El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-03

LOST AT SEA
The Sad Story Of The Loss of The
Yacht PAUL Jones, With A Party
of Pleasure Seekers On
Board.-The Man Trying To
Find His Little 6irl-Mlll The
Facts Ever Be Known?
1.-THE ssddest incident of the winter
VOYAGES in southern seas ia that of the
missing yacht Paul Jones. She sailed
from New Orleans, Jan. 3, with q
pleasure party for Clearwater. Flo
rida.
A message from the sea has now
come from her telling of wreckage and
tell-tale bits of girls clothes. And
now the mayor of Indianapolis has
gone down to the Mississippi coast to
ind his little girl. She is dead
drowned in the Gulf OF Mexico, and be
wants to find her body and take it home
to her mother who bore her.
He has hired swift launch and day
and night, night and day, the little
launch hurries into the bayous and out
into the gulf stream-looking for his
little girl. She was just out of board
ing Scholastic and her two friends.
They we're nearly twenty years old,
and they were gay and full OF fun, and
they were on pleasure trip.
Colonel Yocum, of st. Louis, was
taking care of them, and one of the
girls was his daughter. They set sail
from Louisville Decemcer 6. They
were to arrive at Colonel Yocum's
9. They voysged gayly down the Mis-
sissippi. reported At New Orleans in
due time, wrote long, school girls let
tiers full of schoolgirl fun from there,
made Jokes about their voyage of adj
venture-apd have never been heard of
sgsip.
Some fishermen on the Florida coast
found the body of beautiful girl, ~
ing on little spot OF sand near Miami,
on the 23d of January. Some oyster
men found what was left of the yacht
pounding herself to pieces on the rocks
of sunken island on the Mississippi
coast-miles and many weary miles
away from Miami. A boat cruising
about the bay for pleasure found q
stocking and q pretty cabin cushion
floating in the gulf stream.
Some Austrians who make an adven-
turous living out of the sea saw a mu-
sic box afioat at high tide, and would
not pick it up for superstitious fear.
And q man who earns his living with q
| net tells reluctantly that he saw tall
man standing on jagged spit OF saod,
and waving his arms at him like spir-
it. He did not go to see what the man
wanted. He heard boot owl in the
swsmp-and every negro on the Gull
knows when q boot owl warns living
men against spirits.
The length of the coast is alive with
craft-all out looking for the bodies of
the passengers on the yacht which
never came to her mornings. And
they ell make way for the cutter which
carries the man who has come to find
his little girl, to take her home to the
mother VINO bore her.
The yacht Paul Jones was neat lit
tie craft, we'll made and we'll fitted, and
she carried gay party of friends. out
for a winters holiday. Three of the
friends were girls just out of school
One was. Miss Florence .Taggart,
daughter of the mayor of Indianapolis;
one was Florence YOcum, of ST. Louis,
and one Marjorie Woodland, of Chi
caeo. The party was headed by Col
onel Yocum, of ST. Louis. There we're
three sailors, a navigator and two able
seamen.
| The yacht was run with q naptha
lengine. The crew did not belong or
the yacht. They belonged on Colonel
Yocum's steam yacht, but they were
quick, willing fellows, and no one
dreamed of there being any trouble ir
the managing of the stanch little craft
She set sail from Louisville on 6
bright December morning, and hal.
the town was down to see her off
with q gay whistle of defiance to the
coal barges and freight boats that puff
fed their laborious way between the
banks.
The three girls were boardi6 school
chums. They we're going to spend par
OF the winter at Clear Water, Fla, II
Colonel Yocum's new winter Gotta ge
Another chum, Miss Lefiugwell, o.
Chicago, would join them there
When they had seen enough of Florids
oranges and slligators and sand, the
Paul Jones would get under way ani
take the whole party to Cuba an(
to explorations in various tropit
waters.
The Paul Jones made good, com
Portable time down the river, dropped
her passengers at New Orleans for
few days. sightseeing, and on the 81 Of
January got under way and sailed, per
aud stsnch and shipshape as ever, fol-
Florida.
When she did not report on the
Florida coast there was some little spe
culation as to the cause of the delay
but no one worried much about her
s'Put in somewhere for water or some
thing" said the waterwise; but wher
the yacht was four days late, and wher
craft after craft came in and reported
mo news of the Paul JONES'" the
yacht was added to the long, long list
which says ''missing" at the top of it
Missing, said the telegraph wires, tell
ing the news from Florida to New Or.
leans and from New Orleans to Louis
Vile and from Louisville to Chicago