Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1910-09-18
THE SKELETONS OF
D|SMANTLED SHIPS
End of Craft of All Nations IN ber-
muda Harbor.

Maritime men may be interested To
know that the gruesome collection OF
dismantled shipping in the strange
harbor of St Georges. Bermuda, CON
tains several representatives OF the
famous Bay State sailing fleet of 9TH
er days.
St. Georges narbor bears sinister
reputation as the graveyard OF the Al
lantic. and its shores present a scene
of melancholy and desolation not
often equaled in her array OF aban-
doned, rotting ships of all nations,
nearly all of which in times past
brought cargoes from far and wide To
Boston.
Every wear the fleet of decaying
hulks. their raVaged and yawnlhS
decks and sides growing more dilap-
idated with the wear and tear OF time.
receives achievements in fresh VIC
Tins. Such wholesale blight, such
vast and hopeless dissolution, has a
most depressing effect on the behold
er. The dismal scene, with gulls
circling like vultures overhead. seems
like death and despair personified, the
end of all things, a chaos. Bermuda $
Gordon of pitiless. knife-llke coral
reefs. extending twenty miles off shore
on all sides, yearly proves the undo
ing of many unfortunate, confused
shippers, who by a slight DETECTION
from their courses stumble upon TINS
deadly pitfall unguarded in mid
Atlantic.
With the rending, decorating fangs
of the jagged white lodges clutchlng
ship's bottom, her roaming of the
seven seas may well be considered
over. II wreckers succeed in freeing
her from the sawlike. foam covered
barrier and floating her into harbor
salvation is not at all nigh. The cost
of repairs is so prohibitive in Ber-
muda that her unhappy owners find
themselves swamped by simple con-
templetion of them. and she is al
most always sold for the benefit OF
all concerned.
At any rate, her hull goes TO mark
another successful encounter i'm the
conquest which Bermuda perpetually
wages against the commerce of the
world. After each wreck the shores
of little st. Georges Harbor. or less
frequently those of Hamilton, are lit
tered with one IfiOIt ShtitNph VI @
once magnificent ship, like the car
cass of a huge animal picked clean
by wolves. Wreckers either burn or
break her up for the metal in her
construction. or possibly, if her con-
dition warrants, convert her into
coal hulk for harbor use.
Each ancient urin recalls 20 the ma
! tive thrilling incidents of fearful
gales. shipwreck and destruction.
while the disintegration of years has
obliterated beneath the harbor the
last reminder of yet other fine ships
which have found their last resting
places here in past ages.
ONLY a few blackened ribs showing
at low tide tell the life story of the
former American full rugged ship
George II. Warren. built at East Bos-
| ton in 1864. Soon after being launched
she was placed under German colors
as protection from Confederate men
of war. being renamed Ida. Under
this and Norwegian ownership she
continued for the greater part of her
career. Ten years ago she got into
trouble at Bermuda and was pur-
| chased by new owners there who
| wished 10 iepidSo mo-
American flag. Legal complications
arose in the way OF this step, how
ever, and as a final result the Ida
| instead of resuming the cargo trade
was burned for junk
In the upper end Of the harbor are
the remains of the one-time Boston
bark Lillian. built at Harrington. Me.
in 1873, and sold to New York par
ties shortly before she was stranded
on the reefs two years ago while in
ward bound with coal. After being
floated into smooth water. it was
found that the terrible battering had