The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-19
MYSTERY or A SEA MESSAGE.
4 Strange visit TO the Captain of a
Sailing Bark.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
At dinner In Creole lodgings. in ia
maica. some three years ago, the CONVEX
sation turned upon the subject Of ghosts
and apparitions. \ person present quoted
the words of Prof. Proctor: There may be
some means of communication, under spe-
cial conditions. between mind and mind az
a distance, though no one may be abe to
explain how such communication is
brought about" One OF the guests present
made a reference to tale of n mysterious
apparltlon at sea, adding;
"If you ever meet Capt Blank of the
Blank line ask him to tell the story. The
incidents happened to a relative of his; he
can tell them better than and will vouch
for their truth"
A few days ago representative of the
Sun found Capt. Blank on board his
steamer. He is not only a skilful sea-
man and navigator, but also very cour-
teous gentleman Although about to sail,
he took time to tell the following;
In the early thirties Capt Bener, grand
uncle of the narrator, commanded the
brig Mohawk, of New York, then engaged
st. Thomas, her last port of CALL on one
voyage, the brig was steering north
westerly course homeward bound, beating
up under short canvas against high winds
and heavy seas, following in the wake OF
hurricane which had traversed the trop-
les five or six days before. Her captain,
who had been some hours ON deck, went
below at midnight, after directing the first
officer, who was on watch, to keep the
course then steered, and to call him in
case of any change for the worse in the
weather. He lay down upon a sofa in the
main cabin, but as the brig bell struck
twice, became conscious of the figure Of a
man wearing green souwester standing
beside him in the dim light of the cabin
lamp. Then he heard the words:
Change your course to sou'west, cap,
tain"
PCapt. Benner got up and went on
deck, where he found that the weather
mad moderated and that the brig was car
rying more sail and making better head
way. He asked the mate on duty why he
had sentedown TO call him, to which that
officer replied that he had not done so.
The captain, fancying that he had been
dreaming, went back to the cabin, but
was disturbed soon again by a second visit
from the man In the green sou wester, who
repeated his previous order and vanished
up the companionway. The captain, now
thoroughly aroused, jumped up and pur-
sued the retreating figure, but saw no one
until he met the mate on watch, who in
sisted that he had not sent any messenger
| below.
Mystified and perplexed Capt Benner
| returned to the cabin, only to see his sing
ular visitor reappear, to hear him repeat
| the order TO change the course to SOU
west, with the added warning: "If you 90
not it will soon be too late! and to see
| him disappear as before.
Although a cool-headed seaman, fairly
| proof against superstition the captain
was nevertheless deeply impressed by these
| happenings, and determined to see what
| meaning was hidden in the order of bis
midnight visitor Going on deck, he gave
| the necessary orders for the change in the
ships coast to southwest. The officers
| of the brig were not only surprised, but
also indignant at this sudden, and to them
| unreas onable change of course. The new
| course brought the vessel a a right angle
I to her proper direction, and If persisted IN
would strand her on the coast of Santo
| Domingo. Meanwhile the weather had
moderated still more, additional sale had
been got upon the vessel and she was be-
| ing driven still further from her destina-
| ton.
Her impatient officers had finally deter
| mined to seize their captain and put him
in irons, when. soon after daybreak, the
lookout forward reported some object
| dead ahead. AS the vessel kept on it was
made out to be a ships boat. AS 1t ranged
abeam 1t was seen to contain four men
living under It's thwarts; one of them wore
q green sou'wester. The Mohawk was
promptly hove to- a boat lowered and the
| castaways taken in. The castaways
proved to be the captain anC
three men, the only survivors of the
crew of vessel which had gone down in
the hurricane, and they had been Drifting
helplessiy without food for five or six days
! The green SOU Wester was the property OF
| the rescued captain. A few days later
when he had recovered sufficiently to be
able to leave his birth. he was sitting one
day in the main cabin of the brig witt
| Cant. Benner He suddenly asked his hos
whether he believed in dreams.
"Since l have been here" he continued
"I have been thinking how familiar thi.
I cabin looks. think that l have been here
! before In the night before you picked m'
IN | dreamed that 1 came to you here il
this cabin md told you TO change you
no notice of me and 1 came the secon(
time in vain, but the third time Vol
| changed your course, and / woke up t
find your ship alongside of us"
Then Capt Benner, who had noticed thu
| resemblance of the speaker to his mys
terious visitor, told his own story Of tina
night.
Capt. Blank could not recall the nam'
of the wrecked vessel but said that all tn
facts were confirmed by the logbook o
the Mohawk, even to the detail of the in
tention of the officers of the brig TO pu
their commander in irons. The story is al
oft-repeated one in Capt. Blanks family
and is well known in the locality from
which he halls.