davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

ashore because they had yellow backs.
'"The skipper of another vessel offered
me couple of bottles Of wine, but they
didn't reach the landing place. The fel-
lows in charge of our boat told the cap
tain of the ship that no wine was per-
mitted on shore except for the purposes
of administering the holy communion,
and the British men-of-war supplied all
the wine for that purpose.
"One time | had a good chance to leave,
but the Governor (McCoy) said L could
go If l would take my family with me.
Now they are all right and l think a
whole lot of them, but when / got back
to Massachusetts the Lord knows what
I would do with them, because I think
the climate would very soon have bad
effect on them"
Poor old Coff1n-he was then over fifty
went back to the island to his wife and
four children and to his cottage which
was "a little more comfortable than any
other shanty on the island and where
there is no need of work to secure a ltv-
ing But as he looked back it could
plainly be seen that poor Coffin would
willingly have changed places with any
body on board the Florence even with
midnight wheels, reefing topsails off the
Horn. holystoning decks and swinging
yards in the doldrums, and all the other
discomforts of a deep-water voyage
ahead of him If he could only once more
reach port
Nor was it any imagination OF Collins
that caused him to think the islanders
were suspicious Of his desire to leave his
family behind him, for while he walked
about the deck, went into the cabin or
the fo csl, one or two Of the island crews
always followed his movements with their
eyes.
AS the length of Collins term on the
island increased so did his family, and
now there are six little Coffins, some Of
them well along in years. running around
on Pitcairn. 1t is probably due to the
fact that the older boys are now able to
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

where man partakes the earth without
dispute
And bread itself is gathered as fruit
After a few years the secluded life on
the island began to be irksome to Coffin.
the only American among the inhabitants.
BY this time there were two or three chill
dren. When ships called at the island
Coffin would look with wistful eyes at
their departing sails
About twelve years ago the British ship
City of Florence called off this little
several hours we enjoyed the company of
two boatloads of Pitcairnites Coffin was
@ 8 o @ &. @ 8 o o @ 9 o o o o 9, ., o
to Cairo, for dispatch to England. and
but for the discussion in Parliament il
would, no doubt, have been on view be
fore now in some museum or another.
The War Office, | should think will know
where that box is. | must say no more -
After the body of the Mahdi had been
"disinterred" and disposed of his tomb
was destroyed. Lyddite was used as il
is still necessary to note the action of
that explosive owing to the sometimes
peculiar conduct of lyddite shells. $50
that we had an experiment of two kinds, -
said one of the artillerymen. I'VE exper-
lmented in religion on the poor Mahdi'
and in gunnery we tried it on his tomb.
1t certainly seems a little above the
mark to try conclusions with a dead
body"
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

~ 1T for the attractiveness Of a
young and pretty Tahitiau widow
X whom he met on Pitcairn Island,
! Charles Coffin would not have
spent a quarter of a century i'm
INJURED on that isolated spot in the
Pacific His long life of semi-eNile was
brought 10 an end a few weeks ago ana
Coffin landed in San Francisco free man
last week-if a man be free who has lett
p wife and six children in a sea-girt nome
$500 miles away.
Coffin has been the hero Of many ad-
ventures. but none so romantic as that
which led 10 his long residence in Flt-
cairu. Many wears ago about Christmas
time the shin Khandeish. owned in Liver
pool. was on her homeward voyage from
San Francisco. Every skipper bound to-
ward the Horn from California tres 10
effect communication with the isolated
inhabitants on Pitcairn Island. Inc ISL
and Is "A very agreeable market lot shlpS
making long trips. 1t produces all xmas
Of sen1i-tropic fruit and vegetables. and
when an old sailor has been a couple OF
months at sea with a prospect OF three
mouths more ahead Of him, he would al
most sen half his life for fresh cabbage
or bunch of bananas.
The captain Of the Khandeish ap-
preached the island toward the end of
January. 1910, and as it was beautiful
daN ne decided to change the usual GUS
tom Of waiting for the islanders to come
off In their boats, so he went ashore IN
the ships launch While making the ac-
quaintance of the Pitcairn Islanders. a
mighty undertow grasped the ship within
its influence and as if impelled by some
unseen power the big ship drifted speed
lily on the rocks. The captain and his
boats crew and all the islanders rushed
down to the beach to where the snip was
surely approaching her doom. There was
no wind. but the never ceasing swell of
the Pacific was hurling vast rollers on
the rocks and carrying the vessel with
them.
When but a few feet off the shore the
ship struck on the sunken rocks and
commenced to fill The crew. seeing
their danger attempted to come ashore
in the ships boats. and some were over
turned The islanders worked like heroes.
and in a few hours every man was safe
on the island Some had met with very
narrow escapes, having been dashed
ashore on pieces of wreckage from the
ast-breaking ship.
Among those who had the hardest time
in reaching the shore was Coffin who
was the boatswaln. Several times it was
necessary for the islanders to rush out
into the angry breakers to secure the
piece Of wreck upon which the weakening
hoatswain was depending for his life.
Finally he was landed, and the next day
the ship was entirely broken up by the
violence of the waves.
The simple islanders placed everything
they had at the disposal of the ship
wrecked grew, and for ffty-one days the
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
FL NAHD w,,, ss:;z: Il; IND s;%s ;;s ,,,,


