The National tribune., 1902-07-31
WASHINGTON O. THURSDAY JULY 3d. 1902

due east for about 16 hohfs,' making alto
gether pretty wide detour. My own i'm
| preston is that she was Yankee cruiser.
and If the surmise is correct. we came
near falling into the eneniy's clutches. for
she was only about six miles distant when
first discovered.
| BURIAL AT SEA.
| Abont two weeks before our arrival in
| LIVERPOOL we were called upon to pay the
last sad offices to one Of our shipmates,
who, Just before the conclusion Of. that
eventful voyage, launched out upon the
great ocean of eternity. HIS name was
| George Canning. and he wasl one of those
who had joined us at Melbourne, and had
been promoted to be Sergeant OF Marines.
He represented. and we hadrno reason to
doubt it. that he had formerly been an
| officer on Gen. Folks staff, and, while
! thus serving his country, had received.
| at the battle Of Shiloh. 4 ball through
one of his lungs, which incapacitatcd him
| for soldering.
The wound had never entirely healed, and
through it his life finally OoZed away. He
had been for some time unable to perform
active duty. but his danger had not been
considered imminent up to the very night
of his death.
1t so CHANGED that he was alone, with
the exception of his attendant, an old ne
gro, in his last moments. For an hour or
more he had been lying quietly in his
| berth, apparently suffering little pain.
when suddenly he reached forth his hand
and grasped that of his sable companion.
"Good-by. Weeks he said: Il am GO
ing Take care of yourself, old fellow
and the next moment poor Canning was
dead.
That night the body was draped for its
ocean grave in sailor fashion, by being
sewn up in his own hammock, to the foot
of which were securely fastened two 81
pc; rd shot. and the next day the boat
Swan's whistle summoned '.all hands to
bury the dead
4 more sol-mnly impressive scene than
IL burial at sea- can scarcely be imagined.
At tile well-known signal the whole ship $
company assembled on deck. not with tie
| gay alacrity that charactnriZcs their move
lnents when responding TO any other sum-
mons. but with slow steps and serious
| faces that were in keeping with the Oc-
cas;On.
Upon smooth plank. one end of which
rested on the taifrail. while the other was
supported by two seamen, lay the Ell
| shroudcd form of our late comrade, while
near by stood the ships Surgeon with
oren praycr-book in hand. to read the sol
! cmn Burial. Service of the Roman Cath
olic Church. to which tie deceased had
been attached.
All remained uncovered while the Sur
geon. with impressive voice and manner.
recited the solemn formula. and as he re
| pcatcd the words. We therefore commit
his body to the deep. looking for the gen
cral resurrection in the last day. when the
earth and sea- shall give up their dead.
the inner end of the plank was lifted. and
with Il sullen plunge the body disappeared
| forever from our view:
OF Canning's anteccdcntS we knew
| nothing beyond what | have mentioned,
but friends he must have had somewhere
| upon the face OF the earth. and it must
have seemed hard to die with no loved
one near to minister to shis last nccessi-
| ties. H3f
Such. however, is to03s0ffrn the case
with s;ilors-the oceaIf. so long their
| home. in the end proves the mausOlcum
| the last '.goOd-by" is whispered in the ear
Of some rough but sympathetic shipmate.
Once Canning had mentioned that he
| had a wife living in Phris. iand on our
arrival III port, Il notice" wis inserted in
the public Journals. mentioning his death.
and inviting any relative who might see
it to call at No. II Great Georges Square.
Liverpool, and receive stlch worldly pos
| sessions as he had left. ,
This death affected us !ifl the more from
its being the only one that bad occurred
ON board the Shenandoah during her
cruise, with one cyceptict
a poor Sandwich Islander. who had
joined us from the bark Abigail the first
prize we captured in the Ochotsk Sea,
died on the return passage, and far away
from the sunny land of his nativity found
Il sailor's grave beneath the blue water.
tTo be continucd.)