Story of a Hoodoo Ship

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  The names of the four sailors were R.Cochrane, John Johnson, Charles Walback, and H.Kimber. More than two years ago, in the early part of 1898, they came to this port in an English bark called the Blengfell, from Liverpool, and she had only been here two days when these four members of her crew left her on the ground that she was a " hoodoo ship." A month afterward she sailed homeward again, but she never reached port, for the evil fate that hung over her fulfilled its mission, and the battered remains of her big hulk have long lain many fathoms under the sea.
  When Cochrane and his companions saw the name of their former ship written on the Erie Basin pier, their memories took a turn by no means pleasant. It seems that the ill-omened Blengfell's disastrous experiences began three voyages before the one that brought her to America, though it was on that trip that all hands aboard became convinced of a hoodoo's presence among them.
  During a trip she took about three years before that time, a seaman went mad because of "visions" in his cabin at night. He drowned himself at last in despair. On the next voyage a negro sailor, who had been sick and in delirium, suddenly arose from his bed, grasped a brace of pistols, and ran all the rest of the crew aft, where he kept them at bay for twenty-four hours. Finally he threw down his pistols, uttered a wild shriek, and jumped headlong over the railing, disappearing immediately under the water and never rising to the surface again.
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