The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1894-02-23
A DEATH SHIP.
On. Quad In st. Louis Republio)

(M Quad In st. Louis Republio)
In the spring of the year 1865 a man
named Alexander Cross, who was pre-
sumably an American, made his ap-
pearance at Rio de Janeir0 and claim
ed TO have made an astounding dis
cOvery on the African coast. His
story was to the effect that he had
landed at Cape Town two years before
and made his way up the coast to the
HOttent0t country in search of gold.
He had been captued by the natives
and held prisoner for many months
and during that time lie discovered a
gold field so rich that a miner could
dig enough in three days to make him
rich for life. | am only giving you
the skeleton of his story. He filled IN
the particulars so nicely that nobody
could doubt his sincerity, and to cap
the climax he exhibited several mug
gets Of gold which he claimed to have
secured without the slightest trouble.
His idea was to charter a ship and
take out one hundred gold hunters at
SO much per head, but such was the
rush of adventures that two ships
were chartered. One of them was fit
ted up to carry one hundred and thirty
men and the other had one hundred
and twenty aboard.
Cross was IA bold and heartless vii
lain, and his story was lie from be-
ginning to end. He intended to get
possession OF all the money he could
and then disappear. He had no idea
of sailing with either craft, but cir
cumstanceS wrought change in his
plans. The gold seekers watched him
SO closely that he had no opportunity
to abscond, and when the day Of sail
ing came he found himself aboard the
ship Magnet, an English merchant
man chartered for the voyage. This
ship was to sail a week in advance of
the other and wait for her at point
agreed upon. The second ship did not
get away. The Magnet had been gone
only two or three days when some
English people arrived at Rio and
stamped Cross as an adventurer
and imposter who had been obliged to
flee the country. Up to this time it
was supposed the money he had re-
ceivcd from his victims had been de-
posted in bank at Rio, but it was
now aScertained that he had trans
ferred it To Paris.
AS to what occurred after the Mag
net sailed much will never be known
beyond certain date. Four weeks
after her departure from Rio her yawl
was picked up ut sea seven hundred
miles south Of her course for the Hot
tentot coast. There were three dead
bodies in the boat, and they were
fairly identified as those of Cross and
the captain and nate of the ship.
They had been sent adrift without
oars, sail, food or water, and the peo-
| pie aboard the ship must have been in
a yengeful mood to do such thing as
that. Three weeks after the boat was
picked up craft supposed to be the
Magnet was sighted to the cast OF
Tristan da Cunha Island. A week
later she was sighted again further to
the southeast. This time she was
sadly wrecked aloft and was Tying a
signal of distress, but as a gale was
blowing and night was coming on nc
assistance could be rendered. Nothing
further had been rep Irted up to May,
1867, when the American bark Ezra
G. Davis cruising for whales south OF
the Cape of Good Hope, touched at
Marion Island to renew her supplies
1t was learned that dismasted ship
supposed to be the Magnet had been
sighted to the south only three days
before. We had newspapers on board
the Davis giving the particulars as
have related them, and when we left
the island it was to cruise for the lost
ship as well as for whales. She must
be a death ship as well as a missing
one. Every drop of water and ever,
morscl of food must have been eX
hausted in the first ninety days, and
IL the ship had touched at any island
or spoken to any craft the fact had
not been reported. Wedid not believe
that the derclect report by the island
ers could be the Magnet, which had
not been heard of for twenty-five
months, but nevertheless hoped Il
find the hulk and solve the mystery.
Forty miles south Of Marion lslanC
we killed a whale and drifted of t
the west as we UTleu Ouu tue uluuoel
and cleaned up. We then made hal
a DAYS run to the south, and changed
our course to the east, and at the enc
of the fifth day after leaving the is
land we were about eighty miles to th'
southwest of it. Half an hour before
sunset the man in the crows nes'
sighted the derelect, dead ahead, bu
a long way of. With the going dowI
OF the sun the wind died out, and a
, night came down the wreck was still
four or five miles away. Her bearing
were taken by compass, and we hat
no doubt of picking her up next morn
, ing. The night was perfectly cain
, and the sea quiet. but when dayligh
. came the wreck was no longer In sight
There was nothing so very strange u
that, however, as we were both drift
ing, and ner drift would be the faster
A breeze lifted the sun out of hi
ocean bed, and we ran to the south
east, expecting TO have the wreck i
sight within an hour. After tw
hours sailing we knew that we mus
have oyerrun her or that some mystt
rims current had drlfted her In an