The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-04

price for aer deliverance. or $500. 0OO. 600
for that matter. Once involved in that
labyrinth OF weeds and wrecks. there
IS only one exit for a sailOrman. and
that is straight to the coral beds be-
meath Il However, she may not have
entered there The SaragoSsa sea. al
though deadly in its embraces. repulses
with the same power aggressions upon
its domain. The same weeds which
entangle and hold everything they
grasp, repulSe with cushion-like OBJ
stinacy the orm-driven wrecks and
derelicts which wind and currents force
that way. A derelfct Wandering at the
VIII OF wind and waves will glide for
hundreds of miles along the edges Of
that dreary place and never enter
there; but when one is driven by the
force Of a gale such as Captain Graham
describes end on against ii, it is more
than likely that the violence of the
storm has opened crevices in the Weedy
mass. through which the wreck may
be forced and forever lost to human
knowledge. I have no doubt that there
are wrecks and derelicts in that mys-
ferrous region now, which have been
afOat for scores of years, and which
may continue to float as many more.
1 have no doubt that there are other
fortunes there as great as this one
which has excited your cupidity and
mine. l say this, Mr.. Gregory, not to
argue against the expedition we are to
undertake. but to impress upon you
the absolute futility of continuing the
search beyond the margin of that sea
of weeds, should We ultimately decide
that the Sallie Johnson has fallen into
its embrace
Il do not wholly agree with you, Oar
Yiy,ofnr1 aF+
meditating for some time upon what
the captain had just said. Il realize
| that my Ignorance concerning these
matters is as profound as your knowl-
| edge is complete. Nevertheless, l do
not agree with you: and my reasons are
these: First, l have absolute conf
dence in your ability as a sailor and as
| an executive officer and / have entire
| faith in your courage; second, believe
| in my yacht, which you know to be
with the exception Of the interior deco
Tations. the sister ship to William X
| Vanderbilt's Valiant. She is fully
! stocked and stored in preparation foI
! this cruise, and she is manned by z
| crew who, almost without exception
/ have been with me since she was
launched. She has a coal capacity fol
5000 miles, which is almost unprece-
| dented in a vessel Of her size and build
but 1 sacrificed much 10 crafty that
one within. She is strong and fleet, and
is provided with duplicate, and otter
with tIiplieate parts to her machinery
In addition to these virtues she posses
ses one which I believe will save hel
| from the Saragossa sea, should she be-
come involved In it. / refer to an in
vention Of my own, which IN a few
! words is a hydraulic steering gear, but
which may also, if occasion demands
be utilized as motive power as well
| With it 1 can force her through tht
water, not more rapidly than three OIL
| four knots per hour, but it is a force
| which seems irresistible up to tina
point. 1t affords no impedimenta, such
as propeller fianges, rudders and steer
ing gear, 20 become entangied in you
| SaragoSSa weeds. but on the contrary
assumes the utility of both That il
why do not dread the Saragossa sea
That is why 1 honestly believe that
can force my vessel through ii from on,
extremity to the other"
A week later the private yacht o
Stephen Gregory, flying the pennant o
the New York yacht club, was bound
ing through the muddy waters of tn
gulf stream on her hazardous voyage
Everything that could be done to sim
plify or tighten the task that her oWne
and Captain Darlington had under
taken was accomplished. The hydro
graphic office had provided them witt
every information it possessed and Oar
rington, in addition to studying chart
and data, and examining thoroughly
the documents and tracings in the pos
session of Gregory, had imbibed all tn
enthusiasm of his owner concerning tn
voyage and its results.
Also, with the thoroughneSS of an ex
perienced naval officer, he had exam
ined and experimental with the by
draulic apparatus Of which the zach
was provided, and he had convince,
himself that Gregory had not overesti
mated the possibilities of his invention
He was satisfied that with judgmen
he might venture at least a little wa,
into the maze of weeds and driftin,
things so dreaded by sailors of al
/ classes since the ocean became a known
and Travelled highway.
During the several years since tn
Sallie Johnson became a derelict he
wanderings had been confined to tn
boundaries described by Gregory, an;
from the reports from time TO tim
sent in by the captains who had sighte,
her the hydraulic office had made trac
ings of her voyaging. Copies of thes
tracings Darlington possessed, and dur
ing the first month of the search the,
followed them in a zigzag course, hop
ing that the winds and currents tina
had influenced her before still directed
her.
A month was consumed in this man
ner. when the yacht put in at the islant
of Martinique for recoaling, and thel
the search was resumed.
Practically the same methods wer,
pursued; the same ZigZag courses wer,
laid and the same waters searched will
watchful eyes and unceasing vigilance
But without reward No derelict o
any description was sighted. The yes
sells that they spoke from time TO tim'
had sighted none, and knew of none
and sincerely hoped they never might
50 that at last, after nearly four months
voyaging and three months recoaiing
they found themselves one midday IL
latitude q degrees north and Longitude
40 degrees west, with silent engines
floating upon the placid, glass-like sur
face of the sea, which washes aeains
the wiiderL ess of weeds so aptly named
Saragossa-
All hope of discovering the derelic
outside that labyrinth of weeds hac
been abandoned, and now they founC