The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-11-23
SHIPBOARD FEVER.

was only Ia years of age, and
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 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. I 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 lad a cargo of green
coffee for Australia and New Zealand,
carried crew of IA men, and few sea
captains had a kinder heart than her
skipper, whose name was Martin. The
bark left Rio with a 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 fiat calm, which lasted for
II 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 s O'Clock in
the morning. By 2 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,
but on the seventh the captain, 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
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
fash. He did not wait to die as the 9TH
ers had done. but CROPPED 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
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 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 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. |
When this had been done, the mate
called the living around him and said |
there was no longer any hope that a
man would be spared. The captains
gig could be got at handily, and i'll 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 couple of |
miles gave Ger and raised an awning
for shelter
When the mate and were left alone,
ne 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 of rum with which he had
mixed large dose of common black !
pepper. 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 break, and it was sunrise
when 1 turned out. / looked into the
mates stateroom, but saw that he had
hot been to bed. ran on deck but he
was nowhere to be seen called him
and began a search, and it was full
hour before gave up and realized that
he was not in the ship. What had hap
pened during the night could only sur
mise. He was either seized with the
dread epidemic and wandered about and
fell overheard or the strain ON his mind
was SO great that he deliberately COM
mitted suicide He had not Weakened me
or left message of any sort behind.
When fully realized that was alone
aboard of the ship was SO terrified
that hid away in the cabin for several