Evening journal., 1903-09-05
FINDING THE MAGNET
LcopyrIght. Les. by G. B. LewIg.l ]

q craft called the Magnet, containing
about sixty gold seekers, had left
that port for the coast Of Africa. As
she had not been spoken and as W,
were bound to those seas we were ask
ed to keep a lookout for signs OF her.
Forty days later one day when l was
aloft in the crows nest l sighted a
derelict not over -four miles away.
What l made out was a craft with all
her masts, yards, bcwsprit and stand.
ing rigging gone. She was nearly bowt
on to me, 50 1 could not make out how
badly hfl bulwarks were damaged.
The stump of the foremast was about
twenty feet high, while the others had
broken off lower down. The hull was
very buoyant and foated high, but. as
was to be expected, it presented
weather beaten and fOrlorn appear
ance.
On descending to the deck 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 10 we looked for a
signal to slow 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
bad crushed her bulwarks, but the
damage had been repaired aftorward,
though the new work had not been
painted. AS for the hull, it was appar-
emily. 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 q
boat lowered TO go aboard. We board
ed her at the bows, and when l fol-
lowed the captain over the rail braced
my nerves to meet a 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 a few coils of
rope, a 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 end pots and pans hanging up and
the stove in good condition. The Mag
net left Rio with sixty adventurers 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 at 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 It was rolled in a heap. The
lamps had been taken down aud the
oil poured out of them. and we found
on nail some wicks which had been
taken from candles Neither here nOI
! IN the deckhouse above could we find
so much as the heel Of a 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 n rope around its neck
from o hook in the ceiling. There was
no odor emanating from 1t. The body
had simply shrivcled up until it was
no more than a skeleton. On a table
Just beyond where the man was hang.
Ing was the ships log, and near It an
ink bottle and n pen. The captain took
the lyg on deck and very soon announc-
ed that Il contained some particulars
of what had happened aboard We
then made a closer search and found
the ships papers, about 5000 in gold
pieces and bag containing S125 in sill
yer, together with several watches and
other things of value Neither Tho
ships flag nor any charts were TO bt
found, and not a compass, quadrant oi
sextant could be turned up. The en-
tries in the log book for the first two
weeks were In the captains handErit
ing. Then came an entry in different
hand reading:
We found cut that they had deceived ui
and sent them adrift in one Of the boats
Ten days later another entry in still
another hand referred to some of tn,
people sailing away in the longboat
After that many weeks elapsed befor1
there was another entry. The MAJ
now hanging by the neck and swing
ing TO and Gro like a pendulum haI
written in a trembling hand:
have been all alone for the last tel
days and for the last four have tasted
neither food nor drink.
On the next day, Vt the next. he hat
arranged the rope and put an end {,
his sufferings. After the gold hunters
left the Rio they must have found on
that they had been deceived by tn,
originator Of the adventure, and per
haps blamed the captain and mate a.
well and sent the three adrift. Aftel
that followed n storm and the wreck
or the people who left in the boats no
one was ever heard Of, and the only
one who refused to leave the hull
remained but to commit suicide. We
left the wreck TO drift whittier sh,
would bearing the grewsome burder
In her cabin, and during the next thre,
months she was twice boarded by mer
chant craft. They found The same
sight we did, and continued their way
and She may have drifted for month.