, 1889-01-10

and Captain j. II. Winchester of New
York, ooe of the owners, went to q ibra,er
to get her released Captain Winchester
did not believe the mutiny theory, and
disproved 1t by having the spots on the
sword blade examined by chemist. Tne
spots were found 10 be nothing but rust.
Captain B. 5. Briggs, of New Bedford,
was master and ons.eighth owner of the
Mary Celeste, and he had his wife and
Ghiid with him on the voyage. The mate.
Richardson was man of excellent charac.
ter, the cook was respectable white man,
ana tue ten sailors we're Germans. a
mutiny in such u ships company was
highly Improbable.
WHY THE BRIO WAS ABANDONED.
Captain Winchester's Investigations
brought out several facts which made an
explanation OF the case possible. lt was
clear that the vessel was running before a
strong breeze just before the abandonment,
because the topgalant sail was found
snugly furIed The headsheets, being
flowing, showed that che had been
rounded to-, and the unshipped gapgway
showed that the long boat had been
launched hastily.
The alcohol, which formed the cargo.
was in barrels of red oak, very porous
| wood, and probably enough of the fumes
| exbaled through the pores to mix with the
| foul air of the hold and generate an ex.
plosive gas. which blew Off the forehatch.
In such explosions volumes of vapor Re-
| sembliDR smoke are thrown out.
Captain Briggs believed that the vessel
was on lire when he saw this vapor issuing
from the hatchway, and knowing the in
Hammable and explosive nature Of his
cargo he resolved instantly to heave the
vessel to, take to the long boat and watch
Developments at a safe distance from the
brig. All hands got into the long boat
and pulled away out OF danger. The briggs
,nainsail being slowed, she had no after
sail to keep her to the wind and she .ot
sternway and backed off until. the wind
filed her topsails, when she sprang away
like deer, leaving the crew and the boat
behind.
The chase that ensued may be imagined.
The brig would come to ut intervals of a
few minutes and raise the hopes of the
seamcn tugging at the oars of the heavily.
laden lon1'boat. As she came up aud
spilled the wind from her square sails her
jib and staysai would fill and pay her
off, and again she would run before the
wind. Her yards being squared she
would pay of first on one tack and then
the other, but would keep in the long run
a pretty straight course. The hopeless.
tantslizinR chase no doubt lasted until
night came on, and then the brigantine
disappeared, leaving the boat load of peo-
uuTlC on OCchu WltHOut IOOu OT
water. They were In the vicinity of the
Azores. but so far away that they could
not reach the islands before famine and
thirst would destroy them. T1eir only
hope was that some vessel would pick
them up, but that good fortune was not
theirs, and they perished at sea-
AN uNLUcKY CRAFT.
The Mary Celeste was unlucky from the
do hon aha ht,iIk
Of green timber she stuck on the ways and
was hoated only at great expense. She
lost money on every voyage, and in 1S7l,
when only two years old, she ran ashore
on the Island of jamaica. Her captain,
discouraged by heavy losses, tlew out his
brains.
she was taken to New York and sold as
u wrecked vessel to u Boston man, who re-
titted her and got an American register,
although the vessel was built in Nova
Scotia and never had been wrecked on the
American coast. A year later she was
seized for debt and sold at auction for 81
500 to Captain Winchester aud others. il
cost Sli 800 to repair her, as her timbers
were all rotten, Then she was seized for
having a fraudulent register, and it cost
tho owners "A good deal of money TO prove
that they were innocent parties and TO get
her released Captain Winchester and
his partners lost $4,000 on her in three
years. and sold her to Cartwright x Har-
rison, who kept her for five years and lost
S5000
The Mary Celeste always lost her deck
load, and generally lost her sails and spars
along with il. Her last owners were
Knowles, Free man ~ Co., of Boston. who
bought her at a low figure.
WRECKED FOR GOOD AND ALL.
In July. 1885,. Captain Gilman Q.
Parker, the last master of the Mary Celeste,
was tried in the United States court in
Boston for baraty. The indictment
charged Captain Parker. Abraham q
Wendell, George w. Miller, Raphael Boz
ris, Emile Boris, Sullivan A. Freeman and
knowles Freeman with conspiring TO de-
stroy the vessel and cargo, with intent to
defraud the insurers. The Mary Celeste
was wrecked on cora, reef off Hayti
on January 8, 1885, aud the mate, Joseph
+. Howes, declared that the captain delib-
erately ran her on the reef. She was
loaded with spoiled fish. bottled lees for an
ale house. and other utterly worthless stuff
that could not be sold in any port. and the
| ptrs must have had an understanding with
| somebody that the vessel never should
| reach port.
| Ernest Barthold testified that he wasat
| the helm, and the captain told him to he a
| for the reef. He kept tue course until the
vessel struck. ut 2 o'clock in the after
noon on a clear day and in q smooth sea.
| The masts were cut away under the cap
tain's orders, and the crew left the brig on
the reef, where some of the crew set fire
to her some weeks later. The captain
threw the ships papers overheard, and
| told the consul at Hayti that he lost them.
L Nasv DA l..nln sod Aknk In