The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-25

his soul to the devil and thus gained added power for harm. In Sandwich at the time was one Stephen Crabbe, who had at one time been an associate of the pirate and had learned some of his black magical practices. Crabbe knew that Sandwich was doomed un- less a saint could be invoked to save the town Public. pr@yers were held and St. Bartholomew was appealed to, with the promise that a chapel and hospital would be built in his honor if he would become the protector of the city.
 Crabbe then sailed forth boldly to meet the pirate. Eustace in the course Of his instructions from the devil, had learned how to make himself, crew and ship invisible, but his art did not pre- vail against Crabbe. Confident that St. Bartholomew would protect him, Crabbe boarded the pirate ship-which to other spectators had become invis- ible, so that Crabbe seemed to be nov ing on the water-and with his good sword e1ashed off the pirates head. With Eustace dead, the charm failed, and the ship became visible to those on shore, who hurried to Crabbe's as- sistance and quickly put an end to the crew. great hurricane then arose and destroyed the other ships of Eus- taces fleet, "and the English said that in the air they saw a man in red gar ments, and heard a, voice saying, T
 d11 6dFIaOlOIu9WS ana am S0nL to aS- eiet you.' -"
 The people of Sandwich immediately began the construction of the chapel and hospital in St. Bartholomew's hon. or, and a custom was established which required that every year, on Au- gust 24th, the commons should march to the chapel and honor the saint who had delivered them from destruction.
 There are scores Of traditions about Fustace, the Black Monk and pirate. It is said that he was a student at the school of black art in Toledo, and af- terward lived for a time in a cave, where he was personally instructed by the devil. Afterward he became a monk but caused much excitement and was expelled because he lasted on feast days and feasted on fast days. For a time he was employed by King John of England to ravage the coasts of France, but afterwards turned pi- rate and p1undered the English towns. Today is the anniversary of the birth of Bill Nye and Bret Harte. The bod l les of both lie moldering in the grave, millions who now tnhabit a world made gayer and happier and braver by their
 brief soJourn.
 1 The whole world has laughed and | wept over the immortal story of min | ing life, 'fThe Luck of Roaring Camp p
 in which honor and pathos are so ad-
 mirably mingled. 'fRassled my finger, l the dam little cuss,'' exc1ains the l hardened old miner, after a visit to
 the camps baby, and every reader
 thrills with sympathy at the profane
 expression of delight
 Both Bret Harte and Bill Nye were born in the eastern and effete sec l ton of the United States, but both found their inspiration to literature
 in the breezy and unconventional att | v10 1% I5
 west'-that same west out of which ] Mark Twain rode to fame and for
 tune on the back of his Jumping Frog"
 Francis Bret Harte was born in AL
 bany, N. Y., seventy-fodr years ago
 today, and at the age of fifteen follow | ed the gold rush to California. Like
 Mark Twain, he worked in the mines,
 set type in a printing office and wrote
 for local newspaper. He was twen- l ty-eight when he published his first l volume, ''Condensed NoveIs,'' a. col
 lection of parodies. The following
 year he became editor of the Over l land Monthly, and in 1870 published a
 volume of verse including "The Heath
 en Chinee." This collection and ''The l Luck of Roaring Camp spread his | name and fame throughout the Eng 1 Iish-speaking world, and in the years I that followed he was even more high 1 Iy honored in England than in his
 native land. He died in England in
 1902.
 Edgar wilson Wye was born in shir- ley Me, sixty-three years ago today, 1 but to quote from his autobio-
 graphy, Cat the age of two years he
 took his parents by the hand and I boldly struck out for St. Croix, Wis, l where the hardy young pioneer soon ] made a home fro his parents. The l first year he drove the Indians out
 of the St. Croix valley and suggested to- the Northwestern railroad that it would be a good idea to build to St. Paul as soon as the company could | get a grant which would pay them tion. The following year he adopted | trousers and''-he adds, although one must believe that his memory was al | fault, since he was then but three Il years oId-"cleared twenty-seven acres l Of land" It is also difficult to accept
 his statement that, at four, ''he began Il to turn his attention to the abolition
 of slavery in the South and to write articles for the press, signed 'Veritas, in which he advocated the war of 1860
 or as soon as the government coul6 get around to it'' Wye was always known as modest man, but thi: seems suspiciously like boasting. A five s'he began. the study of law" bu
 he admits that his progress was slow
 failing several times in his examina ton, and giving bonds for his appear i | ance at the next term of court.
 About this time Wisconsin became st
 thickly settled "that neighbors wer' frequently found as near as five naile
 apart,'' so he went to Cheyenne, Wyd. , where he was "hired as associate edt tor and janitor of the Laramie Sen tine1.'' Those were happy days, anC .sby and by he had won every hear 3 by his gentle, patient poverty and hi 2 delightful parsimony with regard t f facts. With a rectic imagination ant
 an order on a, restaurant which adver
 tised in the paper, he scarcely care
 the 1ivelong day whether school kep = = or not. Thus he rose to justice of tn
 peace, and finally to an income whicl is reported very large to everybod'