill, a chilling of the blood,
q consciousness of something outside OF
his sphere OF influence, superior To his
power of control, TINT was gradually but
surely working its will around anu about
him. The feeling was not one Of fear
What indeed was he to be afraid off sure
" not Of the storm, for he was cozily
housed. Not of thieves or mara uders, for
he and the coastguardsmen were the only
human beings Oh that strip Of beach OF
what. then. was he fearfuls Ii was all
nonsense. he said-he was not afraid AT
all.
Baxton shivcred as he threw another
piece of driftwood on the fire and drew
closer to the green blue blaze Of the copper
stained timber that cast fantastic many
hued shadows on the rough walls NO
going back to the mainland tonight, he
thought as the picture OF the storm dashed
bay rose before his mind and he silently
objureated the secretary OF the treasury
who had promulgated the order forbiddng
the life saving men 10 entertain guests In
their coy stations.
The sea chest was filed with old news
papers, the officer had said with which he
might perhaps while away an hour He
lifted the lid Yes, so II was; prints run
ming back for many years tied up and la
beled In cramped handwriting-that OF
Calamity Dick S, probably. the fisherman
who, until his death last year, had occu-
pied this cabin since no man remembered
when Turning them over, Baxton saw
that the packets contained clippings de-
scriptive OF the wrecks on this same stretch
of sand, called Coffin beach-"Cemetery
beach would be better" Baxton thought
as he surveyed the yellow bundles. - Bark
Excelsior, June lS42," read one, $50
drowned. 2 saved;' "Ship Andromaohe.
January, lS43. 2s drowned, none saved.
read another; ship Harold, 10 drowned.
4 saved; -" Clipper Vanguard, SO drowned,
Is saved" and so on through a pile of
packages that reached knee high as he laid
them on the floor Near the bottom was q
larger bundle labeled. "Clipper Bucepha
Ius. March, 1856, leg drowned, 4 saved. Z"
Where had he heard OF that ships Blu
us-Buccphalus." he repeated re-
flectively to himself "Ob, yes. the ship
the old figurehead came from, T" and he be
gan to unite the dusty package.
But slowly IL came back to him that he
had heard the name before he came to
Coffin Beach "Wheres' As he asked the
question newspaper bearing the date
1855 lay spread before him and his eyes
rested on this account; Clipper ship
Bucephalus, Liverpool to New York,
ashore on Coffin Beach. April 26. The
Ill fated vessel, which was owned by
Messrs II. Baxton a. Co., Front
street, this city, missed Its reckoning and
ran ashore on Coffin beach ut o'clock in
the morning of Tuesday last and became q
total wreck. The life saving crew at this
place. one of the most dangerous points on
the coast. 10 not on duty at this season OF
the year At 10 o'clock on the following
morning, before anything could be done to
rescue the crew and passengers, the ship
went to pieces I'm the terrific surf that was
running OF the ships company 50 steer
age passengers, q cabin passengers and %
OF the crew were drowned The second
mate, Mr.. Labor, and three sailors came
ashore alive ON pieces OF wreckage-the
sole survivors OF the disaster The captain,
W. b. wilkins, persisted with his ship
Mr. Labor, who was seen by correspond
ent of this paper yesterday, states that the
vessels loss was due to the fact that her
owner had neglected to provide proper
chronometer, although repeatedly warned
of the peril run by the lack OF this essen
tial instrument. MIR Baxton Is noted
among metropolitan merchants for his
great wealth and extreme parslmony. IL
Is said that the matter will be- laid before
the authorities IN order that the cause OF
the wreck may I've thoroughly sifted and
the blame for this terrible sacrifice Of In
nocent lives placed where 1t belongs"
lr pencil across the margin OF tie dip
ping WIS scrawled IN Calamity Dicks
cramped script, And 30 OF 'em wimmen,
and Labor says the captain died a-cussin
the owner a. the seas swept them pore
folks offen the deck into the surf "
Baxton stared mt the paper before him.
NY Godl He had heard Of tho Bucephalus
before.
True, he was not born until years after
this terrible event. yet the memory OF 10
had poisoned all Of his mothers remaining
days. paxton. the Bucephaius murder
err" ne he'd heard somebody say In his
fathers lifetime. but until tonight he
never knew the meaning Of the words.