CLIPPING FROM THE EVENING TELEGRAM
(By an unknown author)

To the Memory of the Late Captain Kennedy

Slowly today we wended our way
To a grave in Belvedere,
Behind the corpse of a hero bold,
By all his name held dear.
He died that others might live,
No greater love hath man
Than he lay down his life for a friend,
This seaman of our clan.

For many a year he knew no fear,
On shipboard he took delight,
And with his hardy shipmates
Spent many a weary night.
Yet providence protected him
And brought him safely to shore;
But alas! his life is ended
And he’ll strike his course no more.

On board the S.S. Viking
To the seal fishery he set sail.
As navigating officer
His profession did entail.
This hero son of Newfoundland
This Captain of the sea,
Was never known to shirk his post
As shown so recently.

The scene of that disaster
On that dark and dreary night,
In fancy I can see it,
I can ne’er shut out the sight-
The lurch, the shock, the explosion
The cry of “ship on fire”
The frantic cries of his wounded mates
In that distress was dire.

Those cries were not unheeded
By the hero of this song,
Though badly bruised and bleeding
He fought his was along
To where his shipmate, Clayton King,
A hero true and brave,
And by a superhuman effort
Saved him from a watery grave.

We can see another suffer,
Sargent, - American by birth.
A passenger on the Viking,
Who also proved his worth;
This hardy son of Uncle Sam.
A hero staunch and brave,
By kind Providence protected
From a North Atlantic grave.

For forty-eight long hours
They fought desperately for life.
Clinging to that piece of wreckage
In the midst of death and strife.
But spurred on by the courage
Of this brave man of the sea,
Young Clayton King was rescued,
His friends once more to see.

This is just a brief synopsis
Of pluck, daring and of grit
In such an awful circumstance
Of a man who did his bit.
May his family all be comforted
By his noble work well done,
For in making the supreme sacrifice
He has reached that heavenly throne.

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