The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-10

captains room. and there saw the
| clothes OF the infant, and in one of the
| berths the imprint of the little head on
| the pillow. where the child's mother
| had put il to sleep, and whence she had
| taken it when called on to leave the
ship. The other berths were undis
| turbed, showing that the abandonment
| of the vessel must have taken place in
| the evening. In the storeroom the
| ships provisions were undisturbed, eX-
| cept thaA one drawer containing can
ned meats had been pulled out, and
| part of its contents apparently remov-
| ed. In the gallery everything was just
as the cook had apparently left them
| when clearing up after supper. In one
| OF the sailors chests was found Go
English note, and several articles of
value left behind showed that the crew
must have left hastily.
WHY THE CREW LEFT.
Thoroughly mystifled. Captain More
house decided. after hearing the mates
story and inspecting the vessel for
himself to take the brigantine to Glib
raltar Mate Devon was put in charge
and was given two men as crew to
navigate the ship. 1t was nearly loo
miles to 1.-The rock" and the voyage
was not an easy one to make with only
two men as creW-tWo SuperstitiouS
men who considered themselves on
board fated ship in the bargain. In
all that l.20O miles the two sailors
could not he persuaded to so below
once. They preferred sleeping on deck
to seeking rest in the cabin. and they
would drink water from the butts on
deck rather than go into the galley to
make coffee.
Finally anchor was dropped in the
blue waters under the shadow of the
mighty rock of Gibraltar. and from the
little white walled city clnging to the
base of the rock word was cahled to
New York of the arrival. Captain
Winchester was Obliged to go across
to claim the vessel and settle the
claim for salvage. which was finally
fixed by the English admiralty court
at $4,000 This was paid by Captain
MOrchouse of the Die Gracia, and after
lying three months in the harbor OF
Gibraltar the Mary Celeste was put in
charge of a new captain and proceeded
to her port of destination
When the news of the finding of the
Mary Celeste became known there was
one very important point in the case
which was not made public according
to the sister of Mate Richardson. Mate
Devon OF the Del Garacia knew of it,
here Captain Lyman r. Richardson Of
the brig Valencia. a brother of Mate
Richardson oi the Mary Celeste, sought
out the mate of the Del GaraCia. and
from him learned the story of the find
ing of the abandoned brigantine. Mate
Devon said that while ON the vessel he
took off the main hatch to inspect the
cargo, and found that the head of one
cask of the alcohol was out. He made
,,,l -
came to the conclusion that the barrel
of spirits had exploded. as everything
about it indicated that an explosion
had taken place. This. in the minds of
Mate Devon and Captain Richardson.
explained the whole mystery of the
hasty departure of the ships company,
who. fearing that the whole cargo
might blow up, had taken to the boat
with the intention OF standing by de-
vclOOements.
NEVER HEARD FROM.
1t was learned by Captain Richard
son that the Mary Celeste's long boat
had been crushed while the vesse! was
loading. and as Captain Briggs did not
want to wait for new boat to he built,
or the old one repaired. he had sailed
with only one boat, the one at the
stern davits. Into this small boat then
the people on the brgantinc must have
hurried when the explosion took place
in the cargo. In the vicinity of the
Azores there is Il short, lively chop to
the sea. caused by the strong currents
and the breaking up Of the ocean swell.
and in this chop the overloaded jolly
boat must have filed. leaving the oc-
cupants to the mercy Of the sea. IT.,
may have been the purpose of the