Wichita eagle., 1888-07-11
DANGERS OF THE DEEP.
CERELIcTS WHICH DRIFT AT THE
WILL OF WIND AND CURRENT,
Travels Of IN Abandoned vessel-Dance-
of Striking q Water Logged Wreck-The
Great RATA Vhistlins Buoy Adrift.
The Superstitious Sailor.

A derelict is anything that has been for
saken or abandoned, and, as applied TO the
sea, it is vessel that has been abandoned by
her crew and LETT floating on the ocean.
Derelicts are much more plentiful than q
casual observer would imagine. Besides YES
sells sunk near the coast in sufficiently shall
low water to make their p-otrudirg ulasts
dangerous to passing ships, there Were, on an
average, seventeen floating derelcts in the
North Atlantic reported TO the photographic
Office for each month Of the year 1856. 4
larger number of them was sighted IN the
late fall, winter and early spring than dur
ing the other seasons of the year, 10 doubt
because there were then more dangerous
storms on the ocean. Some OF these dereicts
drift around month after month, a. the Will
of the wind and current, and are reported
time after time by passing vessels.
The most interesting wreck that has been
reported for some years is DOUBTLESS that OF
the derelict schooner Twenty-one Friends.
She was abandoned or March 81, 1856 about
ono hundred and seventy-fve miles east of
Cape Henry. Being lumber laden, she con-
tinued to float Her masts were carried
away close to the deck, so that there was but
little surface exposed to the wind, and her
progress was almost entirely due to the cur
rent of the Gulf Stream. Her track across
the Atlantic was directly in the route of the
European steamers, by whom she was
sighted many times, and whose captains
doubtless grew to regard her as worse than
twenty-one enemies The last report
received placed her about seventy
miles north Of Cape Ortegal, Spain, on Dec.
4, 1885. She was probably towed into some
port by the Bay of Biscay fishermen, who
must have regarded her as a rich find. Dur
ing her long cruise she covered some $500
miles, which made an average Of about 425
miles of progress each month. A number Of
similar cases could be given where derelicts
have been reported month after month in the
highways of commerce.
Fogs and icebergs are encountered only ct
a particular period of the year, and within
certain limits of the ocean, but derelicts are
liable to be met anywhere and at any time
A ship striking one of these water logged
wrecks would be apt to sustain about as
much damage as if she ran upon q rock. An
inhospitable coast is known at night by its
lights, the presence Of icebergs by the chill
of the water in the vicinity bat during dark
ness or fogs there is nothing to indicate the
presence of derelict.
Sometimes, when it is found necessary to
abandon vessel, the captain is thoughtful
enough to set her on fire. Sometimes, if the
sea be smooth and the weather favorable, a
captain, On meeting one of these derelicts,
will lower boat and send some Of his crew
to fire her. but this is also rare occurrence.
Reports are occasionally received of ships
being injured by striking wrecks, and no
doubt some of those that have left port, and
never been heard from afterward, have been
lost in just this way.
Perhaps the most novel derelict on record
was that of the great raft which it was at
tempted to tow round from the Canadian
coast to New York some months ago. The
attempt failed, the towing steamer broke
away from the raft. and the great mass of
logs was left to float about directly in the
path Of vessels coming into New York. For
tunately, the raft was speedily broken up and
the logs were scattered, and no serious casu-
atty is known to have occurred from col
Hsions with them.
a word on the subject OF bouys which have
gone adrift may not be aniss. While most
buoys are small and Insignificant, few are
large and heavy, and might do considerable
damage to ship if run into at
full speed There is a small number
Of lighted, whistling buoys at i'm.
portant points on our coast. These are ct
mammoth size, and act as beacons, and, 1t
the same time, they give warning by the
noise they make. The whistle is automatic,
and is sounded twenty or thirty times min
ute by action of the sea. There is Il chamber
into which gas is forced, and it is lighted by
means of lens lantern at the top of the
bouy. OF course the gas must be replenished
at regular intervals.
One Of these enormous buoys was driven
from its moorings Off Cape Hatteras, in De-
cember, 1885, and, after taking an involun-
tary journey of about twelve hundred miles,
it was, on the 25th of tie following May.
captured and lowed into Bermuda by an
English steamer. 1t was in good condition,
but evidences Of its long trip were found in
the large barnacles adhering to it. When it
started on Ahis cruise the gas was soon ex-
bausted, causing the light to become extin-
guished, but doubtless the whistle continued
to pipe Justify with every rise and fall Of the
sea.
Imagine the dismay Of some superstitious
mariner whose ears should be greeted by
half dozen violent whoops in the small hours
Of the night, when he comfortably believed
that no object was within miles Of the ship.