The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-08-03

deepsa hold on the imagination for Il
to bSellowed to sleep, forgotten. Every
natign whose flag floatad over thu
nlgFsyays OF the North Pacific saw It,
ships menaced by the unknown. Here
was Il vast area of ocean into whiot
thetEsships were liable to be blown by
ssoris8 which was absolutely unknown
iyfnE0Well OIL the beaten track Of nav.
igattSli, and possibly made hazardous
byft presence of characteristic cora
reefa and island which in the Pacific
are generally 80 low as not to be vlsi.
BILE u0tfl a ship is almost upon them
Inc creator part Of this unknown
areaARSan exists. 1t ia to the south
and east OF the route from San Fran.
oiseo TO Australia, and to the south of
all tho routes from the Hawaiian Is
lands 90 Panama and to Oallao. Wha.
lers had explored 1t only tentatively,
noting certain islands, some Of which
remain mythical to expeditions which
made systematic search for them.
Thealmost absolute silercs and mys.
terry about the disappearance of the
LeVanfl especially, as the years rolled
on, the fact that no trace Of the
wreck appeared, beyond the stranded
mainnqast and yard, inspired every
sailing master traversing those waters
with q, firm belief that the Levant had
oasG hsrlorew upon some land, herself
clingiEg fast upon The rocks which
caughtsher.
Between 1927 and 1889 this un
known region had been somewhat nar-
rowedaby cruises Of three British and
one ADtDrioan expeditions. All Of these
expeditions reported indications OF
shoal wBter and urged the need Of fur.
Their Investigations. During sixty
years, however, nc further progress
was made. In 1899 the Fish Commits
sion steamship Albatross ~traversed
part OF Ethe doubtful region and re-
ported seeing several lowlying Islands,
ev.dsnStpst the same that exist In wha
ling annals.
One year before the loss of the La-
want Captain John do Greayes, sailing
from Hoaolulu to Callao, reported the
discoverg of an island at longitude
1870 andSnorth latitude II, which was
about fifty feet high and two miles
long. gMhis island was so neal the
route OF bhe Levant that If she had
reached that neighborhood in the
night she might easily have been
W~reckednpon 1t.
The latest effort Of the United
States government to dispel the mys-
terry OF Dhe Levant was made in 1908,
when Rtesident Roosevelt dispatched
the Tacoma out on an expedition Of
discovery, All that the Tacoma did
was TO marrow the unknown region
down Q an area OF about the extent
OF the state OF Maine. 1t discovered
no islana where there were visible
signs o. awreck, or which we're inhab.
ted. e9he Tacoma negatively dispos-
cd IS Syetal island theories, but not
Of tEFe possibility of the existence of
one which the aged Robinson
GTs' tae LnVant4m MAJ pnsgH he
O-e Of the great characters OF Hc-
tion is p%opularly supposed to be among
these castaways--Philip Nolan, the
pathetic hero Of Edward Everett
Hale's Man Without q Country
whom the author disposed of aboard
the Levant. Captain Lawless, in
writing of his cruise, mentioned re.
ceivlng a 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;
| 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 de
scendants of the crew Of the Bounty,
which mutinied more than a 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 q
score OF years were 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 Lsvanters we're, perhaps, able
to save part Of the wreck Of their shir
from which to build huts, and some
of the stores, including clothing.
If these old men are now clothed at
all must be with the skins and feathers
OF birds, or even woven grasses, or per.
haps the woven fibre Of the outer husl
OF the %cocoanut. 1T is possible that
there were seeds aboard the Lovan,
and that this colony Of Crusoes liza,
been aole to cultivste the soil as q
means OF varying their supply OF fish
birds, eggs, turtles and so on. Pos
siDly the salvage Of the ships chrome
meter may still give them the time
Of day. AS at least q score OF than
must have been men OF education
doubtless they have kept diaries which
contain records Of theif strange ex
periences from day to day.
But the mystery Of the lost Leyan
and his crew, and also OF the great un
explored region, Is too fascinating 70
attempts TO solve it to cease until
every square mile OF those latitude
has been bcrutinized. Even ten veal
from now, If the fatal island Is fonnC
1T Is within the possibilities that som
broken, half savage old men may b
rescued to tell civilization the tru
story Of the loss of the Levant an(
OF their long and wonderful exile.
Caught Up with.
Anna Nolan, a negress, employed o
Laudordalo Springs hotel, forty milo