The Meeker herald., 1913-08-09
OCEAN DERELICTs. |
Floating PedIs That Drift With
Winds and Currents.
A MENACE TO EVERY VESSEL.

A MENACE TO EVERY VESSEL.
rhsss Vampires ef the ssa. Sons ct
Thsm Wholly submsrssd, Ar 0rssd.
I'd BY All MsrlNsrs-Aasthsds q Ls-
estins and Destroying Thorn.
Today. according to Popular Elec-
trscity. there are about 1900 derslicts
Il, the waters Of the world-noating
psrils that 60 where wind and currents
bid them. Every sea Il made hazard
ous by their presence. They have crash
ed into ocean liners and into junks
Of the China sea. To them all vessels
are aIike-something to BE- destroyed.
They crash against them In the dead
Of night when inky biackness hides
their coming. Wrecks themselves, they
eeem TO strive to drag all others to
their own fate.
10 they 20 drifting on the seven seas.
More particularly they seem to swarm
eagerly IN the gulf stream.
From Cape aatteras reaching north
to the Grand banks Of Newfoundland
- the graveyard Of the Atlantic" It
IN rolling waste where many shipe
nrp buried. 1t u q place where dere-
licts borne BY the sweep Of the gulf
stream and the counterchurn Of the
Labrador current dart about Ike an
CRY sharks. eager to fasten their maws
on the hull Of some ship.
In the hydrographic once at some
seaport the wireless u sounding. A
message IL coming through the void.
II ts a message Of peril coming from
steal mship. It warns that derelict
bas been sighted squarely In the path
OF ocean travel. For days the men at
the station have been waiting for word
OF this dereiict. It's position on the
chart that all photographic ofnces
keep has not moved for week. They
have lost track Of 1t. Its driftings are
M mystery. The station men have
been unable to wire back over the
sens warning captains of ih where
abouts. Any moment they may hear
that 1t has attacked and wrecked.
But now the derelict has come into
the light The Baltic has sighted It
and sent warning humming over the
esas. Now the men at the station are
quick to act At word from their
chief they relay the message to the
commander Of the revenue cutter Sene-
q. lying BY. The Seneca has been
waiting for this message-waiting Tor
the derelicts whereabouts to be reveal
ID. And now. knowing them. II gets
up steam and sails forth. 4 purEer Of
~ ssas. on dsstructioO bsnt
W dsrslicts thssss are two kinds
tAoss that 6oat observed and those that
1oat unobssrvsd Most people imagine
that wrecked ships are ultimately dr1v-
en- ashore and that vessels reported
sinking at the time Of abandonment 20
down som after. That Il not true.
Abandoned ships breed vampires Of the
deep. For months they doat Water
logged. half sunken. pitched and torn
b. storm. they yet somehow seem to
survive. They will live in gales that
send the stancbest vessels to the bot
tom. Only time can destroy them
that Is. unless electricity takes hand.
Too heavy to rise to the surface and
yet NOT water soaked enough to sink
to the bottom aud remain there. they
crawl along Just under the riding
swelh. Their abiding place II nowhere
From the raveIed tracks of the seas
they may he carried BY q storm direct
~ in the path Of navigation. Whittier
they 20 no word goes before them.
They descend upobserved. quietly.
grimly. Not until they have struck IL
their presence known. Then they take
their toll. They destroy ship. and
from It another Of their kind II made.
It is their way Of multiplying and
spreading the breed. That IL why It b
20 important that they be destroyed.
But now the Seneca has steamed into
the province Of the derelict- High in
the mast the lookout is casting his eyes
on all sides. II he 10 not alert the dere-
lict may attnck those on board the Sen
eca- Self preservation 10 strong In .
vampire.
But now the dip Of submerged mass
rises above distant swell. Caught In
\ sudden pitch of the sea. the dereiict
has revealed itself. From the lookout's
nest the cry sounds. The speed Of the
Seneca Ia reduced. 1t moves slowly
toward its quarry. And now the work
Of harnessink electricity for the de-
struction II must do beginA From the
magazines are brought mines charged
With sixty pound burdens Of guncot-
ton. From the storehouses are brought
insulated electric cables and hand
magret0. A small boat b lowered, and
the mines are taken on board. Thes
the boat rides over the sea toward the
derelict. risky ride " the swslls are
running high.