Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-12-23
Gales and Sketehes.
ABERDEEN.
A British Earl before the Mast.
CAPTAIN OSBORNE OF RICHMOND, MAIN

CAPTAIN OSBORNE OF RICHMOND, MAINE.
In 1866, George Hamilton Gordon, sixth
Earl of Aberdeen, left his home in Scot
land He had succeeded to the title two
years before at the age of 81. and had
come into possession of an estate with an
income of f4O.00O year. The title was
created in 1862. Its holder was also
baron of Haddo, Methlick, TURKS and
Kellie, and Viscount Gordon, the latter
title carrying with it the right to seat in
the British House of Lords. The Earl
was fine athletic young fellow. 6 feet 2
inches high well educated, and possessed
of strong mind and great force of char
acter. He had made some, voyages with
his father, during the fifth Earls lifetime,
and was known to be greatly interested in
the welfare of British seamen.
The family, at the time ofhis departure
consisted of the Countess Dowager, So
years of age, his mother, and two younger
brothers and two sisters, then still unmar-
ried. 1t was announced that the Earl had
merely gone on short tour for the benefit
of his health; but as month after month
passed away and he did not return, people
began to question the cause of his absence.
Finally the whispered remarks of the peo-
Pile penetrated the massive stone walls of
Haddo House. the family residence, and
then the announcement was made that the
Earl was visiting foreign countries. Oc-
casionallv the Dowager Countess received
letters from her absent son, now in Boston.
then in Cuba, again in New Orleans,
Halifax or some other distant shore OF the
Atlantic assuring her of his welfare and
prosperity, and detailing his experiences
and observations in different countries,
but always refraining from any mention
of his manner of life or imode of travel.
In the meantime the vast estates remained
in the care of agents, and the princely in
come accumulated in the vaults of the
Earls bankers. No drafts were made
upon them by the traveller.
At last the younger brother of the Earl,
the Hon. James Henry Gordon, heir pre-
sumptive to the titles and estates, died.
Almost coincidently with this sad affliction,
the absent Earl ceased writing home.
After waiting many months for some clue
to his whereabouts, the matter was placed
in the hands of the legal advisers of the
family, who opened correspondence with
all the different places the Earl had visit
ed, with view of securing some clue by
which he could be traced. Among others
addressed was the banking house of Dab
ney, Morgan & Co., of New York, who
were charged with the search of the United
States and Canada for the wanderer.
Skilled detectives were sent out from Eng
land to assist in this search, and shrewd
New York Officers were also employed
After fruitless hunt of several months,
the following familiar notice was inserted
in the personal columns of various news
papers throughout the United States:
DOD-I am well, but we are in afiction, and !
IL long for you, that we may comfort one another.
There is letter for "Dod, at the Post Office, New
York.
This notice was first inserted early in
January, 1869. Itremained in the papers
for several months, exciting in an unusual
degree the curiosity and remark of news
paper readers. Some looked upon it as an
advertising dodge prcfacing the announce
ment of Il new nostrum or play; others
fancied it to be the blind communication
of some desperate criminal with his part
ner in villainy. Again it was construed
to be the ingenious message of a forsaken
one seeking to recall her lover. Few
newspaper readers failed to see it, as it
was most conspicuously printed, but fewer
still guessed its real import. The key
was in the address, "Dod,' which was the
familiar pet name by which the absent
Earl was addressed in the family circle.
If his eye had ever rested upon it, it would
have struck him at once as a voice from
home. That he gave it no attention what
ever is conclusive proof that he was one
of the few who never saw it.
When it became fully apparent that the
longer publication of that advertisement
was mere waste of money, it was with
drawn and the following substituted;
NTETIILICK.-July II, ls69.--I have been seri-
nj ously i'll; getting better, but very weak; come
if you possibly can immediately, for you are more
needed than you can think MA.
The address of this was one of the bar
onetcies held by the Earl, and the one
most familiar to him. The advertisement,
however. failed to draw out any response,
save the jesting comments of the idle read
ers who saw in it only communication
between criminals who stunned more di-
rect methods of correspondence.
The efforts to discover the wanderers
whereabouts have been and still are unre-
hitting. A half million dollars have been
spent already in the search, and a much
greater sum would be spentwere it neces-
sary. Unfortunately, however, the day
of expenditure is fast closing. A clue has
been found but it leads only to the fathom-
less depths Of the ocean, furnishing proofs
at every step of the death by drowning,
almost as his friends were about putting
their hands upon him. of the object of this
long and weary hunt; and it now only re-
mains to gather up these proofs for the
use of the British Court of Chancery in
handing over to the surviving brother and
legal heir the titles and estates abandoned
by the late Earl.
The young Earl wholly of his own voli-
ton, it seems, and without counselling
with any of his friends, relatives, or as
sociates, formed resolution to demon
strate practically the independence Of a
seamen's position and the opportunities il
afforded, properly cultivated, Of advance
ment in life. He conceived the purpose
of proving by his own experience, that a
sailor could sail out of the port of Aberdeen
before the mast, and in due time return
the owner of his ship if he so willed. And
that his experiment might be a perfectly
fair one, he for the time abandoned his
honors and titles, and, as an ordinary
peasant, applied to the commander OF an