THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER
W. AT. HANDKUS, I'libllilicr.
NEMAHA.
N EI! HAS It A.
THE MOUTH ORGAN BAND.
Vhon tho fireflies dnnco where tho roses
are blooming,
Lml lilies bond low to tho broczes' ca
ress; hen tho cinnamon vino all tho air Is per
fuming m Evening has donned her most beau
tiful dress
iik, then, as tho stars In tho firmament
Kllstun
And Night spreads her mantlo abroad
o'er tho land,
'TIs pleasant to rest In tho moonlight and
listen
To sweet serenades of tho mouth-organ
band.
It Isn't pretentious this organization:
Its members aro fow. Thero Is "Skinny,
the Kid,"
Tho blacking of boots Is his humblo voca
tion, Hut musical genius can never bo hid.
There's "Hob" ho sells papers along with
his fellows;
He's short Just a leg and he's minus a
hand,
But he's chock-full of song and with lungs
llko a bellows,
IIo plays tho loud baas for tho mouth-organ
band.
And there's Widow McOann's llttlo boy
"he's a dalsyl"
Ho all his companions declare with r
smile,
And add: "Why, dat kid ho kin us' Bet
you crazy
When ho gives you do music In tremolo
style."
Oeorgo Washington Jcfforson Franklin Do
zarro lie's colored tho alto Is In his com
mand, And all through tho air runs a ribbon of
sorrow
Whenever ho plays with tho mouth-organ
band.
When thoy como up tho street playing
Star-Spangled Hanner,"
"Tho Last Hobo of Summer," or "Sweet
By and By,"
Though strangely grotcsquo Is tho music
nnd Manner,
A tear all unbidden may moisten tho
oyo.
""or Music Is holy "tho daughter of
Henvon"
Her wonderful meaning wo all under
stand, Hid hIiq gladdens our Uvea when with mar
velous leaven
Sho touches tho hearts of tho mouth-organ
band.
Nixon Waterman, In I,. A. W. Bulletin.
VA4.4.4.J4.4.4.J.XXXXJLXXX4.X4.4.4.J.y
1 V "
Capture of
tbe "Comet."
BY DAVID WECHBLEB.
-
Copyright, 1897.J
STTTiPTT-H
ON THE morning of June 20, 1871,
thebrigCoinet, bound from Charles
ton to Bahia, was oil' the coast of
French Guiana in a dead calm, which
had set in ut midnight. As far as could
be seen from the deck not n sail was in
sight, and after breakfast the watch
on deck turned to at various jobs and
the captain remained in his cabin. At
about nine o'clock, and without our
having suspected her presence, a ship's
boat touched our port bow, and next
moment a gang of men came tumbling
in board. The entire watch happened
to bo In the waist of the brig at that mo
ment, nnd tho fellows, to the number
of 14, reached the deck without oppo
sition or question. No sooner hud I
caught sight of the first one than I rec
ognized the uniform of the French con
victs at the penal settlement of Cay
enne, but the last of the gang wns over
the rnll before I stopped forward to ask
what was wanted. A burly big fel
low, who wns surely a Frenchman, but
spoke excellent English, advanced a
step or two nnd replied:
"We aro convicts, ns you perceive.
We escaped yesterday morning. Wo do
not mean you any hnrm, and if you
will do as we wish all will be well. If
you aro not the captain then please
call him."
There were six muskets among the
14 men, and one had but to glance at
tho faces to realize that they were des
ecrate. I looked over the rail and saw
i largo yawl, provided with mast and
(ail and oars, and a breaker of water
J ml a box of brend were stowed in the
bows.
"Wo had plenty of wind yesterday
nnd up to midnight," said the. spokes
man. "After that wo took to the oars.
Let us see the captain nnd como to an
understanding as soon ns possible."
I sent the boy down for Capt. Bright,
nnd if I had been astonished at sight
of tho convicts pouring in over the bows
ho was dumbfounded at finding them
drawn up in lino across tho deck. Ho
was trying to ask for an. explanation
when tho spokesman doffed his cap,
bowed, and Bald:
"My dear sir, you see before you 14
convicts who escaped yesterday from
Cayenne. Wo were all serving life sen
tences. In making our escapo wo had
to dlsposo of six guards, and these
muskets belonged to them. Wo sailed
down tho coast, and then changed our
course, but it is likely that we shall be
pursued. Your ship is ours, but wc only
wish to use it to convoy us to some safe
nud distant place. It is for you to say
whother wo shall shed more blood."
