The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-27
NEVER SETS FOOT ON SHORE.
Strange Fear and Penance OF Sailor
Who Killed His Brother.

From the Philadelphia Times.
The tragedy of lifetime was borne ST.
lently from this port on the broad At
lantic on the American ship +. b. Sutton,
which sailed for San Francisco yesterday.
Among her crew of "a is one man. Walter
Dunbar, n foremost hand, on whom mas
has descended the hallucination which has
embittered his entire existence. He conn-
IDENTIFY believes that to satisfy the wrath
of an offended Deity it is his destiny TO
commit murder and that it VIII be his
best and dearest loved ones who will fall
by his unwilling hand.
A pathetic romance is embodied in the
life of this now humble sailor. Once he
committed murder, presumably in self
defense but in restitution he has known
no home and no country. He has been a
miserable wanderer over every sea and
stranger than all he bears upon his body
that which he calls the mark of Cod
Captain Carver shipped the outcast on
a previous voyage of the f. b. Sutton
to the west coast. He was a good sailor,
attended strictly to his work. was thor
oughly amenable to discipline and was
regarded as a pearl of the first water in
these latter days of sailormen's independ-
ence.
Dunbar was considered strange man
by the crew on the homeward voyage.
He never spoke and yet he would never
be left alone. He was regarded alike with
fear and curiosity. On his back. between
his shoulders. was a curious symbol. APP
parently in the shape of a Roman cross.
and its queer color varied in tone with
the emotions of the silent man. 1t was
an object of dread and of superstition to
his messmates They prayed fervently
that the voyage might terminate safely at
New York.
Still the uncanny mark and the remark
able personality of Dunbar We're no i'm
pediment to the good ship e. b. Sutton.
Her long run of 1900 miles was made in
safety. When she came to Philadelphia to
load during the early days of July she
still numbered among her crew the hu-
man mystery.
Captain Carver knows Dunbar's story.
He is a master mariner above the general
ity of that class. He understands and APP
preciates human emotion. He can part-
ally understand the sentiments which agi-
tate the strangely marked sailor who
dares not set his foot on shore lest he full
fill an awful destiney.
Years ago when Dunbar had no thought
of the sea and its rough life he and his
brother Guarreled. Blows Were struck
and the latter fell With his last words
he said:
Gods curse is on you. am not the last
of the family who will die by your
hand"
Had Dunbar been a man of less refined
sensiblities he might have attached little
Importance to the dying mans impreca-
ton. In youth, however he had been an
idealist. With n mind Unfortunately deVel-
oped possessing a nervous and highly
strung intellect, those last muttered
words dwelt forever in his mind. He felt
himself, indeed, bearing the mark of
Cain So strong became the influence
that the mark. indeed, appeared Family
at first. but it soon glowed ominousy.
Dunbar described it before he had ever
managed to scratch its reflected image.
at is the mark of God" he said, and he
became wanderer on the face of the
earth.
Not on the earth, indeed, but on the sea
only was to be found safety. A deadly
fear seized him. He was impelcd tnvol-
unfairly to lift his hand against his broth
err his father and sisters. There was no
salvation but to place an impossible bar
rier between himself and them.
For nine long years. therefore. Walter
Dunbar has set no foot on land. One
voyage ended he transfers to another YES
sci in a boat His family have received
no word of him. He is a modern Enoch
Arden and they believe him dead.
His former home was in Dayton. Ohio,
but he will never see it again. He be-
leves that until atonement has been
made the mark viii remain. Captain
Carver. who tells his story, believes that
he has long since paid the penalty for an
unprecedented crime.