The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-14

a stowaway or cattle ship, where
after his discovery. he was detailed TO
the work of washing the mules faces. II
iished for sharks. visited various out-of
parts of the earth, and was re
manded to "calabozo' in Haiti.
One of the quaint customs curren
among sailors is that of 'burying tn
dead HORSE and it is described at length
by Mr.. King. as follows:
When the crew was shipped an ad-
vance note of one month 3 wages was
granted each man. These notes were
kept by the boarding masters, who
took every procaCtion to have the men
sail in the ship. Then, at the expira-
ton of forty-eight hours after sailing,
they could get the notes cashed. A
donkeys breakfast (mattreSs), pot,
pan, and spoon. and bottle of rum
was the outfit most Of the men re-
ceived for their months advance. The
Belgian hadn't that much. Besides
his advance note he had paid a small
sum of money for the privilege of be-
coming a slave for few weeks. Now
that we had been at sea a month,
every man felt that this. a day of all
days. was a fresh starting point In his
career. Now he began to work for
himself; no longer did he toll for the
boarding master.
Il heard the men talk about bury
Keen interest their work of stufling
the animal They secured some old
grain sacks which We're in the fore
peak. cut out the figure of q horse,
and sewed the parts together Each
man gave bit of straw from his dom
keys breakfast, and this, with some
old yarns from the shakings barrel,
they stuffed into the gunnysack horse.
Although il would have suggested any
other animal Just as readily, IL an
swered the purpose and created the
desired merrment.
During the to S dogwatch they
brought forth the beast. Then some
kicked and others scrambled to get a
hit at him. his representative OF the
months wages given to the boarding
masters was hauled up on the fore
castle head and here we had the
fun to ourselves The men entered so
heartily into the frolic that l would
have given the boarding master a
months advance, so that, like them,
The horse might have had real mean
ing TO me. No crowd of schooiboys
could have appreciated the fun Of the
hour more than they did.
Il cannot remember the words of
the trial, nor the verdict of the court.
nor the sentences of the funeral serv-
ice. l have witnessed few dead
horse scenes, but have never heard
the same words. Standing in front
of the horse, with book in his hands,
Frisco occasionally rolled his eyeballs
upward. and in a comical memorized
rigmarole eNpatiated on the virtues and
failings OF the beast. For few min
utes he kept the crowd convulsed with
laughter. When he finished the SEN
tence with so you must die. he struck
the stuffed horse blow on the head
with a serVing-mallet and began the
burial service. After this bit of ia
seriousness, we carried the horse to
the lee cathead and roared out the
chanty Poor old man. your horse is
going to die
Poor old.man. your horse is going to die.
And say so, and ] hope so.
Oh. poor old man, your horse is going to die
Oh, poor old man.
For thirty days we've ridden him,
And | say so, and | hope so.
For thirty days we've ridden him,
Oh, poor old MAJ.
When he's dead well tan his skin,
And ! say so, and | hope
When he's dead wen tan his skin,
Oh poor old man.
Here is little more sea lingo:
"AlI sorts of names were applied TO
the different kinds of food. For in
blind oatmeal porridge or burgoo,
was stirabout:' molasses was long
tail sugar salt beef. old junk; hard
biscuit soaked in pea soup, dogs
body this with little molasses
added, and baked in the oven, was
dandy funk.
The value of this book lies mainly in
he accuracy of its account of the life
md customs of the forecastle. From a
literary point of view il is not much
Boston: Houghton, Miffiin & Co. $500