Capt. Bright was a firey old fellow,
nnd I expected to hear him call upon
the crew to attack tho invaders. Bfo
grewredMMl white with anger, clenched
a flnti, unci moved towards tin spokes
man ns if to strike him. Then common
sense enme to Ids nid. There were ten
of us to 14 of the convicts, nnd we stood
no show. They were us good ns in pos
session of the craft, nnd would not
heal Into at killing us nil if provoked.
"So you are convicts?" Mild the cup
tain tit, Inst.
"We have that honor, sir," replied the
leader.
"Where do you wish to go to?"
"To any spot on the American const.
We are sorry to trouble you, hut under
the circumstances it cannot be helped."
"You have a big boat here," said the
captain, as he stepped to the rail, "and
why don't you make use of It to go
where you will?"
'Tor tho reason thnt there is only one
sailor among us, and because it Ib a
pretty long run up to the American
const. We have our plans, and they
cannot be altered. With all respect, I
say that you must land us where we
wish."
"You hnve possession," said the cap
tain, as he puced back nnd forth, "and
I am forced to do as you wish. Let
there be no trouble. I will agree to land
you on the const of Florida, and you
shall agree to preserve order among
your fellows, and to leave the ship with
out act of violence."
"Sir, I give you my word that it shall
be so," replied the leader; and that
ended the talk.
The convicts had no dunnage, but
were to berth under the topgnllant fore
castle. Their boat would be wanted to
set them ashore, and it was hoisted on
deck. This job had just been concluded
when n sail was sighted in the east. She
had a breeze with her nnd wns headed
In our direction. She had approached
within two miles before we got the first
puff. She was a coasting schooner, but
we could not make out her nationality
until she ilew her flag. Then we saw
that she was French, nnd had no doubt
that she was sent In pursuit of the con
victs. The men begnn to mutter nnd
curse as they realized her mission, and
the leader asked for Capt. Bright and
said to him:
"That schooner hns been sent In pur
suit of us, and is probably aware that
we are on board. We have six muskets
nnd plenty of ammunition, and we shall
fight her. You will please order your
crew below thnt none may be harmed."
The captain nodded to us to dispose of
ourselves ns we saw fit and retrented to
his cabin without n word. He probably
hoped, as we all did, that the schooner
would have men enough aboard to make
short work of the convicts. Neither Mr.
THE CAPTAIN MOVED TOWARD THE
Rawlins, the chief mate, nor myself left j
the deck for a time. Tho Comet hnd
all plnln sail on her, nnd we wanted
to watch the wind as well as the schoon
er. The breeze wns light, with no signs
thnt it would strengthen right nwny,
and ns It reached us the brig was head
ed up to lie on tho port tack, while all
the convicts worked to haul the main
sail yard about.
"This is good," said the spokesman,
ns he rubbed his hands together. "I
would rather fight her standing still
than when running away. Seel She is
coming right down on us, but I don't
believe she has over a dozen soldiers on
her decks."
Wo then left the decks to the convicts.
Those armed with muskets were ranged
along the bulwarks, and those without
were looking for other sorts of weapons.
What followed we gathered by hearing
instead of seeing. The schooner was
satisfied that the convicts had boarded
the brig, and knowing that they would
make a light for it, she steered boldly
down and laid us aboard. There were
12 soldiers and seven or eight snil
ors on her decks, and nrmed with cut
lasses and muskets and pistols they
swrtrmed over tho rails in a fierce at
tack. For ten minutes there was n
lively battle above us. When at last
we heard loud cheering we rushed up
in belief that tho convicts hnd been
overcome. To our surprise, we found
thnt they had driven the soldiers back.
The odds had been heavily against them
but they had fought like demons. One
of their number had been killed and
two badly wounded. In nddition the
convicts had secured threo more mus
kets and two or threo cutlasses and pis
tols, nnd were firing down upon tho
schooner's decks, compelling her people
to keep uuder cover. Had they desired
they could have boarded her and made
everyone prisoner. Whon I Baw how
things were, I suggested this to the
leader, but he smilingly replied:
"Ah I no! Hhe Is smaller than the brig
and a poor sailer; we do not want her."
