The Dickinson press., 1888-09-08
DANGERS OF THE DEEP.
DERELlcTS WHICH DRIFT AT THE
WILL OF WIND AND CURRENT,

Travels of an Abandoned Ycssel-Danrer
of Striking a Water Logged wreck-The
Great Rar-A Whistling Buoy Adrift.
The Supcrstitious Sailor.
a derclict is anything that has been for
saken or abandoned, and, as applied to tho
sen, it is Il vessel that has been abandoned by
her crew and left floating on the ocean.
| Dcrclcts are much more plentiful than n
casual observer would imagine. Besides ves-
se.s sunk near the coast in sufficiently shall
low water to make their protruding masts
dangerous to passing ships, there were, OH an
average, seventeen floating dcrelicts in tho
North Atlantic reported to the photographic
Office for each month Of the year 1856. A
larger number of them was sighted in tho
late fall, winter and early spring than dur
lh% the other seasons of the year, no doubt
because there We're then moro dangerous
storms on the ocean. Some of these derelicts
drift around month after month, at 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 on March 24, 1885 about
one hundred and sevcnty-fivc miles east of
Cape Henry Being lumber laden, she con-
tinucd 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 duo to the cur
rent of the Gulf Stream. Her track across
tho Atlantic was directly i'll the route of tho
European steamers, by whom she was
sighted many times, and whose captains
doubtless grew to regard her rs worse than
twenty-onc enemies! Tho last report
received placed her about seventy
miles north of Cape Ortcgal, Spain, on Dec.
4, lss3 She was probably tGwed into some
port 10y the Bay of Biscay fishermen, who
must have regarded her Us Il 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 wherc derclicts
have been reported month after month in tho
highways of commerce..
Fogs and iccbergs arc encountered only ut
IL particular period of tho year, and within
certain limits of the ocean, but dcrelicts are
liable to be met anywhere and at any time.
y ship striking ono of these water logged
wrecks would be apt to sustain about as
much damage rs if she ran upon rock. An
inhospitabe coast is known ut night by its
lights, the presence of iccbcrgs by tho chill
of the water in tho vicinity; but during dark
ness or fogs there is nothing to Indicate the
presence of II dcrelict.
Sometimes, when it is found necessary to
abandon II vessel, the captain is thoughtful
enough to set her on fire. Sometimes, if tho
sen be smooth and the weather favorable,
captain, on meeting ono of these dcrclicts,
will lower Il boat and send some of his crow
4. f,..l l,,,, a II
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 uftcrward, have been
l": ii, just this way.
Perhaps the most novel dcrelict OH record
was that of the great raft which it was at
tempted to tow round from the Canadian
const to New York somo months ago. Tho
attempt failed, the towing steamer broke
away from the raft. and the great mass of
logs was left to float about directly in tho
path Of vessels coming into New York. For
tnnat"ly, the raft was speedily broken up and
the logs were scattered and no serious casu-
atty is known to have occurred from col
lisions with them.
A word on the ubject of bouys which have
gone ;llrift may not bo amiss. While most
buoys arc small and insignificant, u few aro
large and heavy, and might do considerable
damage To ship if run into ut
full speed There is IL small number
of lighted, whistling buoys at i'm
port;mt points on our coast, These are of
mammoth size, and act us bcacons, and, at
the same time, they give warning by the
noise they make The whistle is automatic,
and is sounded twenty or thirty times u min
ute by action of the sea. There is u chamber
into which gas is forced, and it is lighted by
means of IL lens lantern at the top of tho
louy. OF course the gas must he replenished
at regular intervals.
One of these enormous buoys was driven
from It's moorings off Cape IIattcras, in De-
ccnbcr, lss1, and, after taking an invoun-
tary journey of about twelve hundred miles,
it was, on the 25th Of the following May,
captured and t"wcd into Bermuda by all
English steamer. rIt was in good condition,
hut evidences of its long trip were found in
the large balnacles adhcring to it. When it
started on this cruise the gas was soon cx-
han5tcd, causing the light to become cxtin-
pulshcd but doubtless the whistle continued
to pipe Justify with every rise and fall of the
sea.
Imagine the ,lismay of some superstitious
mariner whose o;lrs should be greeted by
half dozen violent whool,s in the small hours
of III" night, when he comfortably believed
that no Object was within miles of the ship.
Lieut.. II. Il. Underwood, ". S. N.