The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-02-01
yvsTERY OF THE SEA
..v Of A sHosrLy MESSENGER
"0" !. a GREEN sou'wssrSa.

tNf p~pner Came Very Eess
10" =. Irons by His Crew For
. ,,. IN. ships course-rhs -Four
.',..r.oL.d Men In . Boat
dinner in Creole lodgings in
- 20 some three years ago. the con.
5hipa .,en turned upon the subject OF
'sI and apparitions. A person pres
sn0 .oted the words Of Professor Proc
sn' s sTbsre may be some means OK COM
pn ,.at;op. under special conditions
pun san mind and mind at distance,
ee'w es M one may be able to explain
nv mch communication Is Drosgnt
h e'.. !" One Of the guests present made
v clarence 10 tale Of mysterious ap-
,arition at sea, adding:
n,s Won ever meet Captain Blank OF
plank line, ask him to tell the
Z y. Tho incidents happened to a rela-
49, va ~ his. He can tell them better than
ma will youch for their truth.
a. ,sw DAYS ago Captain Blank was
,..nd on board his steamer. He Is not
Nv skillful seaman and navigator,
49,. also a very courteous gentleman.
Although about to sail. he took time to
,sll the following:
n tbs early thirtiss Captain Benner,
...rduncle of the narrator, commanded
:ss brig Mohawk of New York, then
'.sooed in the West Indian trade. After
,.sy,no st. Thomas. her last port OF
cali on one voyage, the brig was steer
.rs a porthwesterly course, homeward
sc,nd heating up under short canvas
.1.inst high winds and heavy seas fol-
,cwine in the wake Of hurricane which
Nd trsyersed tho tropics five Or six days
:. s.Sora Her captain, who had been
soms hours on deck. went below at mid
c,vht after directing the first officer,
Tho was on watch, to keep the course
,hsn steered and to call him in case OF
.rvcbange for the worse In the weather.
"a Law down upon q sofa in the main
o.bin' but. as the briggs bell struck
twice became conscious Of the figure OF
, man, wearing a green sou'wester,
standing beside him in the dim light Of
sbe cabin lamp. Then he heard the
words:
"Change your course TO sou west,
captain. "
CAPTAIN Benner got up and went on
deck. where he found that the weather
had moderated and that the brig was
CARRYING more sail and making better
Roadway. He asked the mate on duty
vhy be had sent down to call him, to
which That officer replied that he had
not done so. The captain, fancying that
be had been dreaming went back to the
cabin, but was disturbed soon again by
q second visit from the man in the
green sou 'wester, who repeated his pre-
vious order and vanished up the COM
panionway. The captain, now thorough
iy aroused, jumped up and pursued the
retreating igure, but saw no one until
be met the mate ON watch, who insisted
that he had not sent any messenger be-
low
Mystifled and perplexed, Captain
Benner returned to the cabin, only to
see his singular visitor reappear, to
hear him repeat the order to change the
course to invest, with the warning.
"If you do not, it will soon be too late, y
and to see him disappear as before.
Although cool headed seaman, fair
iy proof against superstitiops, the cap.
tain was nevertheless deeply impressed
BY these happenings and determined tc
zee what meaning was hidden In the or.
der Of his midnight visitor. Going on
deck, he gave the necessary orders foi
the change in the ships course to south.
west. The officers Of the brig were not
only surprised but also indignant al
<tpis sudden and to them unreasonable
change Of course. The new course
brought the vessel at right angle Il
her proper direction and II persisted in
would strand her ON the coast of Sants
Domingo. Meanwhile the weather had
moderated still more, additional sail
had been got upon the vessel. and she
vas being driven still farther from hes
destination. III
Her impatient officers had finally de-
sesrmined to seize their captain and put
him In irons, when. soon after day
break, the lookout forward reported
some object dead ahead. AS the vessel
Kept on II was made out to DO sbip'i
boat. AS 1t rarsed abeam it was seen Il
contain four men lying under III
thwarts one Of whom wore greer
sou'wester. The Mohawk was promptly
hove to. q boat lowered, and the cast
aways taken in. The castaways proved
70 be the captain and three men, th'
only.survivors of the crew of vesss
which had gone down In the hurricane
and they had been drifting helplessly
without food for five or six days. Tn,
green ou'wester was the property o.
che rescued captain. A few days later
when he had recovered sufficiently to b.
Able to leave his berth, he was sitting
one day in the main cabin of the bris
with Captain Benner. He suddenl,
asked his host whether he believed il
dreams.
Since I have been here" he contin
ned. Il have been thinking how fa
miiiar this cabin looks. think that
nave been here before. In the night be
Tore you picked me up dreamed that