For an hour the schooner wns held
captive. Then she wns fended olT, and
after she had drifted half n mile away
her people appeared on deck nnd were
very brave. They wasted a good many
cartridges In long-range firing, and
finally lowered a boat and sent the
lieutenant of marines to us with a de
mand that the convicts surrender. They
did not fire upon him, ns he wns under
n ling of .truce, but they hooted and
jeered; he finally rowed away, but soon
returned with an oiler to grant them
Immunity if they would return with the
schooner to the colony. This proposi
tion also was hooted at, and the lieu
tennnt was ordered off. When he had
been taken aboard, the schooner headed
away for the coast.
The dead were simply cast overboard,
but the convicts asked our assistance
to care for the wounded. That we gave
them. They had made such a good
fight for their liberty, and had shown
such moderation after the heat of the
battle, that wo had a better feeling
toward them. They did not swagger
about, ns one might expect, but uttered
a cheer as the schooner turned tail, nnd
had but little to say. When the dead
had been launched overbonrd and the
wounded attended to, the leader of the
convicts said to Capt. Bright:
"I think you had better now proceed
on the voyage, but you will stand down
the coast until the schooner is out of
sight. If overhauled again we might
not bo so lucky.
We ran to the south for ten miles,
then came about and headed up the
coast, at the same time edging further
out to sen. None of us wanted another
fight on his hands, and the captain
was anxious to reach the Florida coast
and get rid of his visitors. As was after
ward ascertained, two other craft
were sent out from Cayenne in search,
but neither sighted us. From one of
the wounded soldiers I gathered the
particulars of the escape of the con
victs. They were loading a vessel at
the wharf when the yawl was pulled in
by some sailors from a bark at anchor a
mile away. There were six soldiers
guarding the convicts, some on the
wharf a ikJ some on the ship, and at a
signal all were attacked. Only two were
killed, but the other four suffered se
ven, injuries. Before an alarm had
reached the prison sheds, half a mile
nwuy, the convicts had seized the yawl
and put to sea. They were pursued by
other small boats, but the yawl out
sailed them.
The wounded soldiers at first expected
SPOKESMAN AS IF TO STRIKE HIM.
to be put to death by the convicts, but
not a man had even a harsh word for
them. If the fellows had had liquor
there is no telling how free they might
have mnde with the brig, but as it was
no lot of passengers could have be
haved better. One of them had a few
hot words with the cook one day, and
the lender of the gang walked up to
Jiim nnd said:
"Julius, we are not here to make
trouble, but to regain our liberty. Stop
this thing at once. If you can't rest
content, I will give you six inches of
cold steel and throw your carcass to the
shnrksl"
The one sailor among them offered his
services nnd insisted on doing n sailor's
work, while the rest of them were al
ways at hand whenever there was pull
lug or hauling to be done. Not a ques
tion was asked as to the direction we
were steering; they took it for granted
thnt the captain would keep his word.
The lender paced the deck with me for
two hours one night, nnd asked many
questions concerning the United States.
He declared, and ho seemed sincere,
that his crime was the killing of a man
under extreme provocation, and that he
Intended to make an honest living in
the states. IIo said there were others
with the same intentions, but that
about half the gang were bad men and
would soon land in prisou. Not one of
the fellows had a penny, and all were
still in couvlct dress. How they were
to manage without stripping forcastle
and cabin I could not figuro out. The
enptniu had $S0O aboard, and I think he
expected to be asked for it when the
convicts were ready to depart. Per
haps he would have been but for his own
sensible action.
When we were within 20 miles of
Abaco island, off the southernmost point
of Florida, he cnlled three of the con
victs into the cabin and had a long talk
with them. He advised them to land
I on the island and remain, for a day or
two, then proceed along the coast in
tbeir bont. lie gave each man of the
gang five dollars In silver, and from
the slop chest, the cabin and the fore
castle he rigged them out In such gar
ments that they might pass for ship
wrecked sailors. When they came out
of the cabin they held a general talk
nnd agreed on the story they were to
toll, and as fast as they could change
their clothes the prison dress was
thrown overboard.
At three o'clock one afternoon we ran
in close to Abaco, and the big yawl
was lowered and provided with water
and provisions. Each and every con
vict shook hands all around and ex
pressed his gratitude; then one by one
they dropped into their boat in nn or
derly manner. When the Inst one was
in the boat shoved off, the gang gave
us a cheer, and we were not yet out of
sight when they landed on the island.
