The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-01-16
BARRED BY SUPERSTITION
Some Things Which Sailors VIII
Not Have Aboard Ship.
4 Conn Agents Bright Idea, and
Why IL Was Not Adopted by the
Navy Department - Two White
Mules Cause n Crew to Leave "a
TrHnsPOrt-SOme Peculiar Fancies.

The superstition Of sailors was instru-
mental in preventing a large sale OF cof-
Fms few days ago TO the Navy Depart
ment. The agent Of a firm exhibited al
the department a fine model OF a metallic
casket and spent some time in explaining
its virtues to one Of Secretary Longs as
sistant secretaries.
The agents plan was to sell the Navy
Department several hundred OF the Caskets
for use on board vessels. One or two cof-
fms, he explained, could be carried on
each vessel, so that in case OF a death at
sea the body could be placed in the casket
to be sent 10 the friends Of the deceased
when land is reached. The plan struck the
Secretary as rather clever. and the agent
was sure he would get a big order. He
was sent to Surgeon General Van Reypen,
10 whom he also explained his plan for
placing collins on all the vessels Of the
navy. When he finished his explanation
General Van Reypen told him he was sorry
he could not recommend his plan 70 the
Secretary OF the Navy, for II the collins
were placed on the ships there would soon
be no sailors on them. for a sailor win
never travel on a ship where there is
coffin or dead body il he can help it. and
every in that befalls ship when a colin
or dead body is on board is credited to he
coffin or the body. as the case may be.
The peculiar part Of the superstition Is
that sailors do not seem TO mind the car
rying Of a number Of bodies Of soldiers or
uof al hrrr afn pTa brs7r- or
coffin on board "A vessel almost causes mu-
tiny among them.
A recent incident Of this superstition
was called 10 the attention OF the Navy
Department when Passed Assistant Sur
geOn White died at San Francisco. His
friends asked Secretary Long II the body
could be brought home on the Hartford,
which was to sail from san Francisco. The
Secretary gave his consent. and telegraph
ed Lieutenant Commander Hawley. OF the
Hartford. to bring Surgeon Whites body
on his vessel. He got an answer from
Commander Hawley which said that the
Hartford is a training ship and had on
board 200 or 800 landsmen that we're be-
ing trained for seamen, and if he took the
body Of Surgeon White aboard, the lands
men. melted by the superstitious sailors
would likely make trouble. The remains
were shipped by rail and there was no
trouble on the Hartford
An officer Of the Quartermaster Generals
Department recently told Of the trip he
made on the transport Sherman last Fe)ru-
airy. when she carried the Third Infantry
20 Manila, via the Suez Canal He said.
We had on board ten collins for Ma
Mia. and as soon as the sailors found il
out they Immediately prophesied death TO
some one on board, and predicted all kinds
of trouble for the ship. Just before we
Third Infantry became ill. and the sailors
said he could never get well, and he didn't.
The body was placed in one OF the cof-
fms but II was decided to bury the body
at sea. The ship was stopped, and the
coffin was dumped from a plank ard
plunged into the ocean. Strange TO say, it
did not sink. but fiOated on top of the
white-c capped waves, and appeared to fol-
low the ship. For several hours the grew
some black object could be seen riding the
waves like thing of life The sailors were
panic-stricken. and good many Of the sol
diers caught the fever Of superstition and
stood watching the coffin as il bObbed along
in the wake Of the vessel.
The sailors swore We would be ship
wrecked II the coffin followed us, and Just
to satisfy them the speed Of the vessel was
increased. and We soon lost sight Of il. We
had a safe voyage TO Manila, but that did
4
the ship I asked one of them il he still be-
lieved collins on board ship were bad
omens He replied that he did and that
he would never travel on another ship that
carried one
Another officer of the QuartermRster's
Department said he had an unusual eXpe-
Tience with the superstition of sailors when
he was at Tampa, Fla. shipping stock to
Cuba One OF the army wagon trains con-
sisted Of forty white mules and white lead
horse.
we had a cargo Of animals for Ha-
vana said the officer. and among the
load was this team OF white mules One
Of the shipowners told us there would be
trouble among the sailors on the vessel
which had to carry the mules. but we put
them on board. anyway. AS soon as the
crew saw those white mules they said
either they or the mules had 10 leave the
vessel. The mules had to so to Cuba, so
the sailors quit. We got another crew
without their knowing that We had the
white mules aboard and reached Havana
in good shape, but the crew was indignant
when they found they had been aboard
with white mules. They told me II l ever
| had any white horses or mules to ship
had better not let the sailors know they
were on board. and in the future / took
their advice