The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1903-10-23
FINDING THE MAGNET
rconvr,rht. 1903. by c. E. Lewis.l

Several months previous to our ar.
rival at Rio in the whaler John DAVIS
craft called the Magnet. containing
about sixty gold seekers, had left
Xlat port for the coast Of Africa. AZ
xac had not been spoken and as we
we're bound to those seas we were ask
cd to keep q lookout for signs Of her.
Forty days later one day when l was
sloft In the crows nest l sighted
derelict not over four miles away.
What made out was craft with all
her masts, yards, bowsprit and stand
ing rigging gone. She was nearly bows
on to me, SO could not make out how
badly her bulwarks were damaged.
The stump of the foremost was about
twenty feet high, while the others had
broken of lower down, The hull was
very buoyant and fioated high, but. as
was to be expected, 1t presented
weather beaten and forlorn appear
ance.
On descending to the deck I reported
my discovery to the captain, and an
hour later, the wind being very light.
we were UP with the wreck. To our
great surprise the drifting hulk proved
to be that of the missing Magnet.
From the time Of sighting her to the
moment Of heaving to we looked for a
signal to show that some one was still
living aboard Of her, but none was
shown. When we had her under our
lee the crew ran aloft to look down
upon her decks. The fall Of the masts
had crushed her bulwarks, but the
damage had been repaired afterward,
though the new work had not been
painted. AS for the hull, 1t was appar
entity as tight and buoyant as when it
sailed out Of Rio. 1t was terribly
weather worn, however, and seemed to
be sailing in bed Of grass.
A musket was brought up and fired
three or four times, and the crew shout
ed In chorus again and again, but as we
got no response the captain ordered
boat lowered to 80 aboard. We board
ed her at the bows. and when l fol-
lowed the captain over the rail braced
my nerves to meet grewsome specta-
Gle. Nothing living or dead was In
sight. however. Every bit Of the wreck
was gray white In color because of long
exposure to the weather, and here and
there about the decks were black spots
Of decay. There were few coils Of
rope. heap Of clothing and bedding
little better than black mold. and three
or four water casks had rolled about
with the hull until demolished.
The door Of the cooks galley was
held open by its hook, and we looked in
to find pots and pans hanging up and
the stove in good condition. The Mag
net left Rio with sixty adventures and
q crew Of seventeen men. In the deck
house. where the crew was Quartered
we found bedding and clothing and sea
chests. but nothing to show what had
been the fate Of the sailors. The be-
tween decks had been fitted up for the
passengers. I Mt least expected to find
dead men down there. but no such
spectacle met our eyes. There were
bedding. clothing. firearms, knives, to-
bacco boxes, bottles and jugs and other
stuff which the passengers wanted for
use on the long voyage or after they
had landed. In some of the hunks the
bedding was nicely arranged, but In
others 1t was rolled in a heap. The
amps had been taken down and the
Oil poured out Of them. and we found
on nail some wlcks which had been
taken from candles. Neither here nor
In the deckhouse above could we find
SO much as the heel Of boot or shoe.
From between decks we proceeded
to the cabin. The first sight to greet
our eyes was that Of human BODY
hanging by u rope around its neck
from hook in the ceiling. There was
no odor emanating from 1t. The body
had simply shriveled up until 1t was
no more than skeleton. On a table
just beyond where the man was hang.
Ing was the ships log and near It nm
INK bottle and a pen. The captain took
the log on deck and very soon announc-
ell that 1t contained some particulars
OF what had happened aboard. we
then made closer search and found
the ships papers. about $500 In gold
pieces and bag containing $12o In sill
YER. together with several watches and
other things of value. Neither the
ships flag nor any charts were to no
found. and not compass. quadrant or
sextant could be turned up. The en-
tries In the log book for the first two
weeks were In the captains handwrit.
Ing. Then came an entry in a different
hand. reading:
we found out that they had deceived u.
ana sent them adrift in one Of the boats
Ten days later another entry In still
another hand referred to some Of tho
people sailing away In the longboat.
AFTER that many weeks elapsed before
there was another entry. The man
hv fl,1