New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-08-15
RISKS OF THE vALKYRIE III.

THE CHALLENGING Earl. HAS OFFENDED THE
SCANDINAVIAN GODS AND MODERN
SAILORS IN SEVERAL WAYS.
Tho s.fs arrival OF the valkyre III. conf
IDENTIFY expected since she passed Cape Race Is not
in accordance with the old Morse beliefs. Lord
Dunrayen IL no great supporter OF time-honored
suners.itions The old objections to beginning q
voyage on Friday. naming vessel with fated
name have no weight with him His persistence
IN producing succession Of Valkyries seems to In
dictate a good deal OF scorn for the old traditions
and MYTHS His idea Is to win that cup with Il
boat called the Vakyre. and 1t is doubtful whether
any mere expenditure OF money or succession OF
failures will head him or
An English paper last summer published long
list OF fated boats called valkyrie and If facts ever
assist superstition this list must have done goou
deal TO continue the old beliefs regarding the fore
ordained doom of vessels. Every boat that was
mentioned In that list came to bad end. APP
parently there was such thing as boat called
Valkyrle being hauled up in its old age on beach
to rot away and end its days like other hulks. They
all met disaster and gent TO the bottom OF the
sea while they were yet young.
This was the case also with Lord Dunraven's last
boat the Valkyre II. She was In the heyday OF ner
youth when a boat of demoniac name crashed mo
her and removed her from the surface OF the sea
and from the eye Of Mr. Clarke the owner
OF the destroying Satana. has since been In the law
u
account OF this wreckage: and he thinks that MS
Yacht is fated also The idea Is that a craft win
the name Of devil will bring Ill luck. and ne says
that he is a least able to prove that boat with
devil OF a name produce devil of a law suit
II is curious too, that the verioation OF the radi-
tion should be brought about in this case by boat
to which the old legends assigned nendish dlsposl
ton and after viewing the disaster close AT hand
the writer can answer for the apparent vicousness
Of the attack. The amateur who steered the satan
ita was trying to bear away to clear the Nalkyrie
H. and in this attempt the Satana of course gained
tremendous headway. so that the onslaught really
seemed as # filed with fendsh malice.
Another superstition which Lord Dunraven has
trampled on is that which argues against the use
of any part Of fatei ship in the building OF new
one II will be remembered that when valkyrie ii
was raised 1t was found that the destruction pre-
scribed by the old Morse deites had been fully at
tended TO- The Inflated craft beyond all at
tempts at resuscitation Her ribs were wrenched
and her spinal column broken. and after the
insurance coroners had decided that she had died
from shock her bones taken apart and sod
The builders OF Vakyre III purchased the material
and the many tons Of lead that ballaste1 the on
boat are now recast in the keel of Valkyrie Ill
The sails which the new boat used in her late races
Of Gourock the old ones enlarged Inc mast
which carries the sails OF Valkyrie ~ as she
the ocean TO America is the snorteheu spar
Of the former vessel - 49,.
From all this IT may be conjectured that no boat
heavily freIghtcd from Keel to truck with dire
prophesies and general bad luck than Nalkyre III
navian mythology and THE Choosers of the
Slain" might fairly be expected to be with her;
and that The sixty h the es of Snphu taste Oh
Constitutional croakers, of scandinavian or other
origin. vii! receive no announcement by me
that such supersttions those mentioned have
been from time 80 nrm hxea IN tss
in obtaining crews for supposedly fated vessels.