Bisbee daily review., 1911-12-15
Vessel unInlured


 The queens proctor of the Admir- alty Court immediately gave instruc- tions for a thorough examination of the vessel to be made in the presence of the marshal of the court. Accord ingly, surveyor of shipping. accom- panied by diver, went aboard The cargo was found to consist of bar rels of alcohol well slowed and in good condition. except that one had been started The hull of the vessel showed no trace Of damage, nor was there any indication that she had been in a collision or had run ashore The copper-sheathing. stem, stern post and rudder were in excellent condition.
 A minute examination was made of the interior, which proved that nos on ly had the Mary Celeste not been in collision but she had experienced no rough weather The hull, masts and yards were sound, the pitch in the waterways showed no indication of having been started, which would Of necessity have been the case had heavy weather been encountered. The deck house, constructed of thin plank ing and standing about six feet high showed no crack either in the wood work or the paint. The seamen's chest containing the clothing were perfectly dry. and several raZors that were found showed no signs of rust. Some spare panes of glass were dis covered slowed away and unbroken.
 In the cabin the same negative ey- idence was everywhere to be seen. Tn harmonium was as dry as the razors. Books and music were lying about. There were personal effects of considerable value. including a woIan's and child's clothing, some tGinkets and gold lockets. A small bottle of machine oii, a thimble and a reel of cotton, found standing up- right together, provEd conclusiNer that bad weather had not been the cause of the ships desertion. By far the most sinister discovery was that of a sword drawn fro it's scabbard and bearing upon it's blade, marks of what appeared 10 be blood. Similar marks were found on one of the sails and there were indications that the blade had been roughly wiped IL was subsequently stated by Dr. Patton Of Gibraltar that the marks were not these of blood. Another strange dis covery was that upon each side of the bows there was a cut, to all ap- pearance made Intentionally with some sharp instrument
 Not the least curious circumstance was that the ships documents and olronometer were missing. Unfor- tunately none of the reports makes any mention of the boats, an unac- cOuntable omission. The ships log showed an entry dated November 24 the vessel then being in latitude 36 degrees 56 minutes north, longitude 27 degrees 20 minutes west. be slate log however, carried the history of the voyage down to s D. m. the next day. From the details thus obtained it appeared that the Mary Celeste had held the same course as that upon which she was found for the whole of ten days that had elapsed between the last entry in her log and her dis covery. A comparison of the log of the derelict with that of the Del Gratia seemed to prove that DO yes sel with a loose wheel could have GOV cred a distance of ' degrees 54 min utes east in ten days The inference is that she was not abandoned until some days after November 25, The official survey produced no evidence that suggested any reason why the vessel was deserted. The stains looked ominous; but were they blood stains? A doctor said Nor Even the cuts upon the bows were called in question. Capt. Schufeldt of the United States ship Plymouth ade an independent examinae Con. and ipHo- ncunced the cuts to be merely splin- ters, caused by the lending of the blanks" which were afterwards wash ed on by the sea
 There have been many theories as to why Capt. Briggs (who was known to have with him his wife and child) and her crew deserted the Mary Ce- leste. At the time foul play was sus-