The Hoodooed Ship That Left Three Dead

Port Townsend, March 20.—Special. It is so seldom that a 'hoodooed' vessel comes into port that a craft of that reputation naturally attracts much attention among maritime observers. The sailors along the water front all unite in declaring that the British ship Linlithgowshire, now in port, has been 'hoodooed.' Indeed, the record of fatalities on the vessel in the last six months is remarkable.

Archibald Clark, a young Scotchman of good parentage, about 32 years old, the third officer, met a tragic death Monday morning aboard the ship while engaged in discharging ballast. He was the third one to lose his life within the past few months. The ship is out in the middle ground discharging a few hundred tons of ballast, preparatory to going to Hadlock to load a cargo of lumber for Port Pirie. The ballast was being taken out in tubs, and Clark was superintending the work. While his attention was otherwise engaged the sling to which a big tub was attached swung back from over the vessel's starboard side, striking him a terrific blow on the head, knocking him down through the hatch to the lower hold. The blow and the fall caused instant death. His comrades rushed below and picked up the lifeless body. The only visible signs of life apparent were a few gasps, a muscular contraction of the frame and the quivering of a few muscles of the face. Sad, indeed, were the expressions of his fellow voyagers as they gently and tenderly carried the body on deck. Clark was a good seaman, well liked by the crew and his brother officers. He was a member of the Masonic order, belonging to a Glasgow, Scotland, lodge. The funeral will take place this afternoon from the Seamen's Bethel. Every sailor in town, and there are nearly 100, will be in attendance, by the crews of two English vessels now in port.

The record of the Linlithgowshire's voyages reads like an old sea romance. She left Leith, Scotland, for Melbourne, Australia, in command of Capt. James Black, and then proceeded to Newcastle and loaded coal for Valparaiso. It was while bound for the latter port that the master contracted a fatal illness. Adverse winds and a continuous battle with the elements caused the ship to make a long passage. Capt. Black, though suffering excruciating agony, heroically bore up under the affliction, hoping to reach port in time to have a surgical operation performed, whereby his life could be saved. Day after day the ship slowly made her way across the Pacific ocean, and when within a few hundred miles of the Chilean coast she was becalmed for nearly two weeks. Not a friendly sail was sighted during the voyage. The captain's illness became more alarming and it was apparent that his lease of life was about to be foreclosed, and then the wind, as if ashamed of the exasperating delay, sprang up from the westward and sent the white-winged craft bounding over the billows toward Valparaiso. Port was reached at last and the captain, though barely alive, insisted upon being taken ashore for medical treatment. Tenderly he was placed in a swift launch, which darted toward the wharves. Death, however, was swifter than the launch, and the spirit of Capt. James Black started upon another voyage to a port of eternal happiness.

The first officer, David Lawson, took the command of the ship, and in due time sailed for Portland, Or., to load grain for England. Hardly had the crest of the Andes mountains dipped beneath the white caps of the southern ocean when he evinced signs of insanity. A week after the voyage began, one evening as the sun was disappearing in the occident, Capt. Lawson came on deck, ordered the officers and crew forward, then dramatically bowed to the assembled crew, stepped on the rail and plunged into the sea before any of the crew could arrest his mad effort. The life boats were instantly lowered and the ship hove to. A long, thorough and unsuccessful search was made for the body. The only signs of life in the sea were the constant snapping of a school of sharks that had been following the ship for days.

The first mate then took charge and continued the voyage. A storm arose and shifted the ballast, necessitating the vessel going into San Diego for more ballast. There the owners sent William Anderson, the present master, down from San Francisco to take command. The voyage was resumed, but a succession of calms caused her to get into Portland one week too late to take advantage of a profitable charter. She was then sent to this port and while off Cape Flattery the second mate accidentally fell from between decks to the lower hold and by a miracle his life was saved, though his limbs and body were badly injured and paralysis may set in yet. Then the ship reached Port Townsend and was safely at anchor when yesterday's fatal accident happened.

The Linlithgowshire has visited Puget Sound several times in recent years and was regarded among sailors as a good ship. Many craft have come into this port also, but few have the strange record of successive fatalities as this unfortunate ship.