ter for those in authority" one was told.
However. IT was presently said that the
order was given to take the body from
where il lay and to. sever the head from
the trunk. THE corporal went to that
end On lifting the head it broke clean
away from the body, and he helC 1t in MS
hands.
The body was then wrapped up, weight
ed and carried across the three mites
that Law between the tomb and the Nile
and at once cast into the river. Il never
heard that anything was seen or IL
again" said one artilleryman, and the
fact is il must have been washed away
along the bed of the river Another
added that the dervishes are. OF course
essentially superstitious, and that they
might in the future, no doubt, be I'M
posed on by the production OF another
dead body. But" he added, whatever
may be said of the body they will never
get the head of their Mahdi.
what became of the head?'
at is very short story. The head was
carried on board the gunboat and put in
to an empty kerosene can-one of those
square cans you know, that oil is kept in.
1t stopped there a few days. The other
officers used to come aboard and say,
Gordon. show us that head, and the cor
poral, under orders, would then lift 1t out.
None of them would touch it. 1t was not
nice. | might say that the Mahdi must
have been a fearfully ugly man. The
lower jaw protruded further than in any
man / have ever seen. The forehead was
not particularly high-for an Arab. His
hair was jet black. The lower part of
one side of the face was gone-decayed-
and we took off part of his beard. 1t is
here in Eastney. / have a piece myself
fine, glossy. black. apparently the hair
of a man in his prime.
After the head had remained a few
days in the can wooden box was made
and it was packed in that. 1t was sent
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

because Of injuries received during ths
Civil War.
Coffin is a pretty good fellow" said
the missionary who arrived in Oakland
last week, ''but his nature is not such as
to cause him to fall in love with the con-
ditions on Pitcairn Island He assures me
that he is a sincere Seventh-day Advent
ist but if so, Brother Coffin has few
ideas of his own about Adventism. He
cannot rid himself of his family obliga-
tons, because there is no such thing as
divorce in the social economy of Pitcairn
Island. He always processes great affec-
ton for his family, but the position of
Coffin is perhaps absolutely unique He
has had a rare experience and 1t cannot
be compared, so far as l know with the
experience of any other man living. He
was certainly a good husband and looked
well after his children. He was always
doing something for their comfort, but
it could plainly be seen that there was
always within him that irresistible de-
sire to. return to where life was more
pleasant to a man brought up as he was.
1t may be possible that after a few years
Coffin may actually long to return to his
island home and those he has left there
1t is not surprising that Coffin found life
on Pitcairn burdensome 1t is perhaps
the only perfect altruistic settlement on
earth. It's people cannot even If they
would, go outside the closely drawn lines
of government which regulate that social,
political, civil and religious life The
island is but three miles one way and a
half mile the other way, and there is no
means of leaving it and returning at
pleasure. There is almost an utter alb
sence of amusement as Americans under
stand the word, and there is absolutely
no field for ambition. Everybody shares
alike, and when a passing ship gives few
sacks of -four or wheat or few barrels
of pork or beef to the islanders it is all
put in a common storehouse and distrib-
uted equally
In many instances. when there are not
wives or husbands enough on the island
to fill the demand communication Is
on Tahiti, which is 1900 miles to the west
ward. When the City of Florence called
at Pitcairn on the occasion to which I
have already referred a mail was made
up, consisting of eighteen letters, all of
which were addressed to Tahiti. These
letters were carried eastward around the
Horn and landed at Southampton. The
letters. after going to London. were sent
to New York, thence to San Francisco.
thence by steamer to the nearest island
to Tahiti and finally were carried to their
destination by schooner, having travelled
% 900 miles and taken nearly SIX months
to reach a point 1900 miles distant from
where they were written.
Five years later Governor Mccoy visited
Oakland and told me of the safe delivery
This incident conveys some idea of the
isolation of the little home on which Cof-
lin spent twenty-five years of his lifetime.
STUART w. BOOTH.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

