The Press., 1898-03-10
SHIPBOARD FEVER.

l was only IA years of age, and puny boy at that. when my Uncle .Dohn who was my guardian. sent me to sea aboard of the brig May Queen of Lon don He wasn concerned about my health. as 1 have every reason to be- Ileve and 1 am also quite sure that he wouIdn [ have shed a tear had he heard 1 was lost at sea 1 made the voyage from London to Valparaiso and to es- cape further Ill usage deserted the brig and md away for two weeks l then found d good natured captain to take ue to RIo from which port shipped As calm boy on an English bark named the Duchess She had d cargo of green coffee tor A ustralIa and New Zealand. carried 8 crew of l4 men. and few sea captains had kinder heart than her skipper whose name was Martin The bark left RIo with a falr wind and ] evervb body m perfect health. and her run to the east until she had sighted h. accessible island and left II 100 miles aStern was something to bnast ot 1hen came a dead fiat calm. which lasted for II days. with such hot weather that every body suffered day and night On the fifth day ot the calm two men were suddenly stricken with strange all ment They first lost then sight. tLen taste and smell departed. then fever seized them and they lost their reason They were reported sick at clock III the morning By p III both were dead At 6 clock third man was taken down and lived only two hours No cue was attacked on the sixth day fhaA mate and a common sailor all came down at once The first complaint was dryness ot the tongue That was tOl lowed ID halt au hour by loss ot slGht and other senses. and before noon all were dead The bodies were at once shrouded and committed to the deep and the chIet mate ordered the matches removed to ventIlate the cargo, and dIs Infectants were used m the most thor ouRh manner
 On the night of the seventh day q sailor who had laln down on the deck m perfect health and SoundIy slumbpred tor three hours awoke with u Iarcne tongue. Water had no power to QuenCh hls thirst He drank until he must have lmbI bed a gallon. and as he turned from the water cask ms vision lett nm ID flash He dId not wait to de d. the oth CTS had done. but groped hIS way to the ship s side and dropped from the raIl into the sea He was the sixth who had died. and the living were now panlc stricken Some went alOft. sNme went beIow-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 inc near hlm, and after the last death he wrote d letter to hIs wIte Ill England and charged me to see that II reached her Ill case he should dle and 1 be spared
 We mad now lost nearly half our crew and the ship lay heavy on the glassy sea without sign that the calm was ever to be broken On the morning ot the eighth day there was better teeIIuR however No one had been ar tackled during the night and we i'egan to hope that the epidemic had exhaust ed ItSeIt The bark had ot cuLr>t4. beeD SnuRRed down long before. tut 0n the forenoon ot thIs day the sun not being quite so fierce, the hate hes Were secured things aIott more closely attended to ana the craft made ready tor what might happen to a short handed crew
 u
 An hour later tour men were taken down almost at the same moment. and the symptoms were more violent than In any ot the preceding cases They were seized with the terrible thirst
 'oey drank quarts of water-they went mad ana dIed There was no burlal of the bodies. they were simply thrown over board as sOUn as life had departed
 When thIs had been done the mate called the living around hIm and sad there was no longer any hope that a man would be spared The captain 8 RlR cCuId De got at handlly and III case We wanted tO take It and pull away from the ship he would help to get her Tn the water The two sailors were eaVe' to he Otf. put my mInd was quick " made up 10 remain with MT Mer- wIn. he dId not eXpTeSS hImselt either way on the >ubJect but we provIsIoued the nOat. Rut her down and the men scrambit-d Into her and pulled away as If the >hIL had been on fire or was ex peCted tO go down They went of to the eaSI ana after rowing d couple of miles gave sr and raised Su awning to' shelter
 W hen the mate and l were left alone he wrCte up hIs Iugmr0k and also pre- paTeO two r:aItnItntS winch he sealed up Ill OottIr- and cast overboard We then burned tar and sulphur to dlsln feet the caoIn and torecastIe, and he | drank plnt ct rum with which he had mixed a large dose of common black pepper 1 tried to swallow some, but It was too fiery
 IhoR hR | -l- Ak.@ bark was heavlng about on the ground swell ln the same InOuOtonous way and Merwln sat at the table III the cabin reading a took. | slept the nlght through without a break. and It was sunrise when 1 turned out looked into the mate stateroom. but saw that he had | not been to bed 1 ran on deck but he was now here to be seen 1 called hlm | and began a search and It was a full hour before ' gave up and realized that he was not in the ship What had hap pened during the night 1 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 wakened me or left a message of any sort behind
 When fully realized that was alone aboard of the ship, l was so terrified that l hid away in the cabin for several hours It was not until noon that 1 re- membe bered the men who had pulled away the day before and went on deck to look for them By the aid of the cap tain's glass 1 soon had the boat under my eye She had drifted down to with in mile of the ship. and by going alofr I could make out that there was no one in her l was not absolutely certain on this point however until about o'clock By that time she had drifted down to within 100 feet of the bark. and the only relics of the men to be seen were a coat and hat For two hours the l gig remained SO close that | conld have