The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-04-12
bH|P WITH Is ON
D0lRD IS MISSING
"a Sign Or Word Heard From Oil
Ship Alacrita in More
Than Two Years.

~ NEW YORK. April 12.-There arc
{ kWo brave women In this city In whose
1onrfE hope will never die for loved
mes who sailed away on ship that
!. u, IN the language OF fiction. In the
port of missing men,"
Il was two years ago on Good Fr.-
day that the British three-masted ship
\ Alacrifa, of the Anglo-American Oil
& company. with 26 persons aboard.
sailed from here for Port Elizabeth,
Delagoa Bay and Hongkong She ar
rived at her first port on June 20, and
ut Delagoa Bay prior to July 10. sail
Ing thence on Aug. for hongkong,
Baltimore and New York.
Although that was the last that was
ever heard Of from her, 80 eternally
green Is the hope that Mrs. James
Thornton, the captains wife-or wild
ow--who will say has removed from
her home in St John. ". b., 10 the
home of friends, at No. i65 Ninth-st..
Brooklyn, TO be near the offices OF the
Standard Oil company, in this city,
the American co-partner OF the Anglo
American Oil company, and headquar-
ters OF all information pertaining TO
its missing vessels.
At Princes Bay. Staten Island, live
the mother and sister of III. Nicholson.
young A. b., who Jared forth into
the unknown. He also was on the
Alacrita. Regularly, month by month,
as the seasons roll by. the sailors
sister calls upon the captains wife TO
ask lis there any news?" Still another
brave. undespairing woman. Mrs. Pal
mer. the sad, quiet wife. or widow,
OF the mate, William r. Palmer, oil
Dorchester. N. B., occasionally makes
pilgrimage and climbs the steps OF
the Standard Oil building, at No. &c
Broadway, on the same quest for
news"
capt Thornton. on land or on water,
his friends say, was afraid OF nothing
He had three medals from the British
Board OF Trade testifying to his brav-
cry Once he had swan with line
TO a wreck or St. Pierre, Miquelon,
and safely made the long, trying colo
and suffocating trip through freezing
spray. On this line seventeen snip
wrecked men came ashore. he wouia
never lose ship through his own
lack of Judgment or fault. his friends
likewise say.
The Alacrita had twenty-six souls
All told, Of more than ordinary inter
est, for Capt. Thornton was popuia.
captain. Among the others were tns
second mate, William H. Arthur, TWEEN
ty-eight years old, OF Porto beiio'
Eiinburg. He had sailed on the
Johanna OF the same company. Inere
were four apprentice seamen, II. ~.
Taylor. Sydney May, son OF the harDor
master OF Hongkong, who also $1,000
close to the oil company; W. j. Whis
burn and ID. II. Wright.
To the southwestward OF AFRICA ne
little known and seldom visited, ISL
ands. some OF which only whalers
themselves have visited ana whose
waters they have rudeiy cnarted Ior
their own information, Desto"ins
quaint and appropriate names I'D
points, peaks, capes ana pays. ineio
e Kerguelen Isle, with ragged PIN
nacles. high precipitous coasts. peaks.
Axrfn there are Heard and Mcdonald
Ysiands. TO the southwark OF ker-
! ,ueIen. with geographical designations
~ homely cheer; Accessible bay,
petsv cove. Gazelle basin. Christmas
harhor. with beds of rock weed ami
\ natches of kelp. There are the Cloudy
Islands. rocky and dangerous OF APP
nroach. with hot springs, glaciers ana
snowy ranges.
There are st. Paul and Amsterdam
Islands. two isolated brothers. one
with q circular crater lake, six cables
IL diameter, twenty-eight fathoms
deep. st. Paul Island has hot springs,
With curative properties. and the
French government years ago estap-
liehed here a supply OF provisions Tor
any chance shipwrecked crews.
should the Alacrita drift helplessiy
70 those southern isles her interesting
crew cannot perish from hunger.