A FIEND INCARNATE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3334, 14 October 1889, Page 2

A FIEND INCARNATE.

An inland trading vessel, the Saucy ■ Jack, has returned to Sydney from her cruise. During the voyage says tho Sydney Morning Herald, one of tho oiw, a young fellow of 23 or 24 years of ago, named O'Brien, who shipped in the vessel nt Sydney as a seatnau, dovelopcd into a sort of fiend incarnate, The old captain of tho vessel, Captain Joss,, who has sailed a tho Southern seas as a master for % more than 30 years, says that lie never in his life before felt afraid of being murdered until, voyage of the Saucy Jack. Theory is a brief )ne, O'Brien quickly quarrelled with 3very man or boy on board. Ho would neither ho denied by bis fellow ihipmutes nor receive"orders from the ifficer. By decrees on the passage bo iucceeded in cowing everybody on ward the vessel, As a result ho had bings pretty much his own way, and rould have been allowed a considora- ~ do latitude, for peace and quietness' aire, had that satisfied him, but anal- vfccreation between himself and another v f the crew over Bome trifling matter srminated in the narrow escape of )'J3rien's victim, who was struck : own by ut blow on the back of the .aid with a heavy bar of iron, laptain Joss at once interfered, and ttended to the insensible man, then l-mgon the deck bleeding from the round in his head. With attention nd such medical aid as could be endered, theassaulted sailor recovered J nd O'Brien was cautioned that in the*"' vent of any further quarrel he would -e put m irons. On arrival of the essel at .Samoa, O'Brien wanted to cave the vessel, a wish heartily oncurredinby the captain, who at inceoiiered to pay him off there. All ho ammgouieiits were made, hut Ton going before the Consul that lincial required a further undertaking rom the vessel for tho return of JBnen to Sydney. As Captdu J OS3 vasnotma position to do this, the .onsul advised that the refractory ieaman should be ironed on board and wiecl back by Saucy J M k. Nothing, lowever came of this, and in duo'* rouse the vessel with O'Brien ou# ward as an ordinary momber of the" irew, left Apia for Savage Island A :ouplo of days after sailing O'Brien iearly_ killed tho cook by striking urn with a heavy billet of wood on he head, laying bare his skull, His invocation in that instance was beause his coffee was not ready when he vent to the galley for it. The others uembersofthecrowand the snper% largo at once insisted that the man ihould be placed under restraint. ,aptain Joss thereupon placed handiuffsonbim, but let him at liberty to |0 about the decks, Soon after midught ot the 4th ultimo, and on the ihird day after O'Brien had been landculled, tho man at the wheel saw i towering ilamo burst from the forelastle companion way. Luckily it vas moderate weather at the time. I'he steersman at once called tho laptain, and all hands were speedily . moke, Tho fire had taken a strong wld, and the anxiety whs intenso in laso it reached tho cargo of corpra itowed in the forehold, In that ivent no human effort could save the iliip. The crew rapidly took in somo if the sails and uubent them, and vith these set to-work to smother the ' lames, The smell of korosono wasitf' '"Mediately detected from tho smoke" nd it was known that a 4-gallon tin v ' vas in the fore-cabin, or near it, Mer a difficult combat with tho t lames, tho lire was subdued. Wate|A\ vas then played upon the leek, and below in the forecastle. \fterthe smoke had cleared, it was bund that aboiit two gallons of teroseua—half the contents of tho in—had been used in saturating a ail and somo bedding, and the iloor md fittings in the forecastle. Tho vessol being in tho tropics, the crow in fine weather slept out on tho open leek, so that no one was below for Jome hours before iho lire was disjovered. O'Brien, who had last been seen sitting on the ship's rail forward, was gone. Beyond this nothing is known as to how or when he iprang over the side, only it is.certaiu iliat ho was not washed off the vessol, iho weather being too moderate, It is tho belief of the captain and of tho supercargo that having stated ho vonld not return to Sydney he comniKed the act of incendiarism, and allowed it by throwing himself into ' ho sea, supposing that tho vessel vould surely bo destroyed. Of tho voyage of the Saucy Jack, tho caplainfr 'cports that the late huricanc.accounts'w if which have already appeared in • hesecolumns, has left its marks in all he groups; trees havo been uprooted nd what the wind did not destroy he sea did, When the schooner was iff the island of Pylstaarat, Captain 'O3B noticed that at tho south-east end f tho island a very heavy landslip iad_ taken place. The natives at all he islands were quiet. The schooner rings no news of note but what has een anlicpatfid.

Lawn Bagatelle. Though lawn tennis is still popular, and probably will remain so for some time longer, there is among hostesses at garden parlies a desiro for some other gamo which may occupy those who do not oaro for as much ox- . ertion as lawn tennis requires. Tlio game of old lawn bagatelle, which has been invented by a Devonshire lady, will, says a correspondent of the" Queen," bo found to supply the want mentioned, It likewise has tlu& charm of novelty, whilst another ao\ vantage it possesses is that it does not require as much space as lawn tennis. In large gardens there is often a strip of turf which could be utilised t for the purpose, and in smaller ■ gardens it will be considered a great boon, Tho piece of ground should bo loug and narrow, resembling the shape of a bagatelle board; a.tare canvas screen, semi-circular in foTfc, takes tho place of the cushion ef a . bagatelle board. The holes are formed by cups made for the purpose sunk into the ground, and thero are nine balls as at bagatelle The game is played with long mallets, and tho scores are made in the same way as ordinary bagatelle. At the conclusion of the game the cups may be covered with small lids made for the purpose, to prevent soil or rain spoiling' them. Lawn bagatollo can be played in a shady part of the garden or under trees, a great recommendation on a hot day; and it will be found a pleasant addition t<A the outdoor amusements of this summer.

