The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-13
RICH GIFTS FROM THE SEA.
FLoTSAM THAT COMES TO BEA CHI
COMDEL:S or THE AZORES.
Brig Long Held by nm IceberE-Sub-
marine Journey of British FRI
Ente--TreriHurc on Raft Manned
nv the Dcpd-A Steamers Long

The true bCachcomber was never known
along tho Atlantic Coast. Before the days OF
the llie-savinS, patro!men used to search the
| elorcs after every storm fer wreckage, but
they wcro farmers. villagers. and fishermen.
in days lors gone there were wreckers along
the Florida reefs who were little better than
pirates, and more OF them were watching
the shores of Barnegat; but the beachcomber
had no foothold. The term was FIRST applied
to runaway sailors. and later took
in nil classes OF bad men liv-
ing near the sea, but the beachcomb-
er OF to day, no matter what his morals, has
a recognized occupation. While he can be
found along the shores OF West India islands
and many other places. he is at his best in
the Azores. Here is a group OF islands rear
Ing their heads in the broad Atlantic. There
is a current sweeping east from the banks Of
Newfoundland to strike the western side Of
this group, and there is another running up
along the African coast to strike the eastern
side. The spot was created by Nature as
paradise of the beachcombcr.
In nineteen cases out OF twenty the beach
comber OF the Azores is 4 sailor. Every man
is in business for himself and every one has
so much territory which he can call his own
| The rights OF each are as we'll defined and
protected as in mining camp. Efforts have
often been made by the authorities to abolish
beachcombing. or to take 1t over to them
selves; but every attempt has stirred UP re-
| bellion. The man may have beat Of five
miles. or only Of one. according to the trend
| OF the coast. As rule he knocks UP q
shanty OF some sort about midway of his
| beat. No capital is required to start In busi-
ness. and unless the comber strikes luck he
is hungry and in rags the most Of the time.
While the men protect one another to a
certain extent, a Jumper is certain to turn
up about 30 often. Then It is a fight with
knives or clubs between two desperate men.
The one who survives takes the beat. The
body Of the one who is killed is not found by
the authorities. II comber makes q rich
find. his beat is offered to the highest
| bidder but there are no papers to be passed.
The average life Of a comber is only a year.
! II he doesn't hit It and retires by that time,
he is pretty sure to be done for by Jumper.
or to meet his death in the surf As In the
cases Of brigands. the native population stand
in with the shore hunters. and whatever of
value comes ashore finds a safe hiding place
until It can be realized on. The average
beachcomber has neither honesty nor mercy
| in his heart. In the year 1872 Spanish mer-
| chairman was wrecked on the coast Of st.
| Michael Island, and 1t Is fact beyond dis
| pute that Ave men reached the beach alive
| The comber on that beat killed them one af-
ter another that they might not dispute his
salvage. The man was imprisoned and tried,
but there was long delay. and he died before
sentence was pronounced
One OF the most curious finds ever made
| by beachcomber occurred at the Azores
In 1858. The island Of Corvo was then In
possession OF two combers both runaway
| English sailors There came drifting into
a little harbor one morning a craft which
had evidently been frozen up in the ice
for a lifetime. and had only lately been
released 1t had come down from Davis
Strait, and was an ancient and battered
hulk without masts bulwarks, or name.
The craft had been a brig. and she was
| Russian. Her matches were on and her
cabin doors fast, and the hulk was buoyant
She had come out OF the belly OF an
iceberg. She had but little cargo. and that
| consisted of skins and furs In prime con-
dition. No papers were found In her cabin.
| but II was figured that she was a sealer or
trader, carrying a crew OF ten or twelve.
and that she had been provisioned for a
| year. ne uOuT lOunu ABOARD tasted ike
chalk, but the beef was perhaps better than
the day 1t was put on board She had been
abandoned when frozen in, and the dark
color OF the woodwork and the growth of
moss proved that she had drfted for years
| Then she got fast in the ice and became
part OF berg The date OF a letter found
in her forecastle showed that she had been
abandoned nearly half-a-century before
The hulk drifted on to sandy beach, and
the combers went to work on her. They
got out the furs. which brought them $4,-
900, hosted out couple OF barrels Of beef
and then set fire to the wreck. and but lit
tie remained OF her when the story leak
ed out That the hulk had come down from
the far North was proved only a few weeks
later by the log Of an English merchant
man. She reported passing a great iceberg
TO the northwest Of the Azores. and Of see
ing curious object imbedded In 1t fifty
feet above the surface OF the water. This
object was believed to be a whale, but It
was probably the hull OF the brig Getting
down into the warm seas the berg fell to
pieces. and that queer old relic found her
self afioat again.
In the year 1912 British frigate called
the Foxfire was lost between the Azores
and Madeira. She foundered in a gale.
though not until most OF her crew had been
transferred In a wonderfully plucky way to
a consort. The frigate went down in water
a thousand feet deep, but on the afternoon
OF July 20. 1874, sixty-two years after her
loss the hulk crawled ashore on Formigas
a Slll1 gaze WHICH uhu De6n dow
ing for three days. aided by heavy seas and
high tide, landed her on the beach. and
the relic was seized by a beachcomber
named Saunderson who was an Englishman
and deserter from a man -of-war. The
frigate no doubt went to the bottom at
first. and It may be that she rested there
for half a century. Then heavy storm or
a swirl OF the current sent her drifting
along, What her rate OF drift was no man
can figure, but she certainly crept along
over a hundred miles OF ocean bed, and was
at last thrown up for human eyes to gaze
at again. Rudder and keel and masts were
gone. and many OF the bulkheads were
down, but the hull could have been made
watertiGht. Saundcrson engaged help and
made good haul from the hulk Her guns
were worthless, as may be supposed but he
got about $4,000 in gold from the purser's
safe, and many relics which brought
high prices from tourists. In overhaulng
the hulk enough human bones wero found
to account for twenty five men. From stem
to stern and from side to side, the wreck
was covered with shells and mud. and gun
bnJ IN ha To cla