I never heard of any of them after
wards, though something intuit have
been published In the papers about
their arrival at some port; but they
had dealt so fairly by the Comet that,
convicts though they were, I have ul
ways wished them good luck.
BACK TO HIS OLD HOME.
StnteHntnn "Win n llrlrfc Who CMvu
Property That Once AViih Ills.
There is a representative in congress
from Maryland, ono of the most popu
lar of the delegation from that state,
who has had a romance in his life which
goes to prove the truth of the saying
thnt fact Is stranger than fiction. The
representative is essentially a self-made
man, and is not ashamed of it, for it was.
not his fault that fortune imposed upon
him the task of carrying out his golden
future. His father died and he had de
volved upon him the task of supporting
a mother nnd several brothers and sis
ters. Work in the machine shop of his
little town grew slack, am he started
to Baltimore with a bravo heart and
seven cents in his pocket.
The first night ho reached the city
he put in walking the streets. Owing
to his own efforts he finally secured em
ployment In one of the lnrgest machine
shops of Baltimore. He sent for hii
mother nnd the children, and prospered
for a season. They lived in a little house
on a small street and were happy. Then
work grew scarce and the present rep
resentative lost his place. The rent was
in arrears, and one day when the young
man saw the agent of the house he was
told that unless the rent wns paid by a
specified time they would have to go.
"The house belongs to a young lady
in the country," the agent said, "and
she needs the rent to buy herself dresses
and other things. The income from the
house is all she has for pin money."
The rent could not be paid in full,
and the family, with the mother in the
last stages of consumption, moved Into
another, though they hated to leave.
The congressman fell in love with his
wife through a photograph which a
friend had and he worried the friend
into taking him to the little country
town and introducing him. The engage
ment followed, but the family objected
to the match. The only objection they
could offer, for the young man had never
touched a drop of liquor, and was noted
for the way in which he trod the paths
of rectitude, was that he had worked
as a machinist and ordinary laborer.
"I knew of this," said the congress
man to the Star reporter, "and I de
termined, after we became engaged,
that should show my intended wife
exactly what I had been, for I had ad
vanced to a higher position then.
took her out driving one evening and
arranged so that we should reach the
entrance of the work's where I had been
employed at a certain time. Wc got
there about six o'clock when the men
came out, dirty, soot blackened nnd
wenry. I told her I had been one of
them only a short while before.
"Afterward I drove past the place
where we had been forced to leave on
account of my not being able to pay the
rent. I told the whole story of how tho
agent had said it belonged to a young
lady in the country, who needed tho
rent for pin money. We stopped at the
littlo house, and I pointed it out.
'"There It is, Mnry,' I told her. I
turned nnd looked at her, nnd there were
tears in her eyes. She was sobbing
softly, nnd I thought she hnd been
touched simply at the story of my strug
gle to support myself and my family.
" 'Do you know whose house that is?"
she asked, in a broken voice. I told hei
I did not.
"It was her own. She was the younj
lady of whom the agent had told me,
and to whom the rent had to be paid
It seemed almost Incredible, but it wa
the truth." Washington Star.
Strimiro Indian Veinjcnuoe.
In the course of his investigations Dp
Calmette has discovered the nature of t
mortal poison which some of the na
tives of India employ to kill the cnttU
of their enemies. The poison is applied
to llttlo pointed rods inserted in the
end of a short stick, which can be con
coaled in tho hand. Approaching the
cattle, tho poisoner slightly scratches
them with tho venom-charged points.
The ends of the little rods break ofl
Land remain in the wounds, which ara
barely visible. Dr. Calmette found that
tho poison was extracted from a kind of.
bean, growing on a leguminous plant
known botnnically ns abrus proa
torius. This poison is called obrin. raid
is almost as fatal in its effect am JLm
J wott violent serpent niunt,
ANCIENT MOUNDS IN ENGLAND.
Hiiro ltd Ion L'mllturlcd for Cen
turion. Scientific men are deeply Interested
n nrchnoological discoveries just made
oneernlng the ancient Britons. Thir
teen graves opened at a little place
called Dnnesdnle, near Drlfileld, in East
Yorkshire, revealed relics that showed
that the burials took plnce at least 1,000
ears before the advent of William tho
Conqueror to British soil. For so long
that the memory of man runneth not to
the contrary, the mounds or graves jusfc
opened have been supposed to be the
last resting places of ancient Danes.
