Starved into Mutiny.

Manawatu Herald, 17 September 1895, Page 3

Starved into Mutiny.

A famous mutiny on shipboard came 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 U9e o! the crew were ro ; tten and, of course, uneatable. The me,n complained to the captain, who promised to. put into some near port and exchange 'the bad stores for good. Be failed to keep his word, and as the poor sailors couldn't Bail 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, 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 put up the bad job on the men. Very likely, and got served out for it. They were both criminals and fools. s ßut there are ships that must needs sail; to the end of the voyage with only the original Btores. 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 haw many of us continue on the Sea of Life that long ? Very few comparatively. Most ' of ub go down sooner. Why ? Because j we recklessly, carelessly, or ignorantly waste the stock of vital force with which Nature endows us at th« 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 ? I am 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 rbeu* matio 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 oat of them. Byand-by the best he conld do was to hobble about on crutches. He could not He abed at all, because he couldn't draw his breath when lying down. For over t month he snatched what sleep he ooald when supported upright on hu orutcheJi itust think of that, arid be thankful it Wasn't your case* He wasn't able to lift his hand to His mouth, and had to be nursed night and day. He got so low (m spite of dootors attending him) that he didn't expect to live, and didn't desire to. One doctor said he had heart disease, and that hia heart was big as a bullock's, which was nonsense. During till this lllnees MiFish had a professional nurse from a coil, valesoent home. When he had sank so low as to make it a wonder how he kept alive at all, ho first heard of the medicine which finally cured him. In concluding his letter he says. "After beginning to take Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup I never looked behind me. I got stronger every day, and have ailed nothing since. This medicine saved my life, and I want the publio to know it. (Signed) Henry Fiah, Great Malvern, County of Worcester, 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, hut supply qf 2Jower to digest fowl. Yon see the difference? Bread and meat are no better than lead and leather if you can'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, tand^enabled Nature to use fooe to bnild np tbe perishing body. Ho will now proceed, we hope, towards the port of Old Age, with favonring winds. Yet, save. for timely rescue, h? would doubtless have gone down, as millions do, leaving but a momentary eddy over the spot where they disappear.