Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1884 — A MYSTERY OF THE SEA. [ARTICLE]

A MYSTERY OF THE SEA.

The Fate Which Overtook the “City of Boston”—Capt. Murray’s Ideas and Experiences. A few years ago, the City of Boston sailed from harbor, crowded with an expectant throng of passengers bound for a foreign shore. She never entered port. The mystery of her untimely end grows deeper as the years Increase, and the Atlantic voyager, when the fierce winds howl around and danger is imminent on every hand, shud-i ders as the name and mysterious fate of that magnificent vessel are alluded to. Our reporter, on a recent visit to New York* took lunch with Capt. George Siddons Mur- , ray, on board the Alaska, of the Guion line. Capt. Murray is a man of stalwart build, wellknit frame, and cheery, genial disposition. He has been a constant voyager for a quarter of a century, over half of that time having been in the trans-Atlantic service. In the course of the conversation over the well-spread table, the mystery of the City of Boston was alluded to. “Yes,” remarked the Captain. “I shall never forget the last night we saw that illfated vetul. I was chief officer of the City of ■ Antwerp. On the day we sigthed the City of Boston a furious southeast hurricane set in. Both vessels labored hard. The sea seemed determined to sweep away every vestige of life. When day ended the gale did not abate, and everything was lashed for a night of unusual fury. Our good ship was turned to the south to avoid the possibility of icebergs. The City of Boston, however, undoubtedly went to the north. Her boats, life-preservers and rafts were all securely lashed; and when she went down, everything went with her, never to reappear until the sea gives up its dead.” “What, in your opinion, Captain, was the cause of the loss of the City of Boston?” “The City of Limerick, in almost precisely the same latitude, a few days later, found the sea full of floating ice; and I have no doubt the City of Boston collided with the ice, and sunk immediately.” Capt. Murray has been in command of the Alaska ever since she was put in commission and feels justly proud of his noble ship. Sue carries thousands of pussangers every year, and has greatly popularized the Williams & Guion line. Remarking upon the bronzed and healthy appearance of the Captain, the reporter said that sea life did not seem to be a very great physical trial. “No? But a person's appearance is not always a trustworthy indication of his physical'condition. For seven years I haVe been in many respects very much out of sorts with •myself. At certain times I was so lame that it wds difficult for me to move around. I could scarcely straighten up. I did not know what the trouble was, and though I performed all my duties regularly and satisfactorily, yet I felt that I might some day he overtaken with some serious prostrating disorder. These troubles increased. I felt duh, and then, again, shooting pains through my arms and limbs. Possibly the next day I would feel flushed and unaccountably uneasy, and the day following chilly and despondent. This continued until last December, when I was prostrated soon after leaving Queenstown, and for the remainder of the voyage was a helpless, pitiful sufferer. In January last, a friend who made that voyage with me, wrote me a letter urging me to try a new course of treatment. I gladly accepted his counsel, and for the last seven months have given thorough and business-like attention to the recovery of my natural health; and to-day, I have the proud featisfaction of saying to you that the lame back, the strange feelings, the sciatic rheumatism; • which have so long pursued me, have entirely disappeared through the blocd-purifying influence of Warner’s Safe Rheumatic Cure which entirely eradicated all rheumatic poison from my system. Indeed, to me, it seems that it has worked wonders, and I therefore most cordially commend it.” “And you have no trouble now in exposing yourself to the winds of the Atlantic?” “Not the least. I am as sound as a bullet, and I feel specially thankful over the fact because I believe rheumatic and kidney disease is in the blood of my family. I was dreadfully shocked on my list arrival in Liverpool to learn that my brother, who is a wealthy China tea merchant, had suddenly died of Bright’s disease of the kidneys, and consider myself extremely fortunate in having taken my trouble in time and before any more serious effects were possible.” The conversation drifted to other topics, and, as the writer watched the face before him, so strong in all its outlinesand yet so genial, and thought of the innumerable exposures and hardships to which its owner bad been exposed, be instinctively wished all who are suffering from the terrible rheumatic troubles now so common might know of Capt. Murray's experience and the means by which he had been restored. Pain is a common thing in this world; but far too many endure it when they might just as well avoid it. It is a false philosophy which teaches us to endure when we can just as readily avoid. So thought the hearty Captain of the Alaska, so thinks the writer, and so should all others think who desire happiness and a Ion" life.