Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-07-22

before. At that time all was well. The
bodies in the cabin ana foreeastle were
of course in better state Of preserves
ton. and after an inspection the captain
gave il as his opinion that the entire crews
had been poisoned. The attitude OF each
and every man went 10 prove it. Their
eyes were open and rolled back, their nm
gers clutched and their knees drawn up.
That dereliet was great find for US
Her manifest showed a cargo valued at
over s2.0o0,ooO, and the ship was all right
above deck As TO the water in her hold.
we manned the pumps and had II cut to
the last pink in two hours. Then we
made an investigation TO find the leak.
and we soon discovered that single am
ger hole had been bored In her bottom.
The orihce had become more or less
clogged with seaweed. and 1t would have
taken another three or four days TO have
filled the ship. We argued that the man
in the boat must have come from tho
ship. AS he had got away alone and had
provisoned the beat II must have been
after the others were dead. ! II was.
then, who had brought shout the whele~
sale death ofrts>v-crSw. and no nsa6Ae anver-
had strong motive. The motive W0a
discovered when some Of the boxes 0f
treasure were hoisted out Of tho inxarStta
and broken open. Aside from one or two
boxes, the whole treasure business was i
fake Lead had been substituted for sill
yer and gold. Tho furs were cheat ana
a fraud, and the value Of tho dya-atuffs
was not one-quarter of the sum they were
insured for. A second and closer search
Of the state room evidently occupied nv
the supereargo gave us the key 70 unlock
the whole mystery. lie had left behind
him letter OF instruction signed BY AL
varez at the City of Mexico. and from
that we learned that the namc Of the
dead manwas Prado. That letter, writ
ten IN Spanish, was Of no aid 70 as nx-
cept as far as the two names went. but
later, when translated into English. ia
contents were OF nature 90 make a man
turn pade. The instructions were 70 40
just what had been done. After the sane
Ia Maria had reached certain position
he was 20 poison the crew with a certain
drug prepared and. then eeuttie the ship
and take his leave Ia a small boat it
was doubtless figured that n not picked
up he could easily reach the coast "
Chile. but. a. ] have told yen. We found
him dead IN his boat Haw his death
came about ] cannot say, az be had fenAs
and water and had not encountered any
bad weather. have always believed.
however that IN his remorse for the aw-
ful deed he had done. coupled with the
terrors OF his lonely situation. he deiib-
crately drank Of the poison which had
laid the others low. II was before tho
crew became too il 70 move about that
sail was taken OFF and she was made snug
against the weather.
with the auger hole piugged aHd q
part OF our crew on board the santa
Maria, we laid our course for the port ~
valdivia and in due time both craft mr.
rived there In good shape. The dead had
been given burial. Of course. but there
was no lack Of other proofs. Ae soon a.
the plot was unrayeled steps were taken
for the arrest OF Alvarez IN Mexico. and
our claim for salvage was also nic'i.
Governments move slowly IN inferra-
tionaI matters. II was months befofe
they got ready 70 arrest the man who haa
plotted this sea tragedy. fe had mean-
while continued his career o. dlssipa-
ton and extravagance. depending uron
his insurance morey 70 make everything
good News got 20 him somehow from
vaidivia of the Gereiief being towed in.
and he LETT Mexico ard rid away ~
Bolivia There he was az last found. buk
he cheated the hsngman BY committing
suieide Years later the crew - the
Hornsuard got a few doiiars apiece a.
salvage money The ship herself wna loHs
M sea with fuii crew. Yea may auk
Why Prado did NOS make tooroagh loa
n seutti.ng the Santa Maria while hn
vas a. a. Re must have been alone az
the time. except for TIE dead around
him ard he had a sharp aaxer g work
with. Had r. bored hair dozen holes
Instead n ous he ship would have sans
down s,esore heing oTerhsuied. and IN
that ssse We could have made nothing
over enasnx Ms corpao IL she boat The
fact you'd have been entered on thu loG
and reported. hat wouid have caaaea 10
comment outside Of marine circles Pxadn
was probably IN q great hurry 10 set
away from the deafh ship. ana il hs
haste he hored Fniy one hole ara than
fea in someshtns. re panic Had ha ear
ried his letter atay witn him Il woui1
hare taken - Ionse1 Il unrayel the sayss
fery. though tho eheAk III flae caxgo mas
have sooner 81 later been II eaesra
~ pot hatehea easnss me snsaF
companies Il neFsk go ~ eaaAk
fra@eAy Of xNe ia 4te muAs
thar youns Pks4b re- iifsis ~
dern Inrarnate q er1ix 1865
Il human besuxs W teQa