Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1897-01-08
THE PASS.,>
Sailors Reconciled To Tia. I1resnSs of q
Dead Body Aboard ship.

Sailors Reconciied To Tia. I1,esnSs of g
Dead Body Aboard ship.
One of the most popular superstitions
Of sailormen used TO be against having
dead Lody aboard ship, but il 10
longer holds gcod-on passenger ships
at least-for most Of them ire now pro-
vidod with the means Cf pr, serving the
body of person who dies On the y, yage
until port is reached. This is generally
done by incasing the body i'll an alright
metallic coffin, one or moro being car
ried by every first class passenger vessel,
and there is seldom murmur from
Jack Steam and other modern i'm
provements have worked as many
changes III sailormen as they have in
the vessels they man, ana in consequence
the old time salt, with his superstitions,
his foibles and his notions, is fast dis
appearing cfore the advance of his less
romantic and no more efficient brother.
"Going TO sea amt what il used 10
be, ;" said an old sea captain, with Il
sigh, to the writer, 10 whom he had
been bemoaning the dccadence Of sailing
vessels, which he ascribed to the rapidly
growin ing habit of building enormous
steam freight carriers. "The fine old
SHIPS, banks and other sailing craft are
going, and in place of real sailCrmen
you see lot of paint scrubbers and
iron Founders that hardly knows how
TO splice n rope and hasn't as much SUI
pcrsti,ion as goat. They don't care
I,O hn 20
or pig iron.
In the old days the presence of n
corpse aboard was considered bound TO
bring storms and other bad luck. and
even now on sailing vessels all immedi-
ate burial over tie side is the proper
thing when q death occurs If the skipper
cares to keep the forecastle in good hui
NOR On the big steamships, carrying
hundreds of passengers each trip, a
death is no uncommon thing, and if
there are friends of the dead person
aboard they are likely to have the body
brought to port. 1t has become a COM
mon custom, too, to ship the bodies OF
persons who have died abroad home by
steamships, and on several occasions
small mortuary chapels have been con-
structed aboard. Otherwise the collins
are carried as if they were an ordinary
part of the ships cargo.
The skipper already quoted told of
one of the many examples Of the sailors
superstition on the subject that had
come under his observation. A friCNd
Of his was a few years, ago commanding
big clipper ship engaged in the South
American trade He was kindly man,
and sailors We're always glad to ship
with him, not only because of his not
being a hard taskmaster, but also be-
.auso his ship was known as "a good
der, which is the highest ehcomium
lack can pronounce upon skipper or YES
,cl. On his last voyage the captain was
1ound from Callao for Antwerp with a
,argo Of fertilizer. He fell sick and died
con after passing the Horn His body
vas prepared and boxed and placed be-
ow III the depths of the cargo.
The first mate, who succeeded TO the
ommand, was not the best Of sailors or
popular with the crew. Head winds and
gales were encountered in rapid success
sion, and the grumbling of the men
soon broke out into almost open mutiny.
1t was the presence of that body in the
hold of the ship that was causing all
The trouble, and it must be got rid of.
The men went aft and so informed the
nate and then without ceremony heaved
he body of their late captain over the
side. Whether the weather improved
then the skipper couldn't say. But he
was certain of one thing, and that was
that seamanship and superstition, which
always go together, would be things of
the past when the paint scrubbers and
iron Founders have crowded the real sail
ormen off the seas. New York Tribune.