TF anything, the human frame seems
to be increasing in size rather than
decreasing. The man of we'll
developed frame to-day would have
Il hard work to queeze himself into a
suit of armor worn by the average
Crusader All through history, however,
there have been men of remarkable size,
lust the same as there are to-day. There
were giants on the earth in those days"
and there are giants now. Baron Albert
Verly. son of Colonel Verify who once
commanded that picturesque corps or
giants known as the Cent Gardes, gave
dinner in Paris the other day to the sur
vivors of his fathers command. only
few of the members of this famous body
of soldiers of the Second Empire still
live to drag their huge and ancient bodies
about Paris. Since the last banquet of
the corps eight have died, among them
the amusing DIR. Gerard. He was
brigadier in the days of the Second En-
pire. and was dismissed for sleeping out
of quarters without leave.
The Cent Gardes were organized in the
Crimean war, when visit was expected
at the Tuleries from Queen Victoria and
the Prince Consort. The tallest and best
looking men in the French army were
body of household guards. All were over
six feet tall, and it was their duty to
stand immoVable about the palace, never
changing their position except to salute
the Emperor and Empress. Five hundred
and eighty men served together in the
Cent Gardes. The corps went down with
the foundering of the empire of Napoleon
III.
Not long ago there died on his farm in
New Jersey Colonel Goshen, a man
over eight feet high, who had accumu-
lated a competence by exhibiting him
self in museums and side shows,
On view in London now is a boy 19
years old named Constantine, who is over
eight feet tall He is well proportioned
and shows no sign of disease. He is fed
mostly on milk and beef tea and is al
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

lowed to drink no alcoholic liquors. Con-
stantines father is a portrait painter in
Switzerland and neither of his parents
is over the normal size.
Another well-known eight-footer was
Chang. 1.-The Chinese giant" who at
tracted much attention in this country
that Chang had a sister who was eleven
inches taller than her big brother, but
she died young.
In the old days it was believed that the
since the flood. One Henrion, French
man. evolved a Comparative scale by
which Adam stood 123 feet inches; and
feet inches high.
Grandfather Noah was twenty feet
shorter than Adam, and Abraham was
being 13 feet high, and Hercules as 10
feet The comparative scale" of this
learned man is only a subject for laugh
ter now, but 1t was accepted seriously
height of Goliath has been estimated va
riously. The best authorities, such as
Josephus and the Vatican copy of the
septuagint set the Philistine champion
down as being -four cubits and a SPAN
tall, which would make him a little over
s feet-about the size of Chang and Col
A tall story of tall man is that told
by Boccaccio: He says that the remains
of this monster were discovered in his
own time in cave in Sicily. and were
those of man 400 feet high. The learned
Athanasius Kircher. a Jesuit priest, Wis
tied the scene of the alleged discovery
and found that the cave was only 80 feet
high. while the only remains which could
be shown to him were the fossil bones of
an elephant.
The first modern giant of whom there is
authentic record was the porter of Queen
Elizabeth whose portrait by Zucchero
hangs in Hampton Court Palace. He was
a Dutchman and was feet 6 inches tall.
James l had porter, Walter Parsons,
who was of the same height. VIII Evans.
who succeeded Parsons and served as
porter for Charles /, was Z feet inches
high. Cromwell also had giant porter,
one Daniel who stood feet 8 inches.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

