Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1899-11-25
A MYSTERY OF The OCEAN
A Bark With All Sails Sot And Not
q Soul Aboard.
sighted 1850 Miles of the Coast-Case Of
Mary Celeste-No Clue Ht-Perfectly
Sound And Dry

Within the past few days the only
parallel to the case of the Mary Celes
te-the greatest mystery in maritime
annals-has created wide interest in
shipping circles. The weird circum
stances attending the abandonment of
the Mary Celeste are now historic, and
have been utilized by at least one ia
nous novelist.
A week or two ago the captain of the
Coblenz sighted bark with all sail set
about $50 miles off the coast of Heligo-
land. He hailed her, but, receiving no
reply, he sent a boats crew to make
inquiries. They found the bark en-
tlrely deserted, although perfectly
sound and dry, and moreover, there
was absolutely no clue to be found that
would throw any light on the mystery.
This case is almost on all tours with
that of the Mary Celeste. A few days
before sailing from New York Captain
Briggs met Captain Morehouse Of the
English brig Del Gracia. The two men
were old friends, and as they were both
bound for Mediterranean ports, they
found plenty Of matter for converse
ton. A day or so later the Del Gracia
put out to sea, sailing few days ahead
of the Mary Celeste.
The Del Gracia's voyage was with
out incident until December 7th, when
the Island of Santa Maria, the south
ernmost of the Azores group, came in
sight. Almost at the same instant the
sails of a brigantine were made out in
the ofiing and Captain Morehouse de-
cided that the oncoming vessel was
none other than the Mary Celeste. But
there was not soul on board. The ca
bin of the Mary Celeste was Just as 1t
would be If the ships company had
been on board. The captains watch
hung from the bracket Of the swinging
lamp over the table, and on the table
itself was a slate, on which some notes
for the logbook had been jotted down.
ne date of the entry was November
gath, showing that the vessel had been
left to her own devices for nearly two
weeks when found.
Under the entry on the slate, which
recorded light wind and fair weather
were the words: Fanny, my dear
wife, This, 1t was afterward learned,
was in the handwriting of the mate,
who probably started message to his
wife Willie his shipmates were lower
ing the boat.
Later on the exploring party enter
ell the captains room, and here they
found the clothes of his little child
and in one of the berths the imprint OF
little hand on the pillow. The other
berths were undisturbed, showing that
the abandonment of the vessel must
have taken place in the evening. In
the galley everything was just as tn ,
cook had left 1t when cleaning up after
supper, and one of the sailors chests
contained G5 note and various other
articles of value. Everything pointed
to the fact that the crew must have left
the vessel hastily.
Nothing more was ever heard of
them, and after lying three months at
Gibraltar the boat was put In charge
of a new captain and sent to her port
of destination. The generally accepted
explanation of the mystery was that a
cask of alcohol in the main hatch must
have exploded, and that the crew fear
ing the vessel would blow up, had TAX
en- to the boats and been swamped.-
London Mail.