The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-09-13
a DERELTCT.

dismaatlel, wholly deserted. driven
hithe- and thithec. and destined 10 find
its resting Place IN some rocky shore
or in the grassy Sasa ecossa, suggests a
grSeaome thought II is like coming
across the solitary, unmarked tomb IN
the heart of the wide desert.
There are many of these weird craft
half hundred or more tossing about
on the Atlantic noav. ard almost every
one bears with il some lnysteryan ur-
written chapter in the greaT unwritten
history Of The sea The careers of some
few Of them IS known for it is u part
of the work of the United States hydro
graphic Office 10 keep track Of these
wanderers. The task is not an easy
one, hut the method by which il is to
a degree, carried OIL IS simple enough.
All shippers are expected to report
any derelict vessels they may meet with
to the photographic office on their ar
rival in port. giving the exact latitude
and longitude in which they were OBJ
served, their condition and any other
aScertainahie faces about them Tnis
report is compared with the existing
records Of the Office 70 learn if possible
whether the ship has been reported be-
fore II her full description is given
this is not difficult, but i only a meagre
description is furnished il Is not 50
easy. An attempt is made TO identity
her with some vessel already on the
list and If the officers are satisfied that
She is identical with some vessel Of
which they already have record, they
mark down her position and the course
sde has followed since the last previous
time she was reported. If the vessel
is one THAI has not been heard from be-
fore the position only. with her probable
drift is recorded. Charts showing the
position and course OF all known dere-
lets are published every month and
whenever enc OF them goes ashore CT
IS destroyed that fact is published In
the maritime reports.
Some OF the Gerelicts that have traN
eled in one of the grent ocean hig hways
have been reported at intervals OF every
few DAYS so That it has been possible
to keep almost as complete a record of
their voyages as can BE- gathered from
the icg-bo0k o. the tIinmest of mer-
chantlnent. The story Of one such WAN
Siarer, as 1T is called from the dry rec
orls of the photographic office, is as
full of melancholy interest as the life
history of some poor human wreck buf
feted about on the rough sea of hu-
man existence ana at last cast up on
some deserted slloal to find a forgotten
resting place.
the three-masted schooner, w. L.
White. owned by A. F. Anes of Rock
land. Me. and loaded with lumber
She had just fairly started on her
Journey and was off Delaware bay,
about eighty miles southeast Of the Alb
secon light, when she was struck by
The memorable blizzard of March Is.
1883. which broke in all its fury over
New York city and the Atlantic coast.
The storm made short work of the W.
L. White and semi a heavy sea rolling
over her that washed away two of the
crew and forced the others to abandon
her. The schooner was in storm rig
with only a portion of her sails set and
The crew left in such haste that they
had barely time to set the ensign union
down at her foremost TO indicate that
she was an abandoned vessel. Then
they pulled away in a long boat and the
schooner, with no master save the ca
prices Of wind and current, started on
what proved to be a long and lonely
VOYAGE. Under the influence of the in
shore current and the northwest gale,
she drifted away to the southwark I'M
Ill she struck the gulf stream, when
she turned east again. The first YES
sci to bring news of the White report
cd that on March 81 they passed the
derelict about twelve degrees east of
the suot where she had been abandon
ed The top Of her foremaSt mad been
broken off but her other nlasts were in
tact. with portions OF the salts still
cl1S MS AAS bOaA No~7 wei III out VI
water and seemed still to be in good
condition By April II she had travel
ed another ten degrees and had appar-
emily encountered some difficulties for
her foremost was broken off at the
deck and she was much lower in the
wafer The main and mizzen masts
still lowered like gaunt arms above
the deck.
BY the beginning of May the schooner
had traVerSed about / SOC miles and was
making fair progress towards the 9TH
er side of the Atlantic But here in
miGocean her European voyage was
suspended and for six months he drift
ed about within q radius of a few de-
grees, lying directly in the pathway
of the ocean liners, a. constant men