Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-06-01

er heard before. 1t happened years ago,
and | do not think there ever were many
who knew the rights Of it. Light your pipe
if you like, sir. No! Well, maybe you're
right. l should not feel | had had my din
ntr if l didn't get Il smoke after it.
There was young fellow who came
out to Barbados to take post as man
ager III one Of the firms that trade in
Bridgetown. They promised him Il good
salary, for he belonged to their London
house, and l suppose he was a smart bust
ness man. He knew he would have
lonely time of it out here, and he could
well afford a wife, so he brought one out
with him-a little English girl. L have
heard from those who saw her that she
was real fond of him and he of her, and
they were wonderfully taken with the
strangeness and the newness of every
thing they saw. You see, when one first
comes out to the tropics ones health is
good. and you have the cold climates
energy in you, and if you do not take an
interest in things then-Why, you never
will.
Now, about that time bark had come
in from Santos, forty-three days out,
with a clean bill Of health for the voy-
age, and so she had not been nuarantined.
When they began to unload the ballast to
fill up with sugar. one of the men fell i'll,
and then another; SO the captain took
them up to the town hospital, and there
they died of yellow fever, and We're
buried in a great hurry, and nothing said
about it, for fear people should be fright
ened.
The health officer went on board the
bark and soon found wnat was the mat
ter. The ballast was all Santos earth
full of fever, no doubt. He had the
matches of the hold battened down and
sealed and then he telegraphed to the
owners asking for power to hire schOon-
IL Ill ,DcI,
while the bark was taken out to sea and
the ballast jettisoned. But the owners
sent word back that it was no business of
theirs and the colony might do what it
liked; they had no money to waste in hir-
ing schooners because a lot of sailors
were afraid of yellow fever.
by this time lot Of the men were Ill
so the government bought q couple of
marques from the military and pitched
them on Pelican island-one for the sick
men and one for the well ones; and they
sent a doctor to live with them, and TO
see that no one left the island to carry
the infection elsewhere.
"Now. the whole matter being kept
very dark, rs I said before, and this
young man and his wife being only just
landed and their heads full Of each
other and of the wonderful things around
them, it is easy enough to see that they
would scarcely hear of what was going
on: and one evening nothing would suit
the pair but to hire a boat and so sailing
in Carlisle bay to get away from the
mosquitoes on shore; for. as they were
newcomers, the mosquitoes plagued them
greatly, as [ dare say they did you, sir,
when you first came out.
well, the silly couple started for their
sail. and he took 4 revolver to shoot
sharks with-though he might rs we'll
have taken a popgun-not to mention that
there are no sharks in Carlisle bay now;
they are frightened of the stea .ners.
after they had sailed about for awhile.
as i'll luck would have it the girl saw
the white tents on Pelican island, and
nothing would do for her but to go and
explore it and see who was having a pic
mic there. And the poor young fellow
knew no better than to take her at her
word. He was LOndon-bred, and | don t
suppose had ever heard OF quarantine in
his life.
They tied their boat up to the pier,
and the first the doctor knew of their
being on the island was when he saw
them standing inside the door of the
marquee where he was helping the mig
ger attendant to lay out a seaman who
had. just died of the fever, while two 9TH
er poor chaps who had al hour or so
longer to live looked on.
We'll. sir, you may imagine the doctor
was angry. he jumped up and pushed
hold OF the young manager and shook him.
and asked him what he meant by bringing
young women fresh from home (as he
could see by hef color to that place: and
did he know it meant certain death if she
took the fever! and so on, and so on. And
then he told them they could not leave
the island now that they had cot on if.
and 1t was his bOunden duty to keep them
on it. Ard all the time the young man
never answered a word, but got whittier
and winter. AT last he cried out to his
wife to run down to the boat and he
would follow her. She did what she was
told. sadly frightened, no doubt, poor
thing. The doctor called out his niger
from the tent, and was for running after
her. but the manager whipped out his re-
vOlver and swore q great oath that he
would shoot him if he did not stop. The
niger ran away, but the doctor was a
goOd-plucked one. I'll die doing my
dutyn he said. With that the young man
put the revolver back in his pocket, and
ran at the doctor and knocked him down.
and then rushed down to the boat, where
his wife was, and jumped in. He cut the
painter and hoisted the sail. But a look
out man on shore had seen their craft
touch at the island, and by this time two
white ten-oared boats were coming from
BridgetOWn as fast as the men could row,
to see what was the matter. They We're
between him and the shore, and he
couldn't doubt what their object was, as
they altered their course to cut him off
Now, sir, | won't go into details; but a
man dying of yellow fever is not a pleas
ant sight to look at, and l make no doubt
that if | had been on board that boat my
self and knew that | and my wife We're
likely to be brought back to Pelican isl
and and left there, for months, maybe,
l would have done as the manager did
put up my helm, slacken off the sheet,
and run away. The tradewind was blow
ing strong, and ne could easily outsail the
oars. / suppose he thought, on that
course, he was bound to make some of
the islands, as they all lay to leeward."
The captain paused awhile and looked
over the stern at the foaming tack of the
screw. We were light in the water.
Well" asked [, what happened
next?'
Il don't know sir: don't know 1t is
not every landsman who can steer boat
running before the trades with a follow
ing sea; perhaps she was popped, or he
may have let her breach to. Either way
she would be pretty certain to fill and
cirJ- T homo hot no bon cd