The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-30
GHOST HAD RHEUMATISM.
Old Salt Tells of Meeting n Loqun-
cIous Spirit.
From the New York Times


nor the rattle and bang of guns in battle
that scare a man most" said the boat
swains mate during a discussion of fights
near the navy yard gate the other day.
The speaker had worked a gun on the
Gloucester under Wainwright during the
Spanish war, had served three months be-
tween cruises on a rebel gunboal that was
shot almost TO pieces under him during
the Brazilian instruction. and had TWO
fingers missing which had gone 10 feed
hungry shark off the Nicaraguan coast.
NO, Stree. Not by a long shot" con-
tinued the speaker positively, blowing the
foam off gently. and it isn't always the
tight places a seafaring man gets into in
the weather line that will throw the gem
uine panic into him. I've been caught in
d bowling pampero In Montevideo harbor
while going off 10 the ship in a steam
launch, and was on one of the old friga les
once that was whirled about for two days
in a typhoon off the Java coast. and I've
caught as many hurricanes about the Lee
ward Islands any of this present COM
pany l guess, but none o these sort of
things, as You know. ever property makes
a fellers hair rise and sends a paper of
needles cavorting up and down his spine
They is times of that kind that'll make
a man think of home and mother a bit.
l never run acrost the genooine six
strand article in the fight line but onct, as
l recollect, and it came at a lime and
place where a man would leastwise ex-
pect it. 1t was ten years ago and more.
and whenever think about the darn-fool
occurrence l feel the need Of a drink.
GrueSome Harbor.
at happened in the harbor of Calldo,
which place l guess some of you know
well, and those that do remember Old San
Lorenzo Island, which stretches gloomy
like along the harbor with big wastes OF
peculiar lookin' sand that not even a daso
will inhabit Well, we was a lying there
in the harbor on the occasion I'm speakin
about in the San Francisco, Capt. Samp
son. and the Chaplain one Sunday was
for givin US the history of San Lorenzo
which stretched along our starboard side
He said that from the stories of the Peru
vians, old Padre Lorenzo lived around
them parts a saving of souls and curing
of the sick in the days when the bay didn't
have island to bless itself with.
"One day the good man was out in the
bay IN a small boat fishing when a storm
came up and the padres boat was ship
pin water and threatenin' to capslze. wnen
suddenly the land rose up out of the
water end left Father Lorenzo and his
boat high and dry. This island was named
San Lorenzo. Nothing much ever growed
on 1t, however, and the Peruvans have
used it principally for burial grounds.
Every time Calico has plague of fever
land that's pretty frequenO they dumps
the dead over San Lorenzo and covers
them. Sometimes they didn't cover them
very deep, either aud the climate is so
dry, il never raining there, that the bodies
just dry up, mummylike, and frequent
the hair just keeps on a growing Maybe
- 1T l. -
fined to one little settlement of fishermen
at the point nearest the city.
well, as I was saying, we were lying
about three miles from the city, nnd my
part of the ship was sent across to San
Lorenzo one day for small-arm target
practice. l had leave to go ashore that
evening, and when we finished target
practice the officer in charge told me II
wanted instead of going back to the ship
and getting ashore in the ships boat,
could walk down the island to the fishers
village and get one of the dagos there 10
row me across to the city.
The Ghosts Walk.
1T was getting pretty date in the even
ing when ] started across the gloomy
old island, and the peculiar stories I had
listened to about the place made me
little shaky; and the sights was depress
ing. Every little while I'd run across
few human bones sticking out of the
ground. and here and there would show a
dried-up withered skull There wasn't
a sound anywhere. and I began to wish
pretty bad that I was in one Of the big
dance hollis in the Gale de Piura. 1t was
settling dark fast, and l stumbling
on in a panicky way. trying to laugh at
my foolishness, when just as l turned
sand hummuck ] came on sight that
made every hair a sail needle. l stopped
-
Gle if my life depended on it. 1 seemed
to turn sick all over.
\ Rheumatic Spirit.
There not half ships length away,
sticking out of the sand, was a human
head, and turned directly toward me. The
horror of it was thai this head didn't have
the eyes dried up into black holes, but
burned bright and stared at me Stared
right into my innermost parts and froZe
'em up. This must have been all for a
second, Of course, but 1t seemed an hour
that l stood there Ike a stone, not being
able 10 take my eyes from the thing. The
hair was not long, but il needed a comb.
and the cheeks were dull and leathery. l
had no mind TO think of ghost stories or
nythng. l couldn't think. My eyes
couldn't do nothing but look into them
other two Goals. Then l saw the face of
the thing break into a horrible grin.
- Hello, my lad, IL Sdld IN rather
weak voice, but in good old English You
seem to be frightened a bit about some
thing. Don't be alarmed howsomever
I'm the captain of that English bark you
see over in the harbor there I'm 'alf lead
with rheumatism, and I'm just over here
takin' the San Lorenzo sand bath. It's
great for rheumatics.'
Then | knew that I'd been fool and
my eyes began to swim, my heart, which
had been stopped still, began 10 pound my
ribs like trip-hammer. and l became rs
weak as a cat. | sat right down in the
sand and wiped the sweat off my fevered
brown for five minutes
The Head Treated Him.
"Then | began to notice things and saw
this British bloke's clothes piled up doz-
en- yards away and took in The situation.
Yes broke in this weak voice again, I
come over here every evening to this God
forsaken place and get this sand treat
ment. One of my men is with me, but
he has Just gone over 70 the village to get
a bit of aguardiente Here he is now COM
ing back with H. You'd better have
drop You don't look WE'LL
The other sailor came up with the
liquor, and | took pull al il that made
the bottle look sick. / finally got across
to Callao and got on such a spree that a
guard of marines had 30 round me up and
lake me back to the ship a week later,
and that's about the only time ! might say
7 wac really scared n my life "