The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-01-14
DANGERS OF THE SEAS
Derelicts That Menace the Lives of
All Who Sail in Ships.
John Bull to Assist Uncle Sam i'm De.
stroying the Floating Wrecks
How the Work Is Done.
WASHINGTON Star.

seFeH years. mat is an average or eight
per annum; but, unfortunately, there is no
doubt that in a majority of instances oc-
currences of this sort remain unheard of
because the ships concerned go down with
all on board. This. in fact, is the theory
which accounts for most of the vessels
reported missing" For general infor-
nation, list Of the accidents above re-
ferred to has been made out and will be
published with the pilot chart for January
Congress has recently authorized the
PRESIDENT to make an agreement with other
nations for dividing up the business of de-
stroying "derelicts.' 1t is suggested that
this shall be done by marking off the ocean
into sections, each power patroling the
area allotted to it. Happily, it would only
be necessary to patrol for this purpose a
small part Of the water surface of the
globe; that is. zone of the North Atlantic,
1900 miles long by GOO miles wide; because
such abandoned hulks elsewhere are few and
far between. But in that belt "a rowing fleet
always hovers on the very pathway OF
commerce, more dangerous than a squad
ron Of pirates, because vastly more numer-
Gus, striking more often at night than by
day, and more merciless when they do
strike"
Such were the words in which a member
of Congress recently referred to this menace
to navigation. Stirred up by an urgent rec
ommendation of the international marine
conference Great Britain is taking steps
toward joining the United States in this
sought, for use by this country, for building
ship of about eight hundred tons displace-
ment, fitted for sea-going in bad weather,
of the sort described. The vessel would re-
quire very strong boats and special towing
apparatus. At present the Navy Depart
ment sends out steamer from time to time
to destroy derelictS.
Only a few weeks ago the vesuvius went
out with orders to clear the coast of New
ing away with four. The Kearsarge blew
up one sunken wreck about the same time
off Cape Henry. But the most profitable
job in this way was executed by the San
Francisco, Oct. 2. on her way from New
York to Key West Right in the track of
commerce she found a lumber laden schoon-
cotton torpedoes to the hulk and these
were attached at different places so TO
hang beneath the keel. They were ex-
ploded by. electricity, but ten of them
her cargo, the latter being waterlogged
and damned.
RAMMED BY A WAR SHIP.
Finally, after officers and crew had
worked from early morning until evening
to destroy the worthless craft, Captain
Watson, of the San Francisco, got angry
and made up his mind to resort to war
methods. Calculating his distance at about
a quarter of a mile, he put on full head of
steam and aimed his ship straight at the
derelict. Striking her at full speed, the
steel break of his ship passed through the
object like knife through paper, cutting
it in two amidships. 1t was a fair illustra-
ton of the irresistible power of the ram:
The halves of the hulk drifted apart, and
TO make the work complete half a dozen
shells were fired into the after part, break
ing it to pieces as they burst:
There is marvellous resisting power in q
floating hulk like that 1t will swim for
years. SO solid with its cargo of water
swelled lumber that the forces OF nature
are expended upon it in vain. 1t easily
outlives the storms which are fatal to the
stanchest ships If set afire 1T will not
burn. Nothing short of the most powerful
explosives will break ii UP, and as Illus
trated by the instance above referred to,
they find the job tough one. These lum-
gulf stream northeastward across the track
of transatlantic steamship travel. They are
a menace TO commerce, and particularly to
the great passenger ships, which rush across
the seas at the speed of railway trains,
each of them carrying the population of a
small town. with no leisure to pause for
fog or obstruction.
Often these dereicts are mastless some
times keel up, usually just awash. They
give no sign or signal to the ship approach
ing. They float because the loads they
carry are lighter than the water. A vessel
with a cargo of iron or any such heavy ma
terial will sink at once IL wrecked in mid
ocean. Likewise, a ship entirely empty
will go down Immediately, filling with water
and helped under by her ballast. But the
craft laden with lumber will stay on the
surface almost indefinitely. Why, then, is
she abandoned? Well. If anybody will inn
agine himself on board of a hulk sunk to
a level with the waves, over which the bill
lows are breaking, with no food nor drink
obtainable, he may not be disposed to push
the inquiry.
noted collisions with derelicts and sunken
wrecks have occurred On May 80. 1898,
the Italian bark San Giovanni, off the Mas
sachusetts coast, struck a floating obstruc-
ton, which broke her rudder gear and
caused her to leak at the rate of fifteen
inches per hour. Only by constant work.
aided by a windmill pump. did her crew
succeed in reaching port. On the 10Th of
the same month the steamer era gside hit
a floating hulk off the Nova Scotia coast
and sunk soon after in fifteen fathoms of
water On May IS the steamer Norman
collided with the sunken schooner Booth
Brothers on Brigantine Shoals, New Jersey.
Her foremost and mainmast went by the
board, and she suffered other damage.
On April is Of this year the schooner
Turkey Point, Chesapeake bay, and sank
almost Immediately, a hole being torn in
her bow. In the previous month and in the
same region off the tail Of the Horseshoe,
the Louis p. Pharo struck a derelict dur
ing a snowstorm and sank In Iour and one
half fathoms. The crew was saved.
On Dec Z, 1857, the IoilliSH ScHOOHet
Ethel Emerson struck the wreck of the
sunken yacht Alva off Pollock Rip, Nan
tucket sound, and sank. A few hours later
the barge Beechwood. in tow of a tug, hit
the Alva, and, to save her. she had to be
beached in ten feet OF water. On Sept.
16 of the same year the ferry boat South
BROOKLYN. bound from South Brooklyn to
New York, ran over the hulk of a canal
boat off Red Hook. She sank after reach
ing her dock. Another victim was the
schooner ]. ]. Pierson, from South Amboy,
which struck a derelict in Long Island
sound and stove a big hole in her hull.
She was beached at Orient Point. L. l.,
full of water.
FLOATING ISLANDS OF THE SEA.
Much more strange and interesting in their
way than even derelicts are the floating
islands which are sometimes found floating
on the sea One of the most remarka BILE
phenomena OF this sort reported in recent
years was a bit Of dry land adrift in the
Atlantic ocean a few months ago. 1t was
sighted by several vessels, but first on July
o. 1892, when it was in the longitude of the
Bermudas and in about the latitude of WI
mfngton Del. 1t was in the middle of the
gulf stream, and was moving at the rate
of about a mile hour. Shippers who OBJ
served IL estimated that its area was abo1:
a quarter OF an acre. 1t was visible at a
distance of seven miles and was thickly GOV.
fact il was quite a mass of forest growth
the topmost branches being thirty feet above
sea level When last seen, IL had reached
the path Of transoceanic travel and was
supposed to be on its way to Europe. Doubt
less, however, II was broken up by a Storm