Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1897-11-09
sHIPBOARD FEVER.

I was only IA years of age, and a
puny boy at that, when my Uncle John,
who was my guardian, sent me to sea
aboard of the brig May Queen of Lon
don. He wasn't concerned about my
health, as 1 have every reason to be-
ieve, and am also quite sure that he
Wouldn t have shed tear had he heard
was lost at sea. 1 made the voyage
from London to Valparaiso and to es-
cape further i'll usage deserted the brig
and hid away for two weeks 1 then
found a good natured captain to take
me to Rio, from which port l shipped
as cabin boy on an English bark named
the Duchess. She had cargo of green
coffee for Australia and New Zealand,
carried a crew of A men, and few sea
captains had a kinder heart than her
skipper, whose name was Martin. The
bark left Rio with fair wind and
everybody in perfect health, and her
run to the east until she had sighted In
accessible island and left it 100 miles
astern was something to boast of. Then
came dead fat calm, which lasted for
IL days, with such hot weather that
everybody suffered day and night On
the fifth day of the calm two men were
suddenly stricken with a strange all
ment They first lost their sight, then
taste and smell departed, then fever
seized them and they lost their reason.
They were reported sick at 8 O'Clock in
the morning. By p m. both were
dead At o'clock a third man was
taken down and lived only two hours.
No one was attacked on the sixth day,
~, Tho Saxa,o+L tho f,ar,tain second
mate and common sailor all came
down at once. The first complaint was
dryness of the tongue. That was fol-
lowed in half an hour by loss of sight
and other senses, and before noon all
were dead. The bodies were at once
shrouded and committed to the deep,
and the chief mate ordered the matches
removed to ventilate the cargo, and dis
infectants were used in the most thor
ough manner
On the night of the seventh day a
sailor who had lain down on the deck
in perfect health and soundly slumbered
for three hours awoke with parched
tongue. Water had no power to quench
his thirst. He drank until he must have
imbibed gallon, and as he turned from
the water cask his vision left him in a
flash He did not wait to die as the 9TH
ers had done, but groped his way to the
ships side and dropped from the rail
into the sea. He was the sixth who had
died, and the living were now panic
stricken. Some went aloft, some went
below-all avoided each other. The only
exceptions were the mate and myself.
He talked with me very fully about the
situation, seeming glad to have me near
him, and after the last death he wrote a
letter to his wife in England and
charged me to see that it reached her in
case he should die and be spared.
We had now lost nearly half our
crew, and the ship lay heavy on the
CLASSY sea without sign that the calm
was ever to be broken. On the morning
of the eighth day there was a better
feeling. however No one had been at
tackled during the night, and we began
to hope that the epidemic had exhaust
ed itself The bark had, of course, been
snugged down long before, but on the
forenoon of this day, the sun not being
quite SO fierce, the matches were secured,
things aloft more closely attended to,
and the craft made ready for what
might happen to short handed crew
At noon every man ate n hearty dinner
An hour later four men were taken
down almost at the same moment, and
the symptoms were more violent than
in any of the preceding cases. They
were seized with the terrible thirst
they drank quarts of water-they went
mad and died There was no burial of
the bodies; they were simply thrown
overheard as soon as life had departed.
had 6nra the T1ata
called the living around him and said
there was no longer any hope that a
man would be spared. The captain 8
gig could be got at handily, and in case
we wanted to take it and pull away
from the ship he would help to get her
in the water The two sailors were
eager to be off. but my mind was quick
ly made up to remain with Mr.. Mer-
win. He did not express himself either
way on the subject, but we provisioned
the boat, got her down, and the men
scrambled into her and pulled away as
if the ship had been on fire or was ex-
pected to go down They went off to
the east, and after rowing a couple of
miles gave o'er and raised an awning
for shelter
When the mate and were left alone,
he wrote up his logbook and also pre-
pared two statements, which he sealed
up in bottles and cast overheard. We
then burned tar and sulphur to disin-
feet the cabin and forecastle, and he
drank pint cf rum with which he had
mixed a large dose of common black
pepper. 1 tried to swallow some, but it
was too fiery.
That night when went to sleep the
bark was heaving about on the ground
swell in the same monotonous way and
Merwin sat at the table in the cabin
reading book. slept the night through
without a break. and it was sunrise
( when 1 turned out. 1 looked into the
mates stateroom. but saw that he had
not been to bed ran on deck, but he
I - r,n,rIere TO he seen. I called him