Evening star., 1897-01-02

the American skippers in their endeavors
to send in useful and faithful reports as
to derelicts and icebergs.
The abandoned wanderers Of the sea call
ed derelicts are noted on the charts in the
pt siticns as to latitude and longitude. and
the manner In which they set ON the boz
som OF the deep. I'm accordance with the
last reports concerning them. A three
mssted schooner. reported bottom up a few
hundred miles east of Hatteras is minute
y pictured on the map I'm the position in
mh,en ,S..a II was iast seen, with its spars
porting downward. A four-masted full
rigSec ship. 50 many hundreds of miles
from the Bahamas. Is portrayed with its
stern deep In the water. a small base line
uncerneath the picture rendering graphic
the portrayal of its half-sunken condition
Inc little Ted base line also serves TO H.
lustrate and to identify the appearance of
a steam mer, deserted and adrift in the mid
die OF the Atlantic. with its how entirely
submerged. On the chart of the Atlantic
these significant and sad lttlet pictures are
many, especially near the coasts of the
United States and Great Britain. Many of
tnem are right in the tracks of the great
transatlaiuc liners. both on the north
ern and southern passages. on the Pacific
Shart the greater number of derelicts IL
iustrated are on tbs japanese and Chinese
coasts. The icebergs are pictured on the
charfs by little red triangles with the
GATE printed underneath them on which
they were last sighted. These little trl-
the &C asts of Newfoundland and Iahra-
dor on the Atlantic, ard the Alaska and
brltish Columbian coast on the Pacific
How They Arc Located.
III might naturally be thought that IL
would be impossible to fix with any degree
OF exactness the positions of these OH
structions. owing to the constant driving
Either and thither to which they are suh-
1ect os udes. currents and storms. As the
position OF certain derelict is only nuh
farn, ssneu on me chart once month, the in
ference would be natural that such a derp-
net miSht change its position by hundreds
ci inifes by that given on the chart This
rouio oe true enough were it not for the
TACT that the same derelicts are often rc-
ported to the hydrographic ONCE as man.
as nfty times month by the ship masters
VINO nave chanced upon them and as tho
enart @ rs gotten up and printed with .ex-
IRENE rapidity. the makers of the chart are
thus enabled to use the last report as a
pasls Ior their estimates. For as a matter
OF TACT, there is necessarily some estimat
s ,h the nxing OF the positions of these
Gerencts and icebergs. To illustrate how
this is done: "o"
Ihe chart is printed at the beginning of
eacn month The last report of a derelict
steamer Is sent to the hydrorranhic otfica
either by mail or by telegram or caIla 60,
.he skppers who Cooperate with tho Of
ice nee are permitted to use the wires when
iihportaht occasions demand such .ise). A
a Ea.ara
the master of an Atlantic liner an VII,
southwest of Sandy Hook Novembe.. -
ne people In the photographic office NOS
sess automatically exact information as
" tiie Sort OF current. its direction snd
sWiftness. which prevails al thar nr.cisa
spot SO That, in printing the chart five days
iatef' they are enabled to figure on ,ba
Paosfess winch the derelict has made in
anci current during the five days. Thpy
also make allowance for unusual tides ~
there should occur a severe storm durtng
the hve days that lapse since the last si,hf
iis Vi the aetelct, the photographic people
nave at their fingers ends the direct on
taken by the storm. and its force and thev
calculate the driving effect in connection
Win tide and current. which the storm has
probably had upon the derclict In ,,ine
cases out of ten the calculations which tba,.
thus make are afterward proven correct
Great Traveller.
Certain derelicts are reported TO the bv-
geographic Office at frequent Intervals for
PERIODS covering years. The derelict which
has the record for wandering is a schooner
named the Fannie L. Wolston, which was
abandoned in the South Atlantic in 1881.
his schooner was carried by circling chr
rents ali over the Atlantic ocean north ana
south, ana was reported dozens of times
each year for nearly three years by skfo-
pers ranging all Of what sailornen call
the w estern ocean" She was last re-
ported exactly $50 DAYS after having been
abandoned, during which time, accord ng
TO the calculations of tine hy lrograaefc
once experts, she wandered nearly 1000
miles. For all that is known to the con-
trary, she may be still drifting although
she has not been heard of for over two
years.
Congress has never noticed the r,coT,l-
mendation OF the chief of the bureau Of
navigation that separate appropriation
be set aside for the blowing up OF derelicts
by United States war vessels. although
such recommendations have repeatedly
been made. An American man-of-war is
occasionally detailed 10 blow up with
dynamite particularly dangerous dereli .ts
floating near the coasts in the track of
vessels, but, as IT is expensive work rot
provided for in the regular naval appro-
priation, the valuable services which other
wise unemployed warships couli render in
this direction are necessarily r,.sf ril.fel