The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1899-06-29

unable to cut them away.
1--WE could zee that the risen ship had
been long under water Barnacles hung
from her rails and the broken timbers
above deck were covered with the dark
green Shiny weed that Is found only at
a great depth. 1t was easy enough to
guess how she had gone down. Caught
in a sudden squall. she had strained her
framework and broken a rent some
where below the water line that sent
her to the bottom. probably before the
crew had time to man boat But how
had she come TO the surfaceH
Officers and crew of the Mary Clay
ran to the starboard rail and looked at
the derelict that had come up from be-
low with staring eyes and blanchod
faces No man of us had ever heard Of
such a thing before, and we were 80
close to the wreck that there was no
chance that we were mistaken. The
ship was not derelict that had been
floating with decks awash. She had not
been concealed from our view by float
ing seaweed. The vessel had risen to
the surface In big patch of clear wa
ter and half the crew of the Mary Clay
had seen her come up.
For time we were so startled by
what we had seen that no man made a
move 10 do anything. Then the captain
recovered his nerve and called for vol
unteers to board the strange craft and
see what we could learn about her. At
6rst the men drew back. There was
something 80 uncanny about the stran-
ger that they wanted to get away as
fast as possible, Finally boat crew
led by the first mate, volunteered, and
we went over and boarded the sudden
and mysteriously arisen derelict. We
slipped on the thick green slime that
severed the deck as we climbed over
the rail, and the pale faces of the men
showed that they had no heart in the
work we had undertaken to do.
"a hasty glance about the deck
Vowed that everything was gone by
The board except the broken spars and
Torn rigging that hung to the stumps
Of the masts. The boats were all gone.
The wheelhouse was stove in, and the
captains cabin had been crushed by
falling spars. With an oar from our
boat we scraped among some of the sea
weed and slime and found that the
patches had all been battened down.
We found the main gangway covered
with dense heap of seaweed, in which
there were scores of crabs and strange
looking jewellers in the depths of the
southern seas. With much labor we
cleared away this mass of stuff and
reached the head of the ladder leading
down from the main deck. Dill, the
mate. looked down into the dark water
that rose almost to the top of the gang
way, and then he sprang back with a
cry Of horror.
"a sudden roll of the ship on deep
swell churned the water between decks
and the bloated body of dead sailor
was thrown up the ladder and 30
wedged in the passageway that the face
stared straight up at us. The flesh was
soft and white. as if ready to drop from
the bones, and the eyes had already fallen
out The hideous face seemed to mock
at us with CHASTITY leer.
with one accord we all started back
toward the stern of the vessel. where
our boat was tied to the rail Before we
reached the boat there came another
heavy swell. the ship lurched to star
board and as she rolled back to an even
keel something in her framework below
decks broke with muff1ed crash. Then
a small fountain of black water, capped
by yellow bubbles, broke from the open
gangway and a great quantity of gas
that had been confined below shot high
up into the air with report like escap
ing steam
with this eruption from the depths
of the ship there came an odor of de-
caying flesh so strong and sickening
that we fell into our boat. almost over
come. The line was cut and we pushed
away as quickly as possible. Nest of us
were go overcome that we were unable
to handle the oars, but. fortunately, an
other roll on sunken wave carried the
ship away from III and we were clear of
the horrible odor The roar of escaping
gas continued for several minutes and
then the broken and battered derelict
settled stern first and sank swiftly out
of sight.
1.-The Mary Clay reached home in
time and on our next trip to South
America we found possible solution of
the remarkable incident of ship rising
from the sea A British vessel loaded
with live stock for Brazil had been lost
some months before, probable near the
Sargossa sea. If the ship settled on an
even keel at the bottom, sand and sea
weed might have closed the rent in her
hull that caused her to sink. Then, with
the matches battened down above the
decomposition of the bodies of the ami
mails that had formed the cargo would
create enough gas between decks in
time to cause the vessel to rise to the
surface. When we cleared the gangway
the gas escaped and the broken vessel
went to the bottom a second time -
New York Cor. ST Louis Globe Demo
crat
FOrtIhcations of Spanish Towns.
The town of Palmas Soreano consists
Of several hundred matched houses and
pei haps about 80 frame, brick and
stone houses. with tiled roofs 1t il
situated in a valley surrounded by hills.
A line of forts stretches from northeast
to southwest with d line of barbed
wire fence in front of them toward the