The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20
FLYING DuTcHmAN AGAIN.
stories Of the Ghosiiy Hoilander Told by
Modern Ships

u-l-f%SUtRfie1 >EilnE craft. uuh ~ AsAt
passengers OF a modern. full powered
steamer. That such thing should hap
pen in these nm de steele days seems al
! n oSt incredible Ii bears us back to the
times of Mar-yat ard Cooper. when the
existence OF the Flying Dutchman WIS
taken quite seriously By the simple sail
or folk OF the day
Yet We canot doubt the recent appear
ant'e OF the apparition. unless the whole
ships crew of the Albatross from the
Captain TO the cabin boy are artistic
and highly finished liars. The AlbatToss.
which trades 10 the Cape of Good Hope,
was running along smoothly on her
homs ward voyage. the engines settled
down TO a steady tWelve-knOt gain anu
every man happy in the fact that she
was homeNard bound for London Town
The night was clear. there Nas littls
wind and the sea for this stormy region
vas comparatively smooth There was
nothing 10 detract the attention Of the
officer of the watch when suddenly he
vas startled by the c-y of the lookout,
Sailing ship on the port beam. sir
How could il have happCned2 \ miu-
ute ago the officer was positive that the
horizon was clear all around. and now
but a mile or so 10 windwaTd OF them
Was the sharply outlined figure OF a
4 large ancient sliip-a strange unwieldy
craft. with a huge poop and cumDrous
forecdstle. queerly cut sails. and clumSily
Tigged spaTS-a seventeenth century gal
leon, OF the type in which the Dutch.
who in their day were great discoverers,
added so much to the geographical
knowledge OF our ancestors.
The officer rubbed his eyes and began
10 wonder if the cape smoke" as they
call brandy in those parts. had got into
his brain. He called to the man at the
helm, but found that individual had al
ready left the post of duty and was
staring opel-mouthed through the
wheelhouse door.
It's the Flying Dutchman. sure
enough said The man with a shudder
u hat means bad lick 10 MS"
In the GOOD old superstitIous days the
appearance OF the ghostly Hoiianuer was
aiw ays looked upon as a had omen, and
even to-day you will find cd seamen VINO
still retain some memory of the tradi-
items of their youth.
1t was not long before every man on
that ship was gazing over the weather
roil. TIE firemen forgot their blazing
furnaces. the watch below turned out OF
their warm bl nks, and even the Cap
tain left his comfortable bed to join the
wondering throng.
For an hour the good steamer Alba
trOss practically ran herself. and 1t was
all the chief erginer could do to get men
enough 10 keep steam in the boilers
And the most marvellous thing aeOut il
ell was that though the steamer was go
ing twelve knots and the wind was quite
liSht the app&rtion TO windward kept
pace with her. knot for knot. The Dutcn-
mans sails were distended with wind.
she had half a gale behind her at least:
SHE kecled over until her moldering deck
and rusty guns were clearly to be seen.
yet those on the steamer felt hardly a
breeze
Equally strange was tho absence of life
on the ancient galieon. Not even tor
tuIed soul was there to guide ner path.
Falkenberg and his stubborn crew seemed
to have utterly disappeared.
Have the wide seas ever before wit
ness ed such a UNIQUE meeting? For the
space of an hour these two widely con-
traSting craft sailed side by side one the
highest product of civilized ingenuity and
skill. the other rude survival OF the
medieval ages. 1t is the first time in the
met the Flying Dutchman.
The Captain might have solved this
many y-century-old tradition of the seas
He might have found traces of the wicked
4 dIkcnDeE5 ana MS DdXRy DTePcnsO sail
ors. He might have-but there. II is no
Sc specializing on what he might have
done, for he did nothing. He simply
steamed along side by side with the
Dutchnan AMI made no attempt 10 board
her. Then, as suddenly 2s she came. the
gslleon vanished, and the horizon was
orce more clear.
How, does Ii happen that this ghostiy
craft is still afoat sailing the seas just
as she did when a voyage around Cape
AFnHs
achievement? Is she still the same vessel
which Ayres, ir his legends of Montauk,
describes so vivldiy?
IT'S the phantom ship that in darkness ard wrath
PlOws evermore the waste Dash.
And the heart OF the mariner trenbles in dread
When it crosses his vision like ghost of the dead
1t was the stubbornness of a wicked
Dutch nobleman, one Falkenberg, which
rendered this miracle of the seas possible.
According to the accepted version OF the
story, as given by NJ. Jal in his Scenes
de la Vie Maritime. Falkenberg set ont
on A voyage of discovery during the early
part of the seventeenth century. He had
a stout ship and a gallant crew, each man
az hnt-headed and obstinate as himself.
The Dutch in those days were reckOned
among the best nayigators in the world,
and all might have gone well with Fall
kenberg had he restrained his blaspheIn-
Gus temper. He tried to round the stormy
Cape Horn against a furious gale, and OF
course failed, for the clumsy slowsailing
vessels of those days were not much good
al reaching TO WindwaTd
Falkenberg made the vain attempt
again and again. for the elements seem
to have united against him. Then, IN his
rage. he swore an impious oath that he
would do il or die The crew. getting
tired Of this ceaseless battle against head
gales. not unnaturally Kicked To quie
them. for their obstinacy was OF the true
Dutch type, their Captain threw few
men overheard and kept on smoking his
pipe and drinking his beer.
TO and fro. with wearisome monotOny,
the vessel tackled. but never a nile 10
windwarG did she make. Then the Holy
Ghost descended on the ship. probably for
the purpose of arbitratinR between the
Captain and his crew. But the impiOus
FalkenDerg was not one TO be daunted
by spiritual manifestations. He drew his
pistol and fired point blank at the Heav-
eDly Being The only result was that the
bullet pierced his own hand and paralyz
ed his arm Falkenberg seems to have
grown furious at his own impotency. for
he recklessly cursed his God, and every
thing connected with religion.
This scandaloCs action finished the mat
ter: the Divine patience was exhausted.
and a sentence probably unequaled for
its severity was passed upon the
blasphemous Captain. He was con-
demned 10 navigate the stormy Southern
Seas forever; he was never 10 put into
sort, and his diet was limited 10 gall "a
beverage and redhot iron as food. Besides
this, he was to be eternslly on watch and
was never 10 relegaIe his duty for a
moment 10 one OF his officers. The Flying
Dutchman was to be the evil genius of the
sea, 10 torment and punish sailors, and
even the sight Of his a ll-omensd bark
would carry bad fortune 10 the behoider
The ship brings white squalls. head winds
tempests. all Sinds OF disasters. Should
the Duichman visit a ship wine sours and
all food becomes beans. Should ne bring
or send letters none must touch them or
all would b. lost. The crew OF the ship IL
composed Of all the old sinners OF the sea.
sailor thieves. towards murderers. &c
They eterBally toll and suffer, and have
little 10 eat or drink, for the ship is the
true purgatory OF the faithless and idle
mariner.
Aarryat. who has written a most inter
esuns novel on the subject gives a some
&nst more romantic version Of the event
The captain OF the ship. whose name was
Fsnderdsckn. tried for nine weeks To
round the Cape. and then in despair he
Threw all his pilots overheard As this
did not mend matters. ne seore on a relic
or The true Cress that IN spj'e OF The