The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-10-26
The SQDfQ MQTi0 DHeIiCt.
BY CHARLES B. LEWIS.
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of few to equal what took place aboard
of the Spanish merchantmen, the San
ia Maria, in the year 1862 1t was
published in the papers at the time,
but only q partial account, and as we
had war and excitement at home the
incident was soon forgotten.
One of the Oldest business houses in
Mexico up to the date above named
was that Of the Spanish house of Ca
lera & Co., founded 20 years previous
ly. The business of this house was
banking, mining, merchandising and
cattle raising. 1t had dozen branches
In Mexico, and it had dealings with
half dozen countries. In a financial
sense it was stronger than the govern
ment, and its yearly profits footed up
an enormous sum. 4 son of the found
er had succeeded to the management,
and when old age came he turned the
active work over to a cousin named
Alvarez. The new manager was a
young man of %, born in Spain of
fine family. and had been educated for
the priesthood. He was a man with
out vice. Such was his probity that
he was called Holy Alvarez" even in
his youth. At an enormous salary and
with autOcratic powers young Alvarez
took over the management of affairs
In Mexico, and almost as soon as he
stepped foot on North American soil a
change took place in his character.
He began to drink, gamble and play
fast and loose. At about that time a
noted French adventures appeared at
the Mexican capital, and Alvarez
speedily became her favorite.
OF course there was gossip about
the new manager, and there We're
those who predicted that his extrav-
agances would ultimately bring ruin
to the old house, but there were no
official complaints. He knew little or
nothing of business, but he did know
how to spend money royalty, and in
year he had people guessing how
much longer it would take him TO
bankrupt the house. 1t was after the
balance sheets had proved to him that
he was spending more than the profits
of the house and was a debtor to an
enormous amount that he set about
preparing a grand coup. The Spanish
merchantmen was loaded with a con
signment of gold, silver, copper, furs
and dyestuffs for Spain and the cargo
insured to the last cent Alvarez took
into his confidence young man named
Prado, and when the Santa Maria sail
ed his confederate went with her as
supercargo. The ship was manned
by a crew of ii men, all Spaniards.
Thirty days after her sailing to the
southwark the American bark Home
ward left the port of Valparaiso home
ward bound. We had been out three
| days when we ran into a dead calm,
with the weather so terribly hot that
the deck planks smoked in the sun. AS
we lay heaving on the ground swell n
small boat drifted into view. 1t seem
ed to be empty, and it had been in
! sight for two hours and was not over
half n mile away when the captain de-
cided to pick it up. A boat was sent
off, and when she returned with the
! stranger we had a sad spectacle under
our eyes. There was n dead man ly-
ing at full length under the thwarts.
He had not persisted for lack of food
or water, as the boat was well sup
Piled 1t was sickness of some sort
that had brought his end, and the hot
| sun had baked and shriveled his body
until the sight was not one to look at
! twice. AS there was no evidence that
a second person had occupied the boat.
we inclined to the belief that n mutt
nous crew had sent their captain
adrift. There were some who thought
he might have been blown off the
coast, and yet in that case it did not
seem as if the craft would have been
stocked with food and water as she
was.
We gave the corpse burial and hoist
ed the boat aboard, and two days later
the puzzle was solved. We had caught
n breeze and made u run of hundred
miles when we sighted derelict She
was a square rugged ship with all sail
taken eff her and was driving away
broadside to wind and sea. 1t was
plain that she had sprung a leak, but
she was by no means waterlogged.
We ran down and hailed her, and, get
ting no answer, the mate was sent to
board her. l was one of the crew Of
his boat. and the sight we saw as we
climbed over the rail was one never to
be forgotten. Five men lay dead on
the decks, and the corpses were in a
far worse state than the one in the
boat. You could tell at n glance that
the head men were Spaniards, and yet
their hands and faces were as black as
your shoe, and the bodies had Shrunk
and shriveled until they were Of the
size and weight of a boy.
In the forecastle and cabin we found
Others-enough to make up crew of
IA. There were II dead men and not
living thing aboard of the Santa Maria.
On the cabin table there were the re-
mains of breakfast, and in the fore
castle were the kids with food still in
them. Whatever had occurred was in
conjunction with the morning meal.
AS there was no fever smell aboard the
derelict, our captain came over to
try his hand at solving the mystery.
The ships papers and log were soon
found. We got her manifest and port