The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-04-13

of Boston went a-missing. The only
trace ever found of her was board
picked up at sea, which bore some rude
lettering to the effect that the vessel
was sinking when the message was
scratched upon IL. II was found Feb.
II, 1870. Ten years later bottle was
washed ashore on the Irish coast
which, when broken open, was found
to contain memorandum signed by
an engineer, which stated that the
steamship Zanzibar, vessel that
sailed from New York for Glasgow the
previous year and had never been
heard from, had foundered at sea. No
other tidings were ever had of the ILL
fated craft.
Another vessel whose fate is shrouded
in mystery is the sloop-of-war Wasp,
Capt. Blakely, which after gallantIy
capturing the Reindeer and Avon, dis
appeared and was never heard from
again. Concerning her long absence,
thegenial Autocrat of the Breakfast
Table said, reminiscently:
"Long after the reIl chance had ut
terly vanished / pleased myself with
the fond illusion that somewhere on
the waste of waters she was still float
ing, and there were years when never
heard the sound OF the great guns
booming from the navy yard without
saying to myself: The Wasp has comet
and almost thinking [ could see her as
she rolled In, crumpling the water be-
fore her, weather beaten, barnacled,
with shattered spars and threadbare
canvas, welcomed by the shouts and
tears of thousands"
A marine disaster which attracted
universal attention at the time it hap
pened was the loss at sea of the Brit
ish ironclad Captain. by that acci-
dent 472 lives were lost, including
Capt. Hugh Burgoyne and Capt. Cow
per Coles, the designer of the ship.
The vessel capsized in heavy squall
off Cape Finisterre soon after midnight,
Sept. z, 1870, and sank within three
minutes. Her destruction was attrib-
uted to low freeboard and heavy
top weight. s.s-.
The list can be strung out almost in
definitely, but perhaps the most fam
tastic story of all is the disappearance
of the crew of the brig Mary Celeste
one which Capt. Shufeldt, of the United
States Navy, who was directed to in
vestigate the affair, called 50 sad and
silent mystery of the sea"
1t is, indeed, battling puzzle to tell
what became of the officers and crew
of that vessel. The facts, as briefly
stated by Consul Sprague in q letter
from Gibraltar, dated Jan. 8, 1878, are
that a British brigantine, the Del
Gratia, met in latitude 3s degrees 20
minutes North, longitude II degrees 30
minutes West, an abandoned vessel,
which, on closer approach was made
out to be the Mary Celeste.
AS the broad surface of the Atlantic
is strewn with derelicts this meeting
of an abandoned craft cannot, at first
sight, be considered remarkable. But
there were features to it that rendered
it so and not the least remarkable
among them was that everything was
found in shipshape order on board the
brig. The hull was sound in every
part and the cargo was well slowed
and in good condition. A vial of medi-
cine which stood upright on the table
in the cabin showed that the vessel
had not experienced rough weather,
and the last entry in the log showed
that she was in sight of the Azores at
the time 1t was made. Everything on
board seemed to be in its proper place
and to this late date there has been no
SAoS w piiV VI
ment. Her master, B. s. Briggs, was
also her part owner. He was consid-
cred an expert seaman, and was ac-
companied on this voyage by his wife
and young child. With the crew there
were thirteen persons on board.
The strangest part of it all is that
when the Mary Celeste was sighted she
was jogging along with all sail set, and
IL was by the merest accident that the
officers of the Del Gratia had their at
tention attracted to the vessel. AS the
vessels drew near it became apparent
that no one was on board the brig, and
boats crew from the Del Gratia was
sent to investigate. Among other
things was found a sword, which
seemed at first to betray marks of blood
Dents were discovered on the railing,
and the conclusion reached by the sail
ors was that there had been mutiny
on board the brig and that the surviv-
ors had taken to the boats. Experts
who examined the sword demonstrated
that the stains were iron rust. Moth
ing has been heard of the crew from
a IL. y