Year: 1875

ance with the Captains 9 statement.


The Bremen had hard passage and
was repeatedly becalmed. Finally the
lime juice and the vegetables gave out,
and nothing but salt provisions was left
on board. Then the terrible disease of
scurvy made its appearance. One by
one the men and officers we're attacked,
one by one they died in misery and an
guish. Thirteen men were committed
to the waves during the funeral voyage,
the last one dying on Monday night in
, sight of San Francisco, after the ship
had crossed the bar. Two more sue
cumbed to the dread scourge just Mon
day. The suferings of all were horrible
in the extreme, and the survivors of the
melancholy voyage are many of them IN
precarious condition.


, Nine Years without a Word.


The Troy Press tells the following
strange story concerning the husband
of a lady who died recently in West
Troy:


The lady and gentleman referred to
were married about twenty years ago,
and came to West Troy shortly after,
and lived there together until the death
of the wife. The latter was a most in
dustrious, highly respectable, and relig-
ious woman. For the first ten years of
her married life, during which period
five children were born, she did every
thing possible for woman to do in Or
der to please her husband, but to no
purpose. When she did her best her
husband was sure to make out that she
had done wrong. He grumbled con-
tinually, but at times he would break
out and pour upon his wife the most
unmerciful abuse, continuing it for sew
eral days together, Then would inter-
vene silence broken only by his seek
ing an opportunity to give his wife a
beating when nobody was in sight, and
when she least expectd it. After he had
abused her he would bring in the neigh
bors and say to them that his wife had
fallen and hurt herself, poor creature /;
how sorry he was for it; and he would
address her as "My DEAR" and ask if she
was badly hurt, and he would run for a
doctor. He was so plausible and kind
and affectionate that nobody would be-
lieve his wife when she told that it was
her husband who had caused her the in
iuries The neighbors thought her era
zy, or at least hysterical when she
made any statements of this kind. For
a long time he managed to beat his wife,
and to conceal it in this way. Indeed it
had reached point, the wife taking
those fits 80 often, that the arrangements
were all but completed to send the poor
woman to an insane asylum. One day,
however, the brokenhearted wife was
sitting by the cradle, in which was her
youngest child baby, rocking it, and
attending to some sewing at the same
time. Her husband was in one of his
silent moods at the time. While she
was sitting as described, the husband
entered and passed through into the
yard. He returned within a few minutes
In the interim neighboring lady had
entered and gone into an adjoining bed
room. This lady observed him walk
ing up quietly behind his wife and with
out word or giving the least warning,
doubled his fist and struck her tremsn-
dous blow on the back ofthe head, lea
wing her sprawling on the floor insensi-
BILE. This done he at once ran out to
bring the neighbors as usual and atfec-
ted the greatest concern about his wife,
wondered how much she was hurt, and
finally proposed to 60 for the doctor.


The lady who had secreted herself in
the bedroom accused him of the assault,
and when he was gone for the doctor
she went for the police and had him ar
rested. His wife appeared in court and
told the whole story of her husbands
cruelty toward her, but woman like,
begged the court to forgive him. Her
request however, was denied, and the
cruel husband had to languish several
months in Jail. Or leaving the dock az
ter receiving sentence he turned to his
wife and said that she had wronged him
by what she had testified to, and TO re-
member that he would never speak to
her again on this earth. This scene oc-
CURED nine years ago. The man served
out his sentence and returned TO his
family. From the day of his return un.
til two days before her death, which
took place recently, he never exchanged
a word with her directly. 1t was ne
cessary, living together as they were,
husband and wife, the parents of the
same children, to have an interchange
of sentiments regarding the affairs of
the household occasionally: This was
done in the following manner: When
they were sitting in the same room the
husband would tell one of the children
to say 80 and so to the mother. The
mother would answer directly, which,
if it required further answer, would
be done through the child as before.
But it was only when he was in par
ticularly happy moods that he would
even communicate in this way.


His most usual mode of communica-
tion to his wife what he wanted to say
was for him to retire into separate
room, and thence issue his mandates
through one of the children. Two days
before the wife died, after she had been
sick for some weeks, her condition was
made known to him, when he was
working in the garden, by the doctor in
attendance and the clergyman who hsd
been called in. He was told that his
wife was on the verge of death, and
that he must make his peace with her
while she was yet conscious. The idea
of death seemed to stagger him. lie