Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-23

been written by officers or passengers be-
longing to the craft telling a tale of fire at
sea or Of starvation in boats. The bottles
are picked up. and the forged news they
contain nils many hearts with distress
and grief.
Burning for a Year.
An extraordinary instance Of the burning
or a vessel was that of the Ada Iredale
bound from Scotland to San Francisco with
cargo OF coal. She was abandoned in
october. 1876 nearly 1900 miles east of the
MarQuesas Islands. Her crew took to the
boats and succeeded in reaching the Mar
Quesas. Meanwhile the wreck, still burn
iEg. drifted westward in the equatorial
current to Tahiti, distance or 2.4ZS miles
Finally she was towed into port and her
cargo continued to shoulder for more than
year However. she was repaired even
tuaiiy ana Is now engaged in the China
trade.
On January IL, 1892 the Colombo d, not
rar from Bermuda, saw a vessel three miles
over the starboard bow. The stranger was
tnree-master, square rugged. When sig
naiec she returned no answer. She seemed
to be steering erratically, with all sails
SET She was approached so close that the
name on her stern. "Hutchins Bros, Nova
Scotia was easily read, but there was no
sign of life on her deck The superstitious
sailors refused to board her, thinking that
there was something uncanny about her
The Colombo stayed by all night, the
skipper desiring to investigate the mystery,
but In the morning. though 1t had been al
most dead calm. the three-master had van
tshed from the face Of the ocean. The
crew OF the Colombo D were terrified, be-
and they thought they would never reach
port alive. However. they got to land all
right and learned that the "Hutchins
Bros. had been deserted when about to
sink by her men. who were picked up. The
case was quite similar to the celebrated
one OF the Marie Celeste, which was found
In the Mediterranean under full sail with
out soul on board, though nothing ap-
parently was the matter with her and the
fire In the galley stove was lighted That
mystery was never solved. The vessel was
lowed into Genoa and was scuttled years
afterward IN the Gulf Of Mexico for the in
surance.
The drifts of some of these derelicts are
astonishing. One Of the most remarka BILE
was that of the schooner w. L. White,
abandon ed in the great blizzard of 1883
the pilot charts for many months. From
March to November she was reported by
thirty-six vessels. In a cruise of ten
months she traversed distance Of more
on one of the Hebrides. The American
schooner Wyer G. Sergeant drifted about
the ocean for two years, covering $500
miles. She was loaded with $50, 900 worth of
m1anogany. She was sighted thirty-four
times and traversed the whole Atlantic.
from the west to the east coast and from
the Azores to Newfoundland.
Lumber-Laden Hulks.
sailors are frequently thoughtful enough
to set fire to ships when they desert them.
In order that they may not become derelicts.
This was done in the case OF the schooner
L. p. which set sail from ST Johns for
New Bedford with a cargo of lumber While
sun wrapped In flames she went ashore ON
S oeach' and the people made great
nyrf. IT,
lumber, though in vain. But the most dan
seroos lumber dereiict-in fact the most per
iious OBJECT ever set afloat-was the famous
1osSins rait, which started from the Bay
vi uhuy Tor New York some years ago II
was composed of 1900 great tree trunks.
pound together with iron chains and n
weighed 1l,oO0 tons. The hawsers by which
- vas lowed parte1 In a hurricane. and the
raIt went 70 pieces south Of Nantucket. Fer
many months the logs were reported scat
.ered over great part Of the North Allan
TIC. Inc pilot charts during that period
were .nickly speckled with them. They
never dld any harm, as was feared
There Is an average of about thirtv urects
noaung at all times in the North Atlantic
MOST OF them are usually found in the neigh
oornood OF Cape Hatteras. Some of them
..szag BACK and forth across the paths of
the trans-oceanic liners. 1t is a marvel how
rev accidents they cause. II so many stray
elephants We're constantly wandering about
MI tue neg hborhood OF the railway tracks
whichsconnect New York with Chicago the
Danger would be somewhat analogous
Narrow escapes are often made. One sucb
was had BY the American bark Neptune.
Al about am. on a dark night she vas
myihg along before a stiff easterly wind.
Inc SKY was overcast and II was impossf-
Die to see more than a short distance ahead
Suddenly the lookout cried:
"A wreck! Dead ahead! Down with your
helm! Hard down. 'oN'
through the darkness the dim black form,
OF derelict quickly showed itself. the how
spirit pointing upward. with a mass of srars
and cordage outlined against the gloomy
SKY overhead. There was no means Of
lessenine the speed Of the Neptune. before a
coi!ision might occur. The question of life
ana death decended on the way In which
she answered her helm. The bark ESCAPED
put oy so close shave that her crew can
not to this day comprehend how she did r.