The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-05-06
By Frank T. Bullen.

Of my task | have seen so many strange
things in my varied career ashore and
afloat that l hardly know to which OF
them | may assign the pre-emincnt posi-
ton OF strangest, and of course 1t ma!
we'll be. that what appears 10 me .le
strangest OF my experiences may LOT @ IaCh
of appreciation appear almost common
place 10 my readers Still atter an oltcI
Moons meditatiVc review or the occuui
rcnces OF n lifetime l have come 70 ,s e,ss
conclusion that as far as my perceptions
are concerned the strnngcst thlns i csvi
saw happened one night in the NoIlh ~
lantic in the month OF fepInNS Sad
that is, when ! was l5 Years old. YET hao t
experienced more vcissitudes thaIl ialL ~ ~
tho lot OF most of our citizens an thcit
lives long. And l am suppor'e11 ,no IN ',,as re-,
idea by the vivid recollection oil the re-
marks passed by every mempeI 3l @ .lS
crew, albeit conversation in that st'iS W.
carried on In curious ineaIes a inred ~, IN
ish and French, for we had ShlpPeu az, r,t
entire crew in Havana the original snip
company having all died OF yoiloW N,t' tSNS,
end as many nauonahpes wetG Th lep, paEinner
cd as there were individuals, Inc SKIPPER
was Wclsh-Ynnkcc. the mate ScotCh; wv
second mate Canadian. the carpehtIet I n nI'a- In
sian-Finn, the cook and ste"aIu Sadtsh Su,aGd
divdunD Dominican. The crew Sweu'Su'
French Montenegro, Italian, Greek, AUS
trian American. Negro, one man WHO @ ulu
not, know where he was s ,2V.so,f DUrn, "n' Lon
| doner. The ship hailed from ST An
drcws, Nova Scotia.
A Startling Development
So much by way Of introduction we
left Mobile Ala, with cotton, oouhd Iol
Liverpool. and after not more tnan I,dar tne
ing the time OF year. found ourselves "e,,
out in the Atlantic-I can't OF course. te,,
where. except that know we Were were Mc,, d
clear of the American land we ma"
weathercd n tremendous gale and the con-
sequent sea had died down very quickly,
so that on the night OF whlch Spcth pi,t,s VIZ
| n.rfT
water save for the inevitable swell.
belonged TO the port Watch, Whlcn CalI
on deck al midnight and rs soon as w@Ieel VICE.
and lookout were relieved | cuddied down
on the aftcr~hatch by the side oil my
chum. Louis Didclot of Bordeaux ana car
rlcd on our usual unsatisfactory conYerSa-
tion in broken Spanish. he knowing no
English and l no French.
| The sky was utterly devoid of cloud ana
! the moon had set Lying there LOOKING
up into the immcnsty, the stnr-beams
seemed to pierce my eyeballs and ran,
cicd them quite near; while tho awtul
void behind them filled me with vague
ward into inhnity and wondering, as
primitive folk have ever wondered, Wnat
was beyond. Then suddenly out OF that
dark violet heaven there burst snnLa
globe OF fire so brilliant that Its light
| struck the eye with acute pain Nor did
1t como silently a report as OF great
gun fired reverberatcd sullenly along
the the silence of the ;nld-sea., The first
amazing splendor of this celestial por-
rcut only lasted n fraction OF second; !;
then. as 1t rushed Its way around an arc
of the heavens. II left a wide band OF
! light behind II with kissing as II II
sped through wet mist, AT the same timc
/! threw of a multitude of vari-colored
sparks | must call them suppose, OUT
really stars would convey better popu~
lar idea OF the appearance of these lovely
coruscations. They were nudiole, 100
above the kissing already noticed, the
sound they made being like that OF the
firing of a cannon heard at an immense
distance
The Chill of Fear.
How long the splendor of this celestial
ylSltant endured / cannot tell. only
know that l Law in acutest terror, with
parched lips and heavng bowels, expect
ing the appearance In the heavens OF the
Great White Throne and the myriads of
angels such as | had often % read OF G.,1t the
I do not know, but my little French ship
mate was in even worse case than L
Though the night was very warm, where
his hand clutched my arm was conscious
of an icy chill, and with the other hand
he frantIcally repeated the sign OF the
cross his Ups muttered incessantly, un-
intelligibly,
The vast meteor almost completed the
circuit of the horizon, perhaps 1t took
fifteen seconds. perhaps five minutes TO
do so. / cannot tell. for those seconds
seemed Hike hours and then with one per-
fcctly binding blaze OF glory, definite
report and smell as of burning sulphur,
II burst INTO tnOuSdnuS OF oaZZlnS lIdB
ments and disappeared leaving the
mighty concavc for the moment quite
black by comparison with It's previously
intense light, and the stars though plnin-
| Iy visible quite dull and lusterlcss. What
| | thought or what / felt / cannot tell:
| as far as mortal fear permitted me to
think al all my mind was filed with fraS-
ments OF the apocalypse and intcrJection-
| al PRAYERS while | shivered as If with
! severe ague. And somehow | felt sure
| that this amazing appearance was only
| the prelude, the Introduction TO something
much greater. In fact | felt certain tha
1 the end OF all things was at hand. And
MS far as the former Idea was concerned
| stars began To fall. that is to all appear
| ance. for what did | know OF meteor
| showers. and as l have said. the stars
/ had ceased TO shine after the first phe-
nomenon and only appeared like tiny
white specks against the somber back
| ground OF the night.
Awaiting Developments.
These falling stars then began their
vagarIes one by one timidly tentatively,
| as If Just feeling their way, I'm no case
different from the insignificant mcteors
which may be witnessed OH any fine night
| and are scarcely noticed by any one cX-
| cept astronomers and very SupcrSttious
| people. But / noticed that gradually the
J whole aspect of the heavens seemed 10
| change the permanent stars disappeared,
| or To my thinking were failing from
| heaven as a iigtrce casteth her vntimely
| figs ] had no more capacity for terror
No Mother de-