Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-10-19
TALE or rHE SEA.


I'm OAtA S8ASs
.sWhen you've sailed the go for sixty
years, man and boy, you meet 80 much
that 10 amazing you give up trying to In
vent things. That's why you can always
believe sailors yarns. We haven't inn
agination enough to make up anything
that would compare with the strict truth.
Nobody has" said an old see dog recently.
ssTAlking about abandoned ships, here's
q tale for you, and a. true a. Lloyd's
Register. Do you know where the
Albemarle islands are! Well, they're out
in the Pacific, where it's safe to locate all
the islands you never heard OF
ssOne fine day some fishermen, sailing
about these isiands-off Igusna cove. to be
strictly accurate-aw Q bark coming to-
ward them. She carried Little sail, which
struck them % queer, since the wind was
light, but she was going quietly on her
way, 90 they paid no special attention to
her, and they lost sight OF her. When
they were coming home they saw her
again, and this time she was acting in q
peculiar fashion. She wasn't holding her
course, and she didn't seem to care how
close she came to the reefs.
Next morning, there she was, aground,
a. calm rs you please. The fishermen
went over to her and found ahe was the
Alexandra, of New South Wales. They
climbed on board and searched. Not .
soul. Two of her boats were gone, 30 they
assumed that her crew had gone ashore,
leaving nobody in charge OF the stranded
bark, though there was no danger Of her
sinking. But on shore nobody had seen
any shipwrecked sailors.
4sThey went back to the ship and looked
over her carefully. The food had been
taken away, the medicine chest had been
rifled, and the instruments were gone.
There were no signs whatever OF bad
blow, and the remaining medicines
showed that there had been no serious
sickness on board.
s.Besides, il everybody had died, where
had the food and instruments gone? There
had been no mutiny, apparently, for sew
eral firearms were lying quietly where
their owners habitually kept them. It
certainly was . puzzle.
ssWhen the papers came in it was found
that this boat had been declared missing
II Loyds. When that happens it means
that hope has been given up, that the in
surance on the vessel will be paid, and the
wills OF those on board may be legally
probated.
ss6he had sailed from Newcastle, New
South Wales, in November. for Panama,
"a -h~~ 81. h.N v<s< k.ov, ha.rd - Il.
April, she had been declared missing.
The salvors notified Lloyds Of the find,
and it looked % IL the mystery would
never be solved.
'sDut in June the true story came out.
A party OF sailors, much the worse for
wear, made their way to Valparaiso and
told the story OF the Alexandra. 1t wasn't
mysterious, it was just pitifnL
1.-THE bark had met with extraordinary
head winds leaving Australia, and had
been driven continually out OF her course.
She wasn't very good ship, and the only
way she got over the SEQ was when wind
insisted on her going ahead. Without
encouragement she refused to make any,
progress.
For few months this was Just disa-
greeable, then it became tragic. The
food and water were giving ont. They
tried to make various ports, but the wind
blew them back again. Pretty soon the
provisions were all but gone and the head
winds were % strong - ever.
1.-THE captain and crew took . bold de-
cision. The old tub was evidently never
going to get anywhere, so they launched
the boats, fitted them with sails, provis-
toned them as best they could, and started
to find the coast Of South America. One
boat got there. The other must have sunk
they were never heard Of. The survivors
had wandered month before they reached
port.
s'That's one yarn for you. Here's
another, more mysterious yet. 1t dates
back , good many years, but it il unique
even among sec yarns, and no less person
than Conan Doyle tried to find the solu-
ton Of the riddle. To be frank. l don't
think even be succeeded very we'll, 20 the
field 10 open to writing chaps with . turn
for strange tales.
s.In 1877 the Marie celeste, Capt. Briggs,
sailed from New York for Genoa with
good cargo and thirteen souls aboard.
The only explanation Of her fate lies in that
number thirteen, for there was nothing
else in the world to harm her, SO far -
any one could see.
ssLess than . month later several vessels
passed schooner about 800 miles west Of
Gibraltar, and spoke to her without receiv-
ing any answer. This is mighty bad sea
manners, even worse than it is on shore,
90 the captains just swore and went on
their way.
sThe British bark Del Gratia also spoke
her and, - usual, the captain swore when
no answer came. But the mate had .
sharp eye. He called the captains stten-
ton to the curious fashion in which the
ill-tempsred schooncr's sails were set, not
1t al - . canny skipper should have
directed. Thereupon the Del Gratia
hoisted the signal which means: IT ID