Starved into Mutiny.

Manawatu Herald, 10 September 1895, Page 3

Starved into Mutiny.

. -^ A famous mutiny on shipboard oame to pass in this way : When the ship, which had sailed from London, was well down the Channel, it was found that the provisions intended for the use of the crew were rotten and, of course, uneatable. The men complained to the captaiu, who promised to put into aome near port and exchange the bad stores for good. He failed to keep his word, and as the poor sailors couldn't sail the ship 10,000 miles on empty stomachs, they killed the captain and mate, helped themselves to the cabin provisions, held high jinks for a few weeks, j and finally scuttled the ship, put off in the boats, and were all lost* but three. The captain could have prevented all this if he had chosen to; but perhaps the owners and he had pat up the bad job on the men. Very likely, and got served out for it. They were both criminals and fools. But there are ships that must needs sail to the end of the voyage with only the original stores. Come what may, they can't go back or put into any port. Some are well found and others badly; and so voyages differ. To modify the illustration, the latter kind of vessels are human beings. At birth we sail on a voyage, which by rights ought to be seventy years long. But how many of us continue on the Sea of Life that long ? Very few comparatively. Most of us go down sooner. Why? Because we recklessly, carelessly, or ignorantly waste iho stock of vital force with which Nature endows us at the start. There are no meat shows or bakeries on the Atlantic, nor are there any places after birth where we can beg or buy more " life" This is perfectly plain to me. Is it plain to you ? lam afraid it isn't. Let's see whether a little incident will throw light on it. Mr Henry Fish had been a fortunate man. His forbears had done well by him. Up to the Autumn of 1890 he could say, " I have always been strong and healthy." For thirty years he had worked as a painter for one employer. He must have been not only a healthy man, but a good painter. So far his "vitality," his constitution, had been equal to all demands on it. It had endured a lot of hard work, resisted the weather, and digested his food. Then it refused to go on. It struck work. It wouldn't make sail or pull an oar. In plain English the symptoms or signs of the trouble were these : Loss of appetite, bad taste in the mouth, terrible pains after eating, yellow eyes and skin, and rheumatic gout in the feet. His legs and stomach became fearfully swollen, and his heart palpitated and thumped frightfully nearly all the time. On account of the distress given him by solid food he could only eat slops, and not much strength can be got out of them. By-and'by the best he could do was to hobble about on crutches. He could not

lie abed at all, because, lie dofildri't draw his breath when 1 jyin£ down. For oVef ft tHoiitH he snatched .tfhat sleep he could when suppSi'ted iipri^ht.tia his etutehes.just think of that,, and be th.anftfdl , it wasn't your case. He wasn't able to lift his hand to hid mouth, and had to be nursed night an'l flay. He got so low rtn spite of doctors attending Him) thrtt M didn't expect to live, and didn't desire to. One doctor said he had heart disease, and that hi 3 heart was big as a bullock's, which was notisetise. Daring all this illness Widish h&d a professional ndrSe Mom a eon. valese'ent hdme, liVhefl lie had sank 86 ]0w as to 1 riiake It a wotider how he kept alive at all, he first heard tif the tiiedijiiiie' which finally cured him. In concluding his letter he says, " After beginning to take Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup I ileVer looked behind me. I got stronger every day; and have ailed nothing since. This medicine saved my life, and I want the publid to know it. (Signed) Henry Fish, Great Malvern, COußfcy df Wafeeatef,January 12th, 1892." Only a word more. We spoke of men and women being like ships that have to sail to the end of the voyage with what supplies they start with. By that me mean, not supplies of food, but supply of power to dhjest food. You see the difference? Bread and meat are no better than lead and leather ii ydu flart't digest them. In Mr Fish's case it was not food that failed, but power to use it. He had indigestion and dyspepsia. The wonderful remedy discovered by Mother Seigel stopped the waste of vitality caused by the disease, and enabled Nature to use fooe to build Up the perishing body* He will now proceed, we hope* tdwards the port of Old Age, with favouring winds: ¥et, save for timely rescue, he woilld doubtless have gone down, as millions do, leaving but a momentary eddy over the spot where they disappear.