The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-09-19
WOES CONE WHEN
CAT IS KILLED
Murder of Captains Pet by ST.
perStitiOuS Sailors Blamed
for UnluGky Voyage.

Carrying jury topmasts, with her main
course IN tatters and her crew exhausted,
the Norwegian bark Gartha, 40 days from
Pandang, in Java, trailed through The
Narrows in tow of an ocean tug that
had picked up the storm battered old wind
TANNER off Sandy Hook
There had been never a dry deck in
all Of the 1890 nautical miles of the
weary voyage. Head seas and gales had
been the portion Of the ships company
time
1t was all due to the loss Of Tom. the
ships big black cat as Captain Skulistad
explained, with mournfuI shakes of mis-
grizzled mead. one Of the crew knows
what became Of Tom, for he was the
cats eXecutiOneT.
Vast cargoes had come and gone across
the Atlantic while the Gartha was max
ing that long voyage.
you see, sailors do not like cats at
sea-" said the captain. They think
cat brings bad luck and so when I shipped
Tom in Batavia before sailing for Pan
dang the whole crew felt sure that bad
luck was coming.
An the way to Pandang the crew were
talking about that cat They did not
ike him around, though he was wei
1t was when We we're beating into Pan
dang that abe cat was lost 1 wish /
knew who did i'll wish 1 knew.
1T was just before eight bells. and the
watch was about to be changed. / dis
unctly saw in the gloom a sailor come
up from the 70 castle with black sort
Of bundle. The man gave the bundle a
toss and I heard a sort of wall. Then /
knew Tom had been cast overheard.
Ihe sailor disappeared and every man
q
knowledge of the cats disappearance. But
I knew that one OF them was guilty and
knew we were going to have nard
voyage.
I'VE were not long in doubt. The very
day We sailed out Of PandGng. on March
~. we ran into a head gale that carried
away our topgallant sails. The wind just
tore them sails all to pieces. We rugged
new ones the next Gay and they, too were
torn from the ropes.
"But it was not until April II, while we
were still in the Pacific that we met real
trouble.
THE wind fell almost to a dead calm
and then il swOoped down on US from the
southwark and just tore the topmasts out
of the ship, All three Of the topmasts
with all attached rigging, went over the
side and began pounding our hull. With
the bark heeling away to port and seas
washing US fore and aft / managed to get
her nose into the wind and start men
chOpping away that wreckage.
<AlteE some uays1 Wneu tne weather
cleared. we rugged them sticks" pointing
contemptuOusly to his jury tOpmasts, but
even so we could not make up for the
loss Of our to'gallantsls, and then we lost
more sails and had to keep on patching
and replacing canvas.
''Ths straining hull spread some Of the
seams, coming around the Cape Of Good
Hope and for two days we had worked
the pumps until the weather cleared. We
finally recaIked the deck and some OF the
side seams. but we had to work the pumps
more or less all the rest of the voyage.
mo use going over the whole voyage.
It was day after day of plunging and lift
ing TO head seas and beating about for
miles to gain a mile Of Roadway.
''It was all on account of the loss OF
that cat If Tom had not been cast to
the sharks we would never have made
such a voyage"