The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-09-29
SECRETS OE HE SEA.
The Fate of Ships that Have MysteriousIy
Disappeared.

AhS ate VI ShlpS nave hySLeFlOuSlY
Disappeared.
A ship leaves port apparently in
good condition, her cargo well slowed,
her spars sound, and generally well
found. After that nothing is ever heard
of her, and conjecture is vain. A sud
and sent her to the bottom stern fore
most, or she may have foundered in a
gale after all her boats had been de-
stroyed, or her boats may have got
away and persisted one by one on the
wide ocean plains. Sometimes, but
rarely, there has been a mutiny and
massacre, and the survivors may have
made their way to some tropical island.
there to live as ''beach-combers" or
turn savage with the savages.
When fire occurs at sea on merchant
vessel, unless the weather is very bad
at the time, the crew generally succeed
in getting away. A mutiny may be
followed by the burning of the ship as
means of destroying eliminating evil
dence. In the China seas there are
still some pirates, and a vessel be-
Gained in the neigh borhood of some of
the islands scattered in groups there
might incur the danger of attack by
the wicked-looking junks that are
usually concealed in the passages be-
tween the islets. In such case if there
were no firearms on board it might 90
hard with the ships company, but a
good supply of shotguns or rifles in
the hands of white men is usually a
guarantee against Chinese pirates.
Still, many vessels have met their fate
in that unlucky region, and nothing
has remained to tell the story. Ty-
phoons, too, are doubtless responsible
for not a few mysterious disappear
ances of vessels, and once in while
probably waterspout bursts over a
ship and sinks her suddenly with all
hands. In the Indian Ocean furious
squalls often come up at night with a
swiftness very menacing to any heavy
spared clipper slipping along with
| studdingsails set allow and aloft, and
here again is a possible cause of de-
struction, and one which might over
take the most cautious skipper if his
officers were less sedulous in consult
ing the glass.
Occasionally the mysteries are pre-
sented in the most bewildering way.
Such a case was that of a vessel which,
! several years ago, was found drifting
with all sail set and not a soulnnson
| board. All her boats were on the
davits, the materials for meal were
in the galley coppers, the chronOm-
eters, compasses, charts and instru-
ments were in the cabin, but no ships
papers. The name on the stern was
painted out; nothing had been LETT by
which to identify her. Yet all these
precautions had been taken deliber-
ately, while the final evacuation
seemed to have been effected with a
suddenness suggesting mortal panic.
| The mems things were all in the top
gallant forecastle; the captains and
officers effects were all in their respect
i've cabins under the poop. The whole
| appearance of the vessel indicated
that her people had left her on
the spur of the moment, driven by
some overmastering impulse or
fear. She had encountered no bad
weather since the desertion. Her
yards were braced up as for trade
wind, and there was no disorder on
her decks or down below. No line of
writing was found to give a clue to
this dark secret of the sea, and to this
day it has remained an insoluble pu2-
zle to every seaman acquainted with
the facts. Sad and mysterious as are
disappearances such as that of the Far
ragut, it must be admitted that there
is something even more perplexing in
the discovery of derelicts abandoned
SO incomprehensibly as was the vessel
here referred to. 1t should be added
that she was not leaking, nor were
her spars sprung or strained, and no
reason could be perceived in any thing
about her for the disappearance of her
crew and Officers.-N Y Tribune.