Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-01
HOODOO BOATS ON LAKES
SOME VESSELS sEFm TO BE ILL.,
FArED FROM THE START.


Queer superstitiona Are Current
Among Men who Lsxs ON the Water
Some Things Certain Jonahs.
From the Milwaukee Sentipsx
"And that is true. f6f saw 1t with my
own eyes when 1 was asbey. and 1 am not
superstitious, either" aid
1t was a weather-bestsn. old sailor talk
ing as he shifted his qma sand spun yarn
of life on the wave. .AbeaA him had gath
cred a little knot of fresf-water salts bask-
ing in the sunshine on The docks, and the
talk had started with the usual II told you
So" following the discussion of the wreck
OF the schooner Rand. for 1t was day or
two after the big storm
cit was a hoodoo boat" said one sailor
land any man who valued his life would
never have shipped on her. She was bound l
to come to some bad end from the very rec
ord of her first trips. She never did have |
any luck A man can tell when "a boat is |
fighting not only the winds and the waves, |
but ali the forces of hell. No. I'm not |
superstitious, either. but I know what I
know" And then he settled down to tell
his story.
when was sailing en- salt water as a |
boy-although 1 was getting mems wages |
then-as we was off the coast of South |
the wheel and as good man as ever |
watched the compass-his name was OLA |
ferty, and good man--and the mate come |
down and told him that he was off his |
course. He said that he had seen human |
hand in the binnccle pointing two or three |
points off from the true course. The mate |
glanced at the compass but saw nothing, |
and told the man to steer true to his |
course O'Flaherty brought the boat around |
to its course again. but Inside of ten min |
utes called up the mate The officer re- |
CDGndp6 VII 1rrno irfa
compass box again. He .swore he saw the |
hand pointing in the sa ale direction as be- |
fore. The mate cursed him roundly and |
took the wheel himself. 1 was standing |
ear all the time Inside, of a half hour the |
mate himself saw the hand. He called me, |
and saw it.. too. 1t was pointing as be-
ship ought to take. Just then the captain |
came up from below. He said that he could |
not sleep-that something was always |
a as'aS ~ nun lust as he began doing. He
mate told him about the hand and then the |
captain took the wheel Pretty soon he |
saw the hand pointing as before. He turn !
eo the boat In the direction it pointed saw |
ing that he would abandon the true course |
unit! daybreah and see If the mysterious !
nand meant anything. |
GhostIy Hand Brought Helm.
And now here is what am telling YOU. |
After following the off course for a while |
we came upon burning ship signaling for |
heip. IL was bark, bound for Liverpool, |
and burning to the waters edge We nick |
ed up tWenty-three men and brought them |
safe to port, and that was on the old |
queen OF Scots of Liverpool and it's q |
fact for saw 1t with my own ewes when |
was boy. and / am"not superstttious |
either -
After a momentary@ silence the tale |
brought out another similar story from a |
younger man. who had heard it from his |
uncle. who, had sailed from the African
fN1soc -I,, a.,
and the wheelman noticed a bird flying |
over his head with loud cries and then !
darting off to the starboard of the course |
of the boat. Time after time the bird went |
through these unusualsmovements, scream |
ing Justify as it passed over the head OF |
the steersman, then flying off to one side |
for way and returning again to the ship. |
The captain was called the ship turned |
to follow the bird. and came upon yes- |
sci in distress. All the crew but one or |
two was saved. and the men received |
neat sum from the owners when they came |
to port. L
There is something on the ocean which |
tells the seamen when there Is anything |
going wrong about Them: was the conclu-
sion of the story. ~
--. Beliefs of Lake Sailors.
The superstitions OF the sailors on the |
great lakes are not so pronounced as those |
of the yesselmen who take long trips on |
salt water. leaving home and friends for |
months at a time and having nothing but |
the broad expanses of sea and sky to In |
spire their thoughts. But sailors are more |
or less superstitious wherever they are |
found and not one among them but can !
tell. uncanny stories of happenings which |
cannot be accounted for by natural rea- |
sons.
There is not even captain owner on
the lakes. to say nothing OF a sailor. who |
would start on the first journey of the sea- /
son Friday, and there are not few |
who protest against leaving port on that |
day during the entire season. The super
stition is SO deep-rooted that 1t is accepted |
without question
Rats leaving a doomed vessel is an old
and well-understood superstition. chung to
tenaciousy by the the, vesselmsn Of the ocean
said the sailor on the docks who told the |
first story. 1T is nature and something
We cannot get at, but it has been proven
time and time again that when rats leave
the boat either at the dock or in mid-sea
the vessel will never see port again.
Dowieites are Jonahs.
81 hate to sail a boat with Psalm
singer said another old sailor. Il hear
that in Chicago the men will not ship with
a boat that carries any Of the DoWfe people
or even any Of the boats that carry his
books and papers 1 know that l would
hate to have him aboard unless the wealth
err was fair and the winds good. They said
that there were some Of his books on the
Rand when she went down
There was preacher on board the Oak
ley when l was sailing her in 1888, said
another of the number, who had hitherto
been silent, and 1t was rough trip. The
boat began to leak pretty hard and one OF
the sailors named Jim Farley-an old fell
low and a good sailor-began to curse the
preacher worse than I ever heard any one
or anything cursed before or since. He
said that the boat was going to the bot
tom and every one board the vessel
would be lost just because. that Psalm
singer was on board. and he wanted us to
stick the knife into him. He said that the
preachers own Bible proved that a prophet
had no business on boat, and II there
was whale in the great lakes he would be |
In favor Of throwing over the preacher so
that the miracle Of Jonah could be re-
peated. The preacher was SO sick that he |
didn't mind what was said to him. and the