The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-12-23
Hood'sS
THE LEGEND OF SHIP ISLAND.
Why il * That No Nullurc Ever
AIiGhts Upon IL.

Each town along Mississippi Sound
il the radius OF twenty miles claims
as its very own ship Island. Its white
sand dunes are covered. underlaid. and
intermingled with history and legends
fraught with the deepest interest. Its
fort has been a coast defense in the
years gona by. 7 It's light now
guides tn" ships from over the seas
into the safest harbor in the world
a Iand-locked harbor sheltered from
the West Indian and tropical storms
that play such havoc among the
stands of the Antilles and frequently
the mainland bordering on the coast.
Rienville first landed on the Gulf
coast. Tradition has il that they first
landed on Ship Island. where they re-
lain some time before finding that
the strip OF land they occupied was
surrounded nv water. a Franciscan
priest was in the company-a cody
and devout man. While yet out al sea
he was taken critically i'll and realized
that he must die. He prayed earnestly
that he might reach the land before
dying, that the sharks might not con-
sumo his BODY If cast into the water.
The vessels reached Ship Island. but
here the man Of Goo found a new ter
ror to harass his dying moments. The
vultures were sailing in the air above
the island and he felt that when his
body was consigned to the sam it
would be Gevoured by these scaven-
gers. Again he prayed that no vultures
or other bird of prey be allowed to
cone nea- his body. He died n was
buried in the sand near the western
end of the island.
From that day to this no vulture has
ever heen seen to light On Ship Island.
Government officials who have been
there for d quarter of a century and
government officials who have been
meeting the incoming ships there for
years ave never seen a vluture stop
for a meal on the island. One of the
l~ightkeepers thought he was going 10
see this tradition broken one day, but
he did not. The bird poised his wings
and flew low. as though to light on a
piece Of wreckage, but suddenly, as
though frightened bv some unseen
thing, it tapped its wings and took
flight upward and away.
Vultures alight on Cat Island, on the
Chandeliers. on Horn Island. and in
fact they are frequent visitors to the
Islands of the Gulf of Mexico, with the
lone exception OF Ship Island. Scien-
fists can offer no solution of this prob
elm, but Christian people believe that
the devout Franciscan prayed in faith,
believing. and was answered.
Ship Island is twelve miles long, but
TX marrow. AZ some points it is not
more than ha,f a mile wide, but in 9TH
er places it is over a mile across. Its
shape is such that vessels moored on
the north side OF the island are pro-
tected from the West Indian storms so
completely that in the most destruc-
tive storms that have yet been known
q ship has never been damaged. The
northern end OF the island has tall
pine trees upon it, the same as grow
on the mainland. The western half OF
the island is a succession OF sand hills
tina change with every wind. Some
times they are peaked up 70 good
sized hills. and possibly next day they
are mere hillocks. The Quarantine Sta
ton is on the eastern end Of the island.
The government officials are very
comfortably located there.
Many years ago the Quarantine sta
ton was located on the Chandelier
Islands, but the West indian hurricane
Of 1888 swept the station away and
many persons lost their lives there. Az
ter that IL was established again on
Ship Island 81. Louis Republic.