Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-02-04
! THE DROWNING
! OF BLACK JACK

Yarn of the Sailors Peculiar Sense
of Humor.

M EN- who do not value the lives of
lN others often value their own
high enough. But this rule seldom
works the other way.
The reckless daredevil v~agabond who
butts about the world into all sorts of
dangers and acquires a sort of con-
tempt for the various forms of death
he often faces, begins after awhile to
believe that every one else shares his
attitude toward what he considers at
the worst only a slight fastening of
the inevitable.
Such a man is the average sailor.
If half his shipmates are washed over
board in a storm, Jack is depressed for
the time being, but a month later,
when he reaches port, he is quite apt
to give his account of the incident in
a humorous vein.
"Ye'd "a larfed," he says, in the
course of his tale, "if ye'd "a seen the
way Tim Hogan was a-hangin' on to
the end of the topsail brace, like a
blessed herrin' hooked on the end of a
line. Then, when he couldn't hold on
no longer, he just gives a tremendous
wriggle, like he'd swallowed the bait
an it was tastin' pretty good, an off he
swims like he was lookin' 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 cling
ing to the end of a rope to a hooked
fish never entered his head until he
spun his yarn.
Time has given him that attitude
toward a form of death so common
that 1t may be his any day. When his
turns comes he will not laugh, but If
his ghost survives him it will probably
give an account to the 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
eight 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 it might not excite much
interest in the average s~hore-abiding
citizen, but in the maritime world
there are some to whom it would re-
call 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 a few words of
the mate.
will hide Dick Hardy's identity I'M
der his real name; none but a few
ship owners know him by that. Let it
suffice to say that under an alias some
thing like Black Jack he was known
the world over as one of the blacklist
~scoundrels that ever trod a deck.
You could hear tales of his heroic
brutalities from Frisco to Calcutta. In
his day boarding masters had to drug
sailors before they could ship them
on the Southern Cross-she was a
hard packet. To-day, 1 believe, she is
reckoned one of the most comfortable
in the American merchant marine.
| was present when the first au-
thentic 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 adventures, most
OF whom were on the west coast be-
cause 1t was not particularly healthful
for them to be anywhere else. Not
that they were really a bad lot, but,
as | have already said, they were of
that class who had acquired an attitude
toward human life not compatible with
the laws OF more civilized parts.
Che of the men was a chap called
Happy Steve. 1t was his optimistic
temperament that had given him his
name. Come what would, hard
weather, topsails to reef, a leaky ship
to pump or, in fine weather, decks to
holystone, boats to scour with sand
and canvas, Steve always accepted
hardships with a jolly smile, while his
shipmates looked black and swore.
Steve could swear, too, but he did it
in such a humorous way that the foul
words on his lips lost their worst sig
niicance. Even when he had a growl
with the captain 1t usually ended with
the captains laughing and granting
the demand.
Usually an optimist is not a favorite
in q ships ~forecastle, but Steve could
give everything such a humorous turn
that his shipmates would laugh in
spite OF themselves. During the second !