The evening times., 1900-07-31
BURIALS IN THE OCEAN
Little Reason Now for Throwing the
Dead Overheard
From he Now York Nal and Ezpress.,

Frcm The New York Nal and Expressl
probability OF the Atlas Line BE-
ing sued because Captain Low. the mas
ter Of the steamer Allegheny. buried
the body Of Alexander Wormser At sea Is
Stil actively discussed in shipping circles
l. has been learned that the third offs
OF The vessel took q photograph Of the
funeral services and this picture is Likely
TO be used BY the plaintiffs Oae Of the bess
admiralty lawyers OF this country. who has
been looking up the question of sea burial
as applied 70 passengers, Eas found much
10 condemn IL the practice He says, Tow
ever, that ne has been unable 10 fnd any
instance Of suit being brought 20 recover
damages for what was considered haSty or
necessary burial OF the deep Expert Opln-
ION does EoJ difer as 10 il being optional
with shipmaster 10 commit a body 10 the
deep, but il is admitted By even those
VINO think Captain Low did what lie
considered proper that the practice is
10 be condemned IN these DAYS or quick
ships and short passages. Many wealthy
men other than Mr.. Wormser have been
buried at sea, and there are innumerab'e
records oi big sums being offered to bring
Dodies 10 port, rs II is claimed was done
in the case Of the New York banker.
An expedition IS now in progress having
Tor its object the-recovery Of the body OF
the celebrated Italian millionaire impre-
sarlo, SignOr Antonio TOmba, who died at
sea last fall SignOT TOmba took passage
at BuenOs Ayres in the Italian steamer
Regina Margherita to go to Genoa. The
trip was more than half completed when
ne died, and Notwithstanding the entreatiss
OF his family, who were also on board the
remains were buried at sea OF san Vicenzo.
Cape Verde Islands. The custom has been
to attach weights 10 coffins at sea. In the
case Of Mr. WOrmser the officers Of the
Allegheny had the carpenter to place fur
mace bars in the bottom of the coffin which
he built. The family OF Senor Tomba find
ing that the captain of the Margherita
would not infringe upon the rules as to
the carriage of corpses in his ship. deter
mined to make last attempt toward pre-
serving the body and securing its inter
ment in the deceased's native land. They
had specially constructed ? water-tight
and hermetically sealed casket which
could not sink, and in this they committed
tie body to the care Of wind and wave
Before the funeral services were con-
Guided the relatives of the wealthy i'm
presario affixed to the face of the coffin
a roll Of parchment wrapped in tarpau-
lin which stated that the heirs of the dead
man guaranteed TO pay so 600 francs 10
whoever might find il and convey it TO
either Genoa or BuenOs Ayres. No in
formation of the coffin being received
Signor Dominica TOmba, a brother Of the
dead man, issued an announcement last
month, Offering an additional reward Of
10000 francs for the recovery of the body.
This announcement has been sent to all
consulates. and 10 it is attached an alb
stract of the ships log giving the position
in which the remains were cast adrift The
offer has no parallel in the history of sea-
faring, and many believe that the reward
Of 70,000 francs wiz cause the crew of
some passing vessel to overcome the
superstition as to housing the dead and
bring the remains to port. Not salts
fed to wait, the relatives of Signor Tomba
have sent an expedition TO search The
captain Of the Margherita, in his report
TO his owners, gives the opinion that be-
cause of the peculiar and perfect construc-
tior of Signor Tomba's coffin it is likely
to remain ahoat for many years unless
picked up IN the mean time.
A rich Australian named Whitehouse