Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-07-23
A MISFIT GHOST.

A MISFIT GHOST.
Every boy with a knowledge of adven.
turous literature, otherwise novels of ac-
ton" knows of the phantom ship, tho
spook of the high seas.
But it has not been known that ships
themselves are haunted and that in the
service Of the United States coast survey
there is O vessel now in commission that
Is by her own officers supposed to be
haunted.
Yet the Eagre, q 40 foot schooner of the
coast survey, is looked upon in the service
as a very undesirable vessel to be aboard
Of. About her there Is an atmosphere OF
gloom that wardroom jest cannot dispel.
Duty on board her has been Stunned as
would be q pestilence, and stories have
been told by officers who have cruised
aboard her that are not good for timid
people to hear. Officers have hesitated
about telling these uncanny stories, but
they have become sufficiently we'll known
to make a billet to duty aboard the Eagre
unwelcome among the coast survey men.
The Mohawk was launched June 10,
k0t u Nv uIcClkOlAlU1 III c4lO vas VACA pAS
largest sailing yacht afioat.
William T. Garner, her young million
aire owner, was very proud of his new
craft, and all the then leaders Of New York
society were invited to participate in the
good time afloat with which her launch
was celebrated. Commodore Garner, then
but So years old, and his young wife en-
tertained c~hsrmingly, and the trim, speedy
Mohawk was christened with unusually
merry festivities. Soon after that she was
capsized by a sudden squall of the landing
at Stapleton, N. Y, and six people were
drowned like rats in her cabin and fore
castle.
Then the Mohawk was raised at a cost
Of $25, 900 and purchased by the United
States government for the service Of the
coast survey. Her name was changed to
Eagre, for Jack Tar Is p~roverbially super
stitious, and with the old name it would
have been impossible to ship a crew.
Lieutenant Highly King describes his
initial experience when he vas assigned
TO duty on the Eagre in this way: "She
had her full complement of officers minus
complete the list. Every cabin was occu-
pied but the port cabin by the companion
way, and to that l was assigned.
"We had a jolly wardroom mess that
night, and I retired from it early, as I was
tired by my journey to join the vessel. The
Others who were still at the table regarded
my retirement to the port cabin in abso-
Lutte silence, having babe ME good night.
Their silence did not lead me to suspect
anything, though l knew that the Eagre
had once been the Mohawk. My cabin
door had the usual cabin look of brass,
and the porthole was also securely Ias-
tened. There could have been no one under
the bed or sofa, as beneath each was q FAC
ing Of solid oak paneling.
I undressed lazily and left the light
burning dimly in my bracket lamp. l
tried o~onscientiously to go to sleep for l
don't know how long with my back turned
to the light. The noise ceased in the ward
room after q time, and I knew the others
had turned in, but I felt unaccountably
nervous and restless. l turned over and
faced the light. thoroughly Wild awake,
and there In the single chair sat an elderly
man, seemingly wrapt in deep thought.
He was dressed in a blue yachting REFER
and had a long, gray beard. His hands
were clasped in his lap, and his eyes were
dewnoast. His faos was not pale and
ghastly, as the faces Of ghosts are popular
" supposed to be, but rudy and weather
beaten.
II regarded him in scared silence for l
don't know how long, though 1t seemed
an hour when he OF it or whatever 1t was
disappeared. During that time the ghost,
and such l now believe 1t to have been,
made not q motion, nor did 1t say any
thing. Presently l looked again, and 1t
was gone.
''At breakfast the others watched me
critically as I took my seat. I had not in
tended to say anything about my expert
ence, for I thought then l had seen some
sort of halluoination and strongly suspect
cd, that I was verging on insanity. Lieu.
tenant Irving asked me if I had slept
we'll. I replied that had. Didn't you
SEE anythingS' he inquired. Then frankly
admitted that I had and described my ex-
p~srience. Then I learned that each one
Of the seven others present had tried the
port cabin at one time or another, and each
had seer the selfsame apparition. 1t had
acted in exactly the am way in each
case, except in the case of Irving, who shot
at 1t with his pistol, when it immediately
disappeared. Some of the others had beer
led by their curiosity to inquire If any ONT
lost on the Mohawk resembled the flgurt
and found that zone Of the unfortunate
ones at all fitted tho description. 1t hat
been dubbed by them the 'misft ghost.
That one experience was enough for me
/ and after that I by courtesy shared tn
cabin 0f another fellow.