Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-15
AN ISLAND OF FLESH.
A Supposed Newly. Discovered Island
Turns Out to be Q Dead Whale.

From the Philadelphia Record
The captain of the bark Otto, which has lust
arrived at this port, solved . curious ocean
mystery on the voyage here, and long-puzxled
navigators and photographers all over the
country are laughing over the Jules verne-like
solution Of problem which has been bother
ing them for the past six months. Some time
ago mysterious island was reported to have
suddenly appeared south Of Newfoundland, or,
nautically speaking, in latitude IS degrees
north longitude IS degrees west The look
outs Of several incoming vessels had sighted il
and the captains, after taking observations To
locate its position, duly reported il to the by
geographic authorities.
THEY ALL sAD IT WAS An ISLAND.
Among the captains who had located the
island were Capt harrington of the ship St.
Charles, Capt Reed Of the bark Isabel, Capt
symonds Of the ship Flying Scud, Capt Bate
man Of the bark Emerson and the masters of
several English Steamship They had seen
the island with their own eyes and their state
ments could not be doubted, although no
islands have ever been known at that par
ticular spot in the Atlantic ocean. These mas
tiers reported that they had seen many birds
upon the island, but no vegetation. The stories
OF these captains varied somewhat as to the
exact geographical position Of the island, but
this was laid to natural discrepancies of calcu-
lation, and the government photographers
we're already prepared to put the mysterious
ocean arrival upon their next chart Of the
North Atlantic ocean. They will not do so
now.
THE OTTO MAKES 4 DISCOVERY.
The bark Otto, from Harburg, commanded
by Capt Grundsen, passed the mysterious
island on the voyage to this city. Capt Grund-
sen is OF an investigating turn Of mind, and
when his lookout reported the island abeam
the captain decided to see more OF it and
tackled the Otto up close to the dark mass
which appeared above the surface Of the water.
Thousands OF birds were flying above it and q
school Of sharks fed before the vessels APP
proach. Upon approaching close to the sup
posed island Capt. Grundsen's establishment
was intense when he found that the great mass
was apparently floating upon the bosom of the
ocean. He was still further amazed upon sail
ing nearer to it to find that he was approaching
an enormous dead whale, which had been
floating upon the swels Of the sea for many
months.
The monster, from the captains description,
Is probably the largest whale ever seen in At
lantic waters. According to Captain Grund-
sens state ments, backed by those Of his crew,
the animal was fully 100 feet long and IS feet
broad. The body was considerably decom-
posed, but was bloated enormously. The entire
mass above water was covered with birds, which
rose in screaming clouds as the vessel sp-
preached. while under water it was surrounded
with sharks, some of enormous size. Captain
Grundsen, concluding that the island would not
likely become a serious obstacle to navigation,
sailed for this port, where the Otto arrived on
Tuesday last, and the story Of the mysterious
island was told to the photographic officers in
this city.