The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-12-27

of others often value their I
own highly enough. But this
rule seldom works the other
way. The reckless. daredevil vagabOnd
who butts about the world into all
sorts Of dangers and acquires a sort Of
contempt Of the various forms OF death
he often faces, begins after awhile to
believe that every one else shares his
attitude OF mind tow ard what he con-
siders at the worst only a slight hasten
ing of the inevitable.
such a man is the average sailor. He
has no family, and his more distant
kindred are only vague personalities of
whom he has only a vague knowledge. /
IT is family ties that cause men to fear
death.
If half his shipmates are washed
overheard in a storm, Jack is depressed
for the time being, but a month later,
when he reaches port, he is quite apt 10
give his account Of the incident in a
humorous vein.
"Ye'd a larfed," he says, I'm the
course Of his tale, eff ye'd q seen the
way Tim Hogan was a hangin' on to
the end of a tOpsau brace. like a
blessed herrin hooked on the end Of
line. Then, when ne couldn't hold on
no longer, he just gives a tremendous
wriggle, like he'd swallowed the bait
an 1t was tastin pretty good an of he
swims like ne was looH5n' for more. an
that was the larst we sees of Bill"
As a matter Of fact, Jack did not
laugh at the time of the accident. His
comparison Of a drowning man clinging
TO the end of a rope to a hooked FISH
never entered his head until he spun
ais yarn. Time has given him that at
dtude toward a form Of death so COM
mon that it may be his any day. When
mis- turn comes. he viii not laugh, but II
his ghost survives him it win probably
give an account to che other ghosts of
It's entrance into the spirit world in an
equally humorous vein.
IF you were to consult the log Of the
American bark Southern Cross about
sight years back you would come across
an entry like this:
''Chief Mate Hardy disappeared in
the middle watch. Supposed to have
fallen overheard while examining the
log"
such an entry is common in ships
logs, and IL might not excite much in
terest in the average shore-abiding cit
izen but in the maritime world there
are some TO whom this would recall
memories of a strange personality
Happy Steve.
How Happy Steve was connected
with the drowning of the mate of the
Southern Cross will develop later. First
of all, let me say few words Of the
mate.
will hide Dick Hardy's identity IN
ship owners know him by that. He
has an aged mother living somewhere
up I'm Maine. and for her sake it is bet
ter TO let his past rest. Let it suffice
TO say that under an alias something,
but not quite. like Black Jack, ne was
known the world over as one Of the
blacklist scoundrels that ever trOd a
deck You could hear tales Of his he
roic brutalities from Frisco to Calcut-
Ia. In his day boarding masters had
to drug sailors before they could ship
them on the Southern CrOSs-she was
a hard packet. Today. 7 believe, she is
reckoned one OF the most comfortable
in the American merchant marine.
It was aboard the ship that I made
my first trip to sea that first heard
Of Hardy. and while 7 have listened to
innumerable tales of him since, and
have even related some Of his exploits
myself that Introductory knowledge Of
him viii always remain with me as a
distinct impression. For was present
when the first authentic account of his
death was given out by the one man
who knew.
This was aboard the old Nicaraguan
bark Don AdolfO. She had aboard a
crew Of hardy, reckless west coast ad-
venturers, most Of whom were on the
west coast because 30 was not particu-
larly healthy for them to be anywhere
else. Not that they were really a bad
lot. but, as I have already said, they
were Of that class who had acquired an
attitude toward human life not com
patible with the laws Of more civilized
parts.
one OF the men was a chap called
Happy Steve. It was his optimistic
temperament that had given him his
name. Come what would, hard weather,
t0psails to reef a leaky ship TO pump,
or, I'm fine weather. decks TO hoiystOue
boats to scour with sand and canvas.
steve always accepted these hardships
with a jolly smile, while his shipmates
looked back and swOre. Steve could
swear. too. but he did it IN such a hui
morous way that the foul words on his
lips lost their worst significance. Even
when he had a grOwl with the captain
81 usually ended with the captain
laughing and granting the demand.
Usually an Optimist IS not a favorite
I'm a ships fOrecaste but Steve could
give everything such a humorous turn
that his shipmates would laugh IN spite
OF themselves. During the second dos
watch he kept the men in a continuou.
exploits. Happy Steve told man sto-
Ties. but there was one that beat then
all
We had passed the doldrums ant
were well down into the southeag.
trades. where the steady breeze made
St seldom necessary 20 pull a rope or tC
touch a sail ia that respect Il was al
most like steamboating. Our dos
watches were never disturbed anC
every mans artistic ability as a story
teller was in full demand.
one evening the conversation turned
TO hard-case Yankee packets, Of ship.
where men take and give blows with
deadly intent. Each man told Of the