The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-08-03
#I RI
he incident. The mystery took too
leep " hold on the imagination for it
Q allowed to sleep, forgotten. Every

Gne lncidenG. The mystery took to-
deep hold on the imagination for Il
TO tosSa allowed to sleep, forgotten. Every
nattRn whose flag floatad over the
hig glsfysys Of the North Pacific saw It,
ships anenaced by the unknown. Here
was vast area OF ocean into whiot
thelssships were liable to be blown by
st0rsS8swhioh was absolutely unknown
lyinESWell of the beaten track of nav.
igastga, and possibly made hazardous
byfiSlssssp ies sence Of characteristic cora
reefa AMI island which in the Pacific
are aPaerally 80 low as not to be visi.
Die ugtil ship ia almost upon them.
Inc SRreater part Of this unknown
area RSSll exists. 1t is to the south
and east Of the route from San Fran.
cisco TO Australia, and to the south of
all this routes from the Hawaiian La
LANDS TO Panama and to Callao. Wha.
lers had explored it only tentatively,
noting oertain islands, some Of which
remain mythical to expeditions which
mace systematic search for them.
The slnoSt absolute siler cs and mys.
terry about the disappearance of the
LeVanpf especially, as the years rolled
on, the fact that no trace Of the
wreck appeared, beyond the stranded
malnmsst and yard, inspired every
saliln9tmaste traversing those waters
with firm belief that the Lsvant had
cast 'hsrSorew upon some land, herself
clingiEg fast upon The rocks which
caughtlher.
BetMeen 1927 and 1880 this un.
knOWnfegiOn had been somewhat mar.
rowedSby cruises Of three British and
one Apierioan expeditions. All Of these
expeditions reported indications OF
shoal water and urged the need Of fur.
ther Investigations. During sixty
years, however, no further progress
was m1de. In 1890 the Fish Commits
sion sbeamship Albatross traversed
part of&the doubtful region and re
ported seeing several lowlying islands,
ev!dantlY the same that exist In Wha
ling ANNALS.
One year before the loss of the La
want Oeptain John do Greaves, sailing
from Hp1olulu to Oallao, reported the
discoverg Of an island at longitude
1915 andsnorth latitude II, which was
about fifty feet high aud two miles
long Thls island was 80 near the
route oH$the Levant that IL she had
reachedsthat neighborhood in the
night she might easily have been
wrecked upon It.
Tho latest effort Of the United
States government to dispel the mys-
terry o1 Dte Levant was made In 1903,
when President Roosevelt dispatched
the Tacoma out on an expedition of
discovstg, All that the Tacoma did
was tofnarrow the unknown region
down Eo,an area OF about the extent
or the Sbate Of Maine. 1t discovered
no isl4nd where there were visible
signs o. swreck, or which we're inhab.
lted. ehe Tacoma negatively dispos-
cd IS N5yefal island theories, but not
OF tf'e S9sslbility Of the existence of
one N1hioh the aged Robinson
~ Sbas l1ey2,,ti. M y u 7rp, b 4
0 % Of the great characters Of flc-
tion ts popularly supposed to be among
these castaways- Nolan, the
pathetic hero of Edward Everett
Hale'a Man Without q Country"
whom the author disposed Of aboard
the Levant. Captain Lawless, in
writing Of his cruise, mentioned re.
celving letter from the aged author
of that masterpiece In which he said
If you have found dear Phil No
Ian, bring him at once to this house;
l will adopt him as my grandfather"
The great historical analogy for the
theory that members of the crew OF
The LeVant are still alive on some
unknown island is the existence Of
the colony on Pitcairn Island, in the
South Pacific, these people being &c
Scendants Of the crew Of the Bounty,
which mutinied more than q century
ago and were wrecked on that island
there to exist for eighteen years be-
fore their fate was discovered and
made known to the world
These Bounty mutiness for nearly a
score OF years we're genuine Robinson
Cfusoes, subsisting wholly upon fish
and the other sea food, the birds and
animals aud the fruits which the Is.
land afforded.
The LeVanters were, perhaps, able
to save part OF the wreck Of their ship
from which to build huts, and some
Ii these old men are now clothed at
all must be with the skins and fea thers
OF birds, or even woven grasses, or per.
haps the woven fibre Of the outer husk
OF the cocoanut. 1t Is possible that
there were seeds aboard the Levant
and that this colony OF Crusoes has
been able to cultivate tho soil as a
means Of varying their supply OF fish
birds, eggs, turtles and so on. Pos.
siDly the salvage OF the ships chrono,
meter may still give thom the time
OF day. AS at least score OF thsm
must have been men of education,
doubtless they have kept diaries which
contain records Of their strange ex
periences from day to day.
But the mystery Of the lost Levant
and his crew, and also Of the great un
explored region, Is too fascinating fol
attempts TO solve it to cease until
every nquare mile Of those latitudes
has been scrutinizcd. Even ten years
from now, II the fatal island Is found
1t Is Within the possibilities that some
broken, half savage old men may bt
rescued to tell civilization the true
story Of the loss of the Levant and
of their long and wonderful exile.
Caught Up with.
Anna Nolan, a negress, employed al
Lauderdale Springs hotel, forty mile.
from Meridian, Miss, was arrested
| WaH ropYnjpty oN, ,,,itl