They were called the "Danes' graves."
Indeed, the town of Danesdale referred
to gained its nnme from that supposi
tion. The graves or mounds are 173 in
number, but only 13 hnve thus far been
opened. They are surrounded by for
ests, and upon some of the mounds huge
trees are growing.
Archaeologists have long believed
thnt investigation of the ancient
mounds would lend to Important dis
coveries. It was this sentiment which
led the East Biding Antiquarian socie
ty, through Canon Grccnwell, of Dur
ham, to institute the Inquiry which re
sulted in opening the mounds. Deep
down In the first mound opened were
found not only the bones of an ancient
Briton, but the Iron tire of his chariot,
the iron bit nnd trappings of his horse,
nnd a bronze pin, beautiful in design,
nnd ennmeled. The shape of the grave
and the curious curled-up position of
the skeleton left no doubt ns to the age
to which all belonged, and disposed to
the satisfaction of every one-of the Dan
ish theory which had so long prevailed.
, Perhaps the most notable of the
relics, so far as establishing the antiq
uity theory is concerned, was the
bronzo pin. It is a specimen of the
earliest known British enameling and
Is of a type most peculiar to the iron
period. It has a peculiar twist in the
shank which makes its origin an ab
solute ccrtnlnty. It is one of the curious
facts found in British history that
pins such as the one described only ex
isted during a certain period. Distincl
changes In articles of this sort were
made at a certain point in the develop
ment of Britain. This fact is known ab
solutely, and therefore this pin settles
beyond question the point as to the time
before which it must have been made.
Two other graves were opened at
Arras and Beverley in which, chariots
were found, nnd in the one at Arras the
tires and naves of the wheels were
complete. The tires are of Iron and
the naves of bronze. There were also
found in these graves an. iron mirroi
with bronze mountings, the end of a
shank of a bronze whip, and two oi
three rings through which the reins oi
the chariot must have beencarried. The
bones found at Beverley had gone to de
cay, but at Arras the human remains
nnd the bones of the horses nppeared as
fresh as if they had been buried IOC
years ago.
The graves referred to as having been
opened were not close together. Foi
instance, the places of discovery,
Danesdale and Arras, are 12 miles apart,
The theory advanced by the archaeolo
gists who have taken the matter up is
that the district throughoxit whiflh the
mounds are found was formerly the
burying place of the ancles t Britons,
probably years before the Danes at
tempted the conquest of the island,
The relics discovered indicate that they
once were part of and the property- ol
leaders among the aboriginal inhabi
tants of Britain.
There hns been a dispute for a very
long time between archaeologists as tc
the occupation of the territory in which
the mounds were found by the Danes
and by the early Britons. One faction
of disputants held that the mounds, be
ing accepted as graves of ancient Danes,
were conclusive evidence that the
Danes were in possession, of tho country
centuries before some persons claimed
to believe. The second faction held
that the Danes hnd never held posses
sion of the country, but thnt it was foi
centuries located in the center of the
stronghold of the Britons of early days,
The formation of the tires and the
naves of the chariots found nlso indi
cated a hitherto unknown communica
tion between the Romans and the early
Britons. The tires nnd the nnves are
almost exactly similar to those now in
the British museum at London, which
are known to hnve been in use in Rome
about the same period In which the or
iginal chariots to whioh the Britisli
tires and naves were attached sped over
the soil of the island. It establishes a
new fact In history In reference to the
relations and power of Rome, and, while
it settles one dispute, makes seemingly
incorrectnnumberof assertions regard-
, ing the period In which the burials in
the British graves took place.
It is very likely that several more oi
these mounds will be opened for the
purpose of ascertaining whether they
are the resting places of Britons of a
certain century, or whether, ns many
lelieve, the mounds are located in what
was the burial ground of tho leaders
of the early Britons for many centuries.
Should the latter prove true it is more
than likely thnt discoveries will be
made which will entirely change the
history of Britain ns far as it relates to
that period which led up to the Con
quest, Philadelphia Times.
No Hnrm In Thinking;.
Maud I'm thinking of writing a
, novel.
Claud Well, there'i no harm in th4
Town -Toplci.
i
A
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