News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-09-17
BLOCK ISLANDS PHANTOM.
Fresh Account ofa Blazing Ship that, II is
Said, Appears In the Sound.

A Block Island correspondent says:
'1t seems to all depend upon the point
in view," said an intelligent Block
Islander, when asked about the phantom
vessel which is said to appear occasionally
between Block Island and Noyes Beach.
''Now, folks from Noyeses declare it to
be the ghost of slave trader, and that
faces are discernible upon the deck. l
don't see how that can possibly be, still
I don't say that these good people ever
lie under a mistake Other people from
other points have other stories to tell.
Yes, l have seen that light, and it is
not an agreeable spectacle by any means.
One thing is sure, however, that up to
date no one has ever found any human
cause for this brilliant illumination. 1t
always appears in the very same place,
and at first seems like great flame, but
there is no sign of smoke. Then the
outline of great ship becomes visible,
sometimes only dimly, but at other times
she stands out, at least to my eyes, as
plain as that schooner over there. But
| have never seen a form or face on
board of her, and hope I never shall.
ssNow there is not much doubt that
two ships were surely wrecked off this
".
and thirty years ago. 1t was the Pala-
tine from Germany, loaded with rich
emigrants, who were to go Pennsylvania to
ssettle. There are two stories told of
the wrecks of this vessel. One is that
the crew was made up of set of blood
thirsty pirates who from the first plan
ned to rob and destroy the wealthy
travellers, and that when the ship got
off Block Island, having shut the poor
men into the hold, they set the ship on
fire and escaped with their booty. This
idea is said to have been carried out by
the fact that one woman was washed
ashore by the surf and saved. She was
found to be Dutch and insane, and she
was believed to have been driven out of
her wits by the dreadful occurrences of
that night. The other yarn that the
Block Islanders, by means of false lights,
1ured the ship to destruction and plum
dered her themselves. But there is no
surer way of making Block Island man
mad then to hint that such theory has
any foundation.
1.-THE other ship that was wrecked
here, and said also to have been burned,
was slave trader, and this happened
about twenty years later. Now, maybe,
some folks see the slave ship and others see
the Palatine, and as likely as not neither
of them is ever seen. l mean by this
it is possible there may be some scien-
tifc explanation of these phenomena.
An English scholar who was here last
SUMNER Mr.. Haviland-asked me
and others very minute questions about
these appearances. He thought that
the light might be accounted for
by phosphoresccnce, and the ship by
imagination. But one night he hap
pened to see it for himself and after
that he didn't have quite so much to say
about imagination, although he allowed
that his fancy might have played him a
/ trick as we'll as other men. Another
gentleman who was favored with a sight
of this blazing vessel thought that a
ship might have sunk in this spot, and
q strong phosphorescent light have some
( way so illumincd the wreck a to cast its
| reflections above the water.
/ E"The spook theory is good deal more
simple and tenabl7 to my mind, though
/ never saw a spirit, and have no 1altn
in spiritualism. The fact is, l don't
think a man can be too careful about
saving what can be done and seen In
this world, and man that I'll believe
in other things, Pm bound to believe
when he says he has seen something that
haven't"
"Have two persons ever seen this ship
at the same timer" asked.
eyes, half dozen. When it's there
it's there, and everybody can see it who
can see anything. 1t lasts about three
minutes. I have seen it four minutes at
one time.