islanders. until the arrival Of British
ship off the island gave all an opportu-
nifty to leave. BY this time Coffin was so
desperately in love with the little widow
that he elected to remain. and when the
island authorities concluded that he had
resided there long enough to know his
own mind he was married in the little
banana-eaf barn that did duty as
chapel.
The island life suited Coffin immensely.
Pitcairn is an ideal home for sailor with
a wife. Lord Byron beautifully told the
story of existence on this Island when
he wrote:
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

sailors, having nothing to do and being
Wen fed, thought they were in a vert-
able heaven.
During these fifty-one days Coffin, with
true sailor instinct. which ii is said i'm
pols him to seek a wife at every port,
started out to see what he could find. On
the island was a very attractive little
widow. and as it is a matter of supreme
difficulty to find husbands and wives
within the very limited confines of Pit
cairn, the widow and the boatswain soon
formed friendship destined to be abid-
ing.
The crew was distributed among the
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
Ruskin as He Is To-D,u.

TN recent number of st. George, the
organ of the Birmingham Ruskin
Society, the editor. j. H. Whitehouse.
writes an interesting article on Mr..
Ruskin as he is to-day. AS to Mr.
Ruskins condition. physically. he is
very weak and frail, but mentally he is
quite clear, and though unable to do any
work whatever he still takes a lively in
terest in the progress of the world y
Until month ago he was able to get out
every day when the weather was fine
sometimes taking slow walks and some
times going in a bath chair" Mr.. Rus
kins' appearance Is most impressive and
Mr.. Whitehouse says that his face "has
undergone no material change since the
days when he was professor at Oxford. .
1t is still the face which Professor Her
komer painted a number of years ago.
The only difference is a long white beard
To Brentwood there come every dav
many kind remembrances, and among
the greetings Mr.. Whitehouse tells of an
American lady sending Mr.. Ruskin eighty
white flowers, bearing the inscription j:
Eighty flower sprays for eighty pure and
lovely years.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

n family-four children-and the people
naturally don't want me to leave without
taking my family with me- because they
will have TO look after them.
THE people are too good here, although
sometimes somebody forgets some of the
commandments. The people have lived
here all their lives and haven't seen much.
In some of their religious books they have
read about yellow-back literature and
now they won't permit anything with a
yellow cover to come ashore. The last
ship that was here brought bundle of
Harpers Magazines. and some of the folks
nearly had fit when l brought them
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

support their mother that made it COM
paratively easy for Coffin to return to his
native country. Early this year the mis-
sicnary schooner Pitcairn made its annual
visit to the island. The Pitcairn is the
property of the Seventh-day Adventists,
whose headquarters are in Oakland. In
1886 the islanders, VINO had up to that time
been following the tenets of the English
Episcopal church, joined themselves to
the Seventh-day Adventists, and Coffin
was among those who concluded that the
seventh day of the week Saturday is the
day upon which all true Christians should
worship. and not Sunday as taught by
the English church.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

one Of them. He confided to me the little
romance Of his life and also the fact that
some Of the leaders of the little COM
munity kept an eye on him. Collins
remark made it very clear that dozen
years on Pitcairn, with the prospect Of
being buried there, was not all that an
American could desire. He limited very
strongly that if a good opportunity were
to present itself he might leave the island
without going through the formality Of
saying good-by.
1t was all very well at first" said Cof-
fin at the time, now twelve years ago;
"but fellow gets tired of navigating
around an island that does not cover more
than about three square miles. 1 have
kept watch on Pitcairn avenue many
nights, just wishing for change. You
see, / was married to an island woman
soon after the wreck and now have quite
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04


