Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1899-07-19
a MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE
Pound in a Floating Bottle by X. NJ. Sl,.-
ella at the Ahipynrd.

ella r rat the Shipynrd.
Many 4 good ship has been missed by
h"r owners and although every effort
has boon made to learn her fate moth
ing is ever positively known as to
where she disappeared to, and the de-
tails relative to the final end, il the end
has been reached. are concealed in the
bosom of the great deep.
What is possibly a case of this kind
was discovered yesterday and Il mes
sage from sinking bark has been
found. which simply said that the sthi,
was about to go down forever but Civ
ing no details. Possibly nothing more
will ever be heard Of the ship and her
crew and perhaps some day news will
be received Of her Whereabouts, if she
is still ahoat
Inc information came drifting gently
ashore tightly sealed in a pint bottle
and was found by Mr.. r. NJ Sinclair
Waterman at the shpyard, under the
ways upon which one of the new ships
is being built. 1t was simply a note
written on dirty piece Of paper with
lead pencil and signed BY a man who
was on the vessel referred to. The note
in the bottle was as follows:
May 10. 1899.
THE sailing bark Mary Dunn is sink
ing off Hatteras. All are lost. one Of
the crew.
JOHN LOGAN, first mate
There is no American bark by the
name given in the message, but the rec
crds show that there is a schooner
barge by that name The ship is a YES
sci of 81 tons gross and 80 net tons:
length. ss:,'breadth. 16: depth. 4: built
in 1886 in Menominee. Mich; home port.
Marquette. Mich. Whether this is the
ship referred to or not can not be learn
ed from the records. Lloyd's Internd-
tional Marine Register fails to throw
any light on the mystery
tNr Sinclair stated this ,,,o,.pi,, +>,o+
he believed that he remembered the
ship having been here for coal, but was
not certain.
If the message is correct and really
came from ship in distress at sea the
fact can not be established and the de-
tails of the sinking of the vessel will
probably remain one of the great rys-
terics Of the deep
About II o'clock Sunday morning MI.
]. y. Fcntress and ten other gentlemen
left Norfolk on the sloop Yacht Lurlina
on pleasure trip in the Hampton
Roads. The day was pleasantly spent
ana the party was returning when
about $50 o'clock at night a sudden
sGuail overturned the small vessel and
the men were uncerimoniously spilled
in the deep blue waters of the Roads
Matters were serious, but the men new
er lost their heads and chung to the
overturned boat The accident was OBJ
served by the crew of the barge John
a. HILL three of whom at once put out
in yawl for the men They succeed
ed in rescuing them. very wet, but not
much the worse for wear and toc'<
them TO the barge Clntonii, which was
lying near by. Here they STAYED all
night, and went home via Lambert's
Point yesterday.
In connection With the accident there
is one of the most remarkable circum-
stances ever recorded in tine columns of
a newspaper. Last Saturday Mr. w S.
Fentress and q party boarded the Lur-,
line for trip TO the Bay, and in the af
ternoon 1t was reported that the boat
had been overturned and all on board
were lost. This proved untrue but
tWenty-frur hours later. the boat was
capSzed in almost idcntically the spot
Where the supposed accident of Satur-
day vas reported. and in the party was
brother Of Mr.. w. S. Fcntrcss
An unknown sloop yacht went ashore
at Old Point Comfort Sunday night
during the thunder storm then pre-
vailinE. Prompt assistance was rem
dered by young men from the cottages
and hotels. who, clad in bathing suits,
vailed out into the boiling surf and by
dint Of hard labor turned her head to
the seas and prevented the little craft
being smashed to kindling-wood
AGAINST the stone brcakwater She got
off and proceeded.