An Interrupted Wedding, An amusing and sensational ending to a wedding occurred the other day in St Petersburg. It was the old old story ofa yonn» girl of 16 being sold to clear her father from debt, to an old greybeard of many winters. The young girl cried and-protestcd, but to no purpose. A heavy arrear of rent was due, and all was to be wiped out on the marriage; and on tbo day 6xcd llio I'oor girl, clad in while, wii^

flowers in her hair, but with red ami weopinir, eyes, stood with her friend* in the church awaiting her •.future husband. But ho carno not; but in his place ouo of his clerks,who handed over to tho father of tho brido a letter and a small packet, Both were from tho aged bridogroom,and tho letter ran thus:—" As lam about to do you a great wrong, I pray you to hear my reasons, Last night, whilst thinking of my coming nuptials, I fell asleep; but, alas, but to dream; and in my dream my lato lamouied wife, Argasena, appeared to mo and in an angry voice said, ' What, you old sinner, would you nflpf a young girl whoso grandfather you arc old enough to be)' So saying sho disappeared, after as waa her custom, giving ine several pinches, Half dead from fright I awoke, spit threo times to destroy the charm and evil, and then atjain went to sleep; but scarcely was I once mora asleep when my lamented wife agaiu appeared, and nover have I seen her in such a roge. ' Liston, Makon Trosimitscb,' she thundered out, 'if you marry that girl in tlireu months I'll hsvo you with me. You know I don't joke." This time I did not spit, but crossed myself three times and stayed awake until tho morning, and I came to tho conclusion that my dear wife in her grave was right. Your daughter is too young, I dread my wifo too much. In tho pocket is your receipt

mid a portion of a thousand roubles for , your pretty but injured daughter." daughter felt by no means injured; with ono leap she was out of the church and in tho festive carriage leaving all the wedding guests with puzzled faces in the church. An excellent little study this for septuagenarians who marry maidens of twenty summers,

A Horrible Tra?etty. A tragedy occurred in a suburb of San Francisco, which is as romantic as it is horrible. Miss Eva Atkins was betrothed to Mr Eayinond Bievce, an Englishman and a writer

on financial and other subjects, ('n

Monday, August sth, the wedding A was to have taken place at the homo 9* of Miss Atkins, whose mother is a wealthy lady, and well-known in Ban Francisco society. On Sunday Eva obtained permission to pass the night with one of the bridesmaids. Instead blio joined Mr Neil Hobbs, an intimate friend of her betrothed and his

groomsman to bo, Tho piir proceeded fo Sacramento, whore they were & returned to a suburb of San Francisco tbero young Bierce was raging like a madman over tho treachery of which the was the victim, Palo and haggard ho sought tho mother of his faithless sweetheart, and sho deeply sympathised with his grief, "My poor boy," sho exclaimed, " try and go to sleep," Ho answered, " I have not slept for lour nights." She conducted him to a chamber and closed tho door, Soon after the elopers entered the house and Eva was bitterly upbraided by her mother for her heartless conduct. Silently Bierco stolo down tho staircase, and appeared before tho terror-stricken inmates of the parlour. In ono hand he held ox. tended a large navy revolver, For a moinont thero was a complete silence then Bierco hissed the words," You

aro a happy wedded couplo, arc you P" not ?" Neil Hobba look in tho Eilun- ■" tion at a glance, and like all Californ-

ians, ho was armed, and ho knew how

to uso his weapon. Quick as a flash M pulled out a revolver but the winger of his quondam friend was on • the trigger; and the report of a pistol followed, Hobbs relumed shot for shot, but his piatol contained one less charge. Ho fled from the room for moro cartridges, Bierce, wounded and bleeding, locked the door, Then he turned to tho fainting bride, and seizing her in his arms passionately kissed her palid lips, Ho then held her at arms length, and mournfully oxclairoing " How could you do so ?'' ho placed the muzzlo of another revolver to her temple and fired. As the apparently lifeless lorm sank on tho floor, her maddened husband broko open the door and again commenced to " pump lead," as tho Californian phrase has it, into Bierce's body. The latter closed with Hobbs, with maniacal fary, and a savage struggle ensued. Bierce grew weak from loss of blood,and;Hobbs beat him furiously on tho head and faco with tho handle of tho pistol until ho fell hunting on tho carpet, Tho victor deliberately fired another shot at. tho prostrate and then carried his young wife to an adjacent chamber. While tho - j surgeon was investigating the naturo of the wounds on Neil and Eva, Bierco recovered consciousness, and dragged himself upstairs to tho bedroom. Securing a bottlo of chloroform ho poured the contents on his handkerchief, spread it ovor his face, lay down on his backhand, placing thepistol athis head, blew his brains out, His body was found to bo riddled with bullets, Hobbs was shot in several places and it was soon ascertained that tiro wounds were mortal ones. Ho gradually sank, and died on Saturday, Tho wounded girl,howovor, is recovering,