cial correspondent. The story was
CLEANED from some Of the non-commis-
stoned officers on the Nile gunboats, who
got it from the men who actually en-
gagged in this place of diplomatic barbar-
ism.
The day after the Omdurman battle.
where the dervishes died in their thou
sands. Major Gordon. they say, went on
board one. of the gunDoats and then took
with him a small party of Royal Marine
artilierymen to the land. None of the
Egyptians on board were taken. "'They
chatter too much explained a sergeant
when you have experience of them they
are a poor race of beings A dervish is in
all parts altogether more of a man. The
Egyptian cannot stand alone"
The little party marched directly to the
tomb of the Mahdi. The tomb was de
scribed as like a big square barn, built
of haIf-baked bricks and slabs OF mud
mortar
1t had round dome on the top, which
had been so worked as to fit the square
building below. The body of the Mahdi
Law on what the artillerymen termed IAN
erection" perhaps half the height of a
man. set up in the middle of the tomb.
If had an encircling rail made with pieces
of brass taken from English implements
or furniture and was decorated with
other trinkets, perhaps religious symbols
The body was wrapped in white and col
ored cloth, sewn together. But whether
it had been embalmed,' said another of
the artillerymen, Il could not say hav-
ing no experience of how bodies look after
undergoing that process"
Nobody cared to describe what hap
pened inside the tomb. THAT is a mat
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

Robbie asked the visitor, have you
any brothers and sisters?"
NO" replied wee Robbie, solemnly;
I'm all the children we've got.''
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

81: ]. !: !: 6 g: !: = {: !: !: 8: !:
- y C.lla rdiarn N .tnr-- frnr,, crnn-
The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1899-08-19
MOUSE NEST IN HER COLLAR.
Elderly Passenger Causus Excitement In
a Street Car.

Elderly Passenger Csusus Excitement In
a Street Car.
One mouse Is generally enough to
stampede an assemblage of women,
and the commotion attendant upon the
appearance of two or three rodents is,
Of course, increased in proportion. 1t
does not matter that the mice may be
young, as was shown in a street car
during one of the recent cool after
moons One of the passengers was an
elderly woman who wore an old-fash-
toned fur cape with an immense bear
skin collar. Evidently the cape had
just been taken from a chest contain
ing moth balls, for the odor of these
preventives was powerful. The car
was crowded, principally by women, so
the elderly passenger was compelled to
stand, and as the car jolted or swung
around a corner she swayed hanging
to the strap, sprinkling the glistening
particles of insect destroyer on all whn
were near. At length the car gave Il
particularly bad lurch and something
fell from the cape into the lap Of a
lady nearby. This something proved
upon close inspection to be a tiny
mouse Following closely came Rdv-
eral more, distributed with remarkable
fairness on the nearby passengers. 1t
didn't take over a half-minute for ev-
cry woman in that car to grab her
skirts and get on the seats, the over
flow taking refuge on the platforms.
Their screams attracted the conductor,
who came in and threw the little mice
out on the street. Meanwhile the in
nocent cause of all this trouble calmly
~unfastened her cape and shook out the
remains Of a nest, which had been
snugly built by some motherly mouse
in the long fur. The owner of the
cape then seated herself az calmly as
you please and the other women finally
subsidized.
The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1899-08-19
Fertile Lands of Colorado.

The traveller who visits Colorado for the
first time is surprised and impressed with
the opportunities the state affords in agri-
cultural pursuits. The mineral wealth Of
the state, with its many famous mines,
seems to have become fixed in the minds Of
strangers, crowding out all knowledge Of
her wonderfully fertile soil. Little thought
is ever given to the 1900 miles Of irrisa-
cation canals that have been constructed,
and the Q, 900, 900 acres of land which have
thus far been made productive. Yet, out
out of 3l exhibits from Colorado at the
worlds fair. eighty-one special premiums
were awarded, covering all kinds Of fruit
and produce. The wheat exhibit attracted
wide attention, and twenty-five awards
were given it alone, the largest number
received by any one state in the Union.
The fruit industry has reached "a, 000, 900 .
year and is yet in its infancy. Sugar beet
culture is a profitable industry. The min
eral wealth Of the state, which leads all
other states in the Union in the output of
gold and silver, does not compare with her
agricultural wealth. A handsome and pro-
iusely illustrated pamphlet, entitled The
Fertile Lands of Colorado" has just been
issued by the passenger department. Of the
Denver & Rio Grande railway, and gives
detailed information Of the lands and their
location, and may be had upon application
to S. K. Hooper. general passenger agent,
Denver, or H. M. Gushing, travelling pas
senger agent, IS West Second South street.
Salt Lake City, Utah.