The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-13

a full due, draw the charge finally
from his bomb-gun, and in the midst
OF a. smiling family remember the Gays
that were gone for ever, when for
three or four years at a time he wan
dered over the blue bosom OF the deep,
scorning delights and living laborious
DAYS in the hope of one day moorlng
in a snug harbor like this. or course
he would build him tower upon his
house wherefrom to watch critically
the manoeuVering of whaleshipS in the
bay by the younger generation. Oh
course he could still take the keenest
interest in the whaling news ana wei
come with hospitality that knew no
bounds the returning skipper who was
boat header with me, sir, in the ole
Awashonks' That was but natural
and right, but the pity of it all was
that such men as this seemed con-
genitally unable to tell their story for
the benefit of a world OF hero-wor'
shippers. Another pitiful thing too
often happened.
These old seafarers whose deep-set
eyes seemed as if behind them nestled
supernal wisdom while at sea, who
made light of the arduous task of con-
trolling the representatives of dozen
rations dung promiscuously together
within the narrow compass of single
ship: whose diplomacy in dealing not
merely with fiendishly hostile natives
of the Eastern seas and Polynesia but
with knavish white ship plunderers in
civilized ports was marvellous to the
last degree; these men once outside
their~own proper sphere of action be-
came The easiest of preys to designing
rascals of the Spectator type, and Of
ten found the painful Accommodations of
many years melt away in single
night One does not need to look far
to-day to find many such cases, where
the old sea warrior long past his al
lotted span of years must needs accept
some small post for the sake of daily
bread; feeling that all his heroic toll
has but sufficed to fill the casual pock-
cts of some be-jewelled villain, who
spends more in one night on his So
called pleasures than old Capt. Bunker,
his victim, could patiently gather to-
gether in half a year.
But this is an ungrateful theme and
one that need not be labored since the
confiding simplicity of seafarers has
long passed into a proverb. What l
would far rather dwell upon in the
few lines of allotted space left me for
this article is the marvellous vitality
and almost incredible average longevity
of thes old whaling captains and, in
lesser degree, of those connected with
the business, although not actually go
ing to sea. as if they became infected
with the marvellous life persistence of
those with whom they foregathered on
each returning voyage Here in New
Bedford and Fairhaven one is contin-
ually confronted with men of clear
eye. splendid physique and almost I'M
wrinkled brow who, one is calmly told,
range from eighty to one hundred
years of age. A man of seventy is al
most contemptuously dismissed from
consideration as a mere boy AS an in
stance. taking a drive with a gentle
man yesterday. my friend pointed to
house we were nearing, saying: You'll
see a man sitting on the front stoop
of that house who is still one of our
leading citizens. He is ninetyfour
years old" AS we drew near I saw
a splendid specimen of what we should
call a very old man at home, sitting in
a rocking chair on the porch, but my
friend, with a gesture of disappoint-
ment said: "Oh, that's not the man
mean; that is his SOM"
Now, in closing. it will be noted that
I have not in these recollections given
even the faintest outline of any of the
splendid stories l have heard since 1
have been here, although my pen has
almost itched to do so. But I have
great hopes of recalling one or two of
them in a succeeding article.