The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-04
The Cholera Ship
By 6
By CUTCLIFFE HYNE.
Copyright. 1901

I The fifth man had 10 be content with
four participators in his funeral. The re-
naming sailor held strangely aloof: his
/ face turning through a prism of curious
colors: his body swaying in uncouth jerks.
AS the fifth corpse toppled over the rail.
this fellow threw himself down on the
hatch cover. and lay there writhing and
! screaming in torment Of cramps.
At that moment man in white serge
cassock, which reached TO his heels. came
out of one of the forecastle doors. ana
walked rapidly across to the new victim.
He was a long. lean man. with a hawk S
nose and bright large eyes. The skin Of
his face was like baggy yellow leather. and
il was dry with fever. AS he knelt beside
the writhing sailor. I saw the metal cruel
fix nearly fall from his thin hands through
black-water fever (Which is own brother
TO yellow jack. 1 judged that from a hu-
man point of view he was behaving with
exquisite foolishness in meddling with
| first-crop cholera patients. But / re-
spected him a good deal for all that, and
went and got opium and acetate of lead
and gave the man on the hatch swinging
| dose. 1t was a useless thing to do, be-
cause the chap had got to die and one
incurred ones own risks by going near
MIN; but if that bishop fool. had
got to be a fool, too, and there was an
| end of it.
Mark you, / wasn't feeling n bit fright
encd then. I'd beer through cholera
cremp in India, and knew what my
| chances were. and was reaGy To face them,
without Whispering; though of course Ia
freely have given every fG:th:ng I was
worth to have been rnugiv back in the
Congo again. But the thinr hal got 10
De seen through. and I intenIsI to keep
my end somehow. / couldn afford to die
Ike a rat in squalid hole like that.
had breakfast all to myself that morn
| ing, because no one else turne1 up: and
| afterwards the captain did ne the honor
| to call into consultation. ny Portu-
eGese is off color. but l speak enough TO
| get along with.
You English know so much about these
things he said.
I'VE keep clean ships" 1 answered; land
when anything goes wrong on them we do
not lose our heads. Also we try to trace
our way back to the root of evils. How
did this plague start?''
You must have brought It on board at
Banana. We had none in tie ship before
ycu came"
Eve did not bring it. There IS no cholera
in the Congo now. And, moreover. yoar
passenger-boys are none OF them sick. we
must try back further"
We did that together laboriously; and
at last traced the mischief to that fatal
case of baccalhao, which had been shipped
at Bahia, an infected port; and had this
| essence Of pest promptly thrown to the
sharks. Next went into the question of
| hands.
81 have not enough firemen and trimmers
left to man single watch" said the cap
tain. 1.-THE cholera hit the stoke hold first
The fellows who are working there now
have stood three watches on end, and they
are hardly making enough steam to give
her steerage way"
IF you let your old beast of a tramp
stop and drift about here like a potato
| chip in frying pan 1t won't improve mat
| ters- Those of US who don't peg out with
cholera will start numbering one another.
The niggers will Begin
Yes, know. / wanted some of them to
serve fremen for good pay. But they
| will not listen to me. / do not think they
| understood Will you come and translate %
We took revolvers, holding them osten-
tatiousy in our pockets. 1 crossed the
| dizzy sunshine of the lower main deck.
The negroes on the forecastle head were
chattering together like fair of monkeys,
but they ceased when we came up, and
stared at us with faces working with ex-
element.
4 oh No han
A big fellow stood forward, hat in hand,
Il fit for head man, sar.'
1 toiu him hands were wanted for the
stoke hold. and that the gorgeous pay of
four shillings English per diem was Of
fered.
1--WE no fit for stoke, sar," said he 1--WE
gentlemen wild money, sar. We passenger
| boys sar."
Very well. daddy" said l. "But stoke
| you've got to do. And If you won't do II
| civilly you'll do it in another way. Now,
| my frien', pick me out twelve good, strong
| boys. If you don't do it, I'll shoot you
dead, one time; If they won't work, I'll
shoot them. You quite savvy?"
We got the men and they went off to the
| stoke hold, frightened and raging. Poor
| wretches, eight of them toppled over in
the next twenty-four hours, and half a
| day later the engines stopped for the last
time. 1 was smoking industriously under
the alley way, and Tordoff came and loafed
| near me.
I'm bully fine chief engineer, aren't
| To- said he
What do you mean?'
| well, I'm the best man that's left of
| all our crowd, that's ALL They're every
sinner of them dead. black men, white men
and Portuguese. Where are we now?"
slap bang under the equator That
mountain top sticking out of the water is
San Thome."
Then I'm off there" said Tordoff. This
bloomin' steamers played out. She can't
steam. and she wouldn't sail If there was
any wind, which there isn't. shall take
one Of the boats and skip. You'd better
come too
mo"
What for? Why not?''
Because there are only two boats, and
| they aren't enough for all hands,"
1.-The boats will hold all the white men,