Ogden Daily Standard | 1902-05-27 | Page 9 | Superstitions at Sea Section

superstitions AT SEA botlon still acosa the older it Is a mistake according to a well known young naval officer to suppose that the sailors of our present navy arc free from superstition 1 I remember be said only alvo years ago when I 1 was in the training ship that tho old salts there were as full of old super beliefs as any of their ancestors could have been when at sea in a dead calm tho of the masts in the motionless atmosphere sometimes causes a peculiar walling sound like distant cries this the old seamen assured us wag the moaning of the souls 0 sailors lost at sea another one of their pet beliefs Is that all sailors that die by drowning are at once transformed into cape born pigeons or as they are also called mother carels careys chickens officers are supposed to find their eions in sea gulls and mews while tho big solitary albatrosses ses following the wake of passing vessels are the souls of captains who have gone down with their ships these are the reasons why sailors never kill these birds 1 I remember that these tales impressed me a great deal in those days when I 1 was still a mere boy on one occasion I 1 was sitting in the forecastle on my watch below chatting with the boatswains mate a real old timer when our conversation was interrupted by a low wall of agony louder than that usually produced by the wind we listened in a deep awed silence boy said the boatswains mate yo bear that a seamans call been drown ded again the wail disturbed the silence yes said the old sailor in an anz lous whisper some old salt lost his life on board this vessel likely hes come for something hes forgot after awhile I 1 ventured out on deck the walls were coming from the roof of the forecastle I 1 climbed up and there found the captains little son tugging away at the cats tail which the poor animal was resenting with the fall power of its lungs new york tribune