The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1912-05-22
.,crrrsQuE RITES IN MEMORY
PlO' DEAD USUALLY MARK
u MIDNIGHT HOUR.
ENACTED IN SECRET

Civ
ocean Liners Seek to Save
ONCE ,bIe and Expense for Thelf
Companies by Quietly D lisp! I11s, Oa
G Uodies of Any Who Die WINE
crossing the Sea-
Koch in Saturday Globe.
BY u to ia within the memory OF the
nSl Generation still the familiar
prses .1on from the old school read
7F8 aoIemn, but never more SO than
tlm0' " The paragraphs were writ
at Se Probably half a century si htgb
Ten vet burial methods on tne n a;ta
anu have scarce improved d inA'0
since b tno with, the ocean steam
10 ooncerns realize that to holo
snip o oUaI properly on the high seas
luI'' o 10 inconvenience to their
FouIu ~ not money to themselves:
I IUIvT. the deceased was OF the 1hlro
h Nc, if is probable that the cost OF
c aoln ~ Good casket and of such oth-
la th;9qs as a decent burial would
Ter tnlT nocassary would have to come
man the company's pockets, and
H. rbf1e kin on shore might pe
lI ,1,iDg they would be unable to re-
, "ri1,ns So, unless the decease :.
have families aboard the Iact OIL MS
l lu'3sa in the isolated ship hospital
uT scarcely be made known.
We come night, as the ship groans
u,rithes with the press or the
anu o some passenger who is light
S ISo,or and not disturbed by sea-
etoGp NAV note the ringing bell
danoting the midnight hour Many
a0 rostIss sleeper has actually enjoyed
a,nnting the hours by bell taps on a
Ii Ue Almost upon the heels of the
num-. .al,nd +bera will come the rattle OF
o Uc chains, and the machinery of
abo shin will stop. Not that the mo-
ion .IT ceases. oh, dear no! that would
he absolute waste of time. the snip
Goes m with it's own momentum, out
fhe machinery stops and to that eX-
font a regulation is obeyed which
Iooks well in print, of course, When
4 Government investigations are made.
Meantime only a very few of the
messengers will know what is hap
bening. Possibly if any stand in"
with one of the officers, or II one mas
sailor friend in the crew, quiet
/. tin" will be given to be far aft on
the lower deck at midnight
At Midnight's Weird Hour.
Above a million stars shine down,
as it seems the stars do only on the
sea, Possibly a rising moon throws
a long belt of white on the water.
Il Things may be seen bobbing In the
sea at a distance-sharks those who
smell the dead from afar and will
follow a ship bearing a corpse for
days. On deck itself the steerage
i passengers have been locked beneath
matches Whenever a distant storm
is presumably imminent the steerage
matches are closed, and distant
storms form a good excuse at such
time as this On the cabin decks
some few belated tourists may be
resting in their steamer chairs, tell
ing tales of far-off vacation lands.
Away up on the top deck crowd OF
young people may still be singing rag
time. Otherwise the liner is sleep
ing and blowing on into the sea.
Quietly, unconcernedly sailors pass
the few huddled groups Of passen-
gers and go aft.
No one Is allowed on that deck
after l1:30," an officer advises some
cabin passengers who have a suspi-
cion that something Is afoot. These
take to the rear rail of their own
deck and look down, all the more
curious. There Is always a lure in
the forbidden and never more so
IMAM at sea. Something is afoot and
everyone is bound to see it.
Out of the darkened shadows come
some sailors with a crude coffin. 1t
was fashioned by the ships carpen-
ler 10 Mt its tenant and may or may
9ot De painted. The old man inside
uieG at six that morning; at mid
nl8nt ne is consigned to the sea.
= F''OASeI WdJCuSS proceedings
llom the shelter of shadow. The
S SolIn Is put in a sail cloth. Some
neaFy pieces of iron-"cannon balls"
oue would read of in the directions
tor sallors-are added. Then there
a cry to the watch.
All right"
me sailor in charge sounds the
midnight bell.
Let her go!"
me ship is stopping. The body in