The Meeker herald., 1913-11-29
OCEAN DERELICTs.
Floating PERKS That Drift With
Winds and Currents.
A MENACE TO EVERY VESSEL

rheee Vampire u the &C., 0esAo ~
Them Wholly Submerged. Are Dread
Cd BY Al Msrinsrs-Msthsds - L.
eating and Destroying rhsm.
Today. according to Popular Eiec-
tricity. there are about 1000 dereiictx
III the watsFs Of the world floating
perils that 70 where wind and currents
bid them. Every sea ID made hasard-
ous by their presence. They have crash
ed Into ocean liners and into tunks
Of the China sea. To them all vessels
are aiiks-s0mething to b. destroyed.
They crash against them in the dead
Of night when inky blackness hides
their coming. Wrecks themselves. they
seem 10 strive to drag all othefs to
their own fats. l. ~.
SO they 70 drifting on the sevsu seas.
More particularly they seem to swarm
eagerly in the gulf stream.
From Cape Hatteras reaching north
to the GRIND banks Of Newfoundland
Is the graveyard Of the Atlantic. 1t
k rolling wasts where many ships
are buried. It II place where dere-
l!cts horne BY the sweep Of the guilt
stream and the counterchurn Of the
Labrad0r current dart about like an
gry sharks. eager to fasten their maws
on the hull Of some ship.
In the photographic once at some
seaport the wireless II sounding. A
message u coming through the void.
II II a nessags Of peril coming from q
steamship. 1t warns that Z dereiict
has 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, position on the
chart that all photographic omces
keep has not moved for . week. They
have lost track Of II lt1 driftings are
a. q mystery. The station men have
been unable to wire back over the
seas warning captains Of III where
abouts. Any moment they may hear
that It has attacked and wrecked.
But now the derelict has come into
the Hight. The Baltic has sighted It
and sent warning cumming over the
seas. Now the men At the station are
quick to act. AZ word from their
chief they relay the message to the
commander Of the revenue cutter Sens-
q. lying BY. The ssnsca has been
waiting for this msssass-waitins for
the derelict's whsrsabouts to b reveal
ID. And now. knowing them. Il sstS
mp steam and sails foetA. . puSuse ~
~ ssas. On asstrae<jsa best
Of dsrsitcta shsfs Az two kinds-
tAaGe that dcat obssevsd and those that
acat apobssrvsd- Most people imagine
that wrecked ships are ultimately driv-
en- ashore and that vesssis reported
sinking at the tins Of abandonment 20
down soon after. That h not true.
Abandoned ships breed vampires Of the
deep. For months they noat. Water
logged. half sunken. pitched and torn
BY storm. they Jet somehow seem to
survive. They will live in gales that
send the stanchest vessels to the bot
tom. Only time can destroy them
that h. unless electricity takes hand.
Too heavy to rise to the surface and
yet not water soaked enough to sink
to the bottom and remain there. they
crawl along just under the riding
swells. Their abiding pIace'ia nowhere.
From the untrnveIed 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 uDobserved. quietly.
grimly. Not until they have struck IL
their presence known. Then they take
their toll They destroy a ship. and
from It another Of their kind il inside.
II h their way Of multiplying and
spreading the breed. That h why 1t =
~ important that they be destroyed.
But now the Seneca has steamed into
the province Of the derelict. high in
the mast the lookout ID casting his eyes
on all sides. If he In not alert the ders-
lict may attack those on board the Sem
eca. Self preservation ID strong In =
vampire.
Bot now the up Of u submerged mass
rises above q 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
s.neca II reduced. It moves slowly
toward its quarry. And now the work
Of harnessinK electricity for the de-
struction 1t must do begina. From the
magazines are brought mines charged
With sixty pound burdens Of Guncot-
ton. From the storehoures are brought
Insulated electric cables and . hand
magnetic A small boat b lowered, and
the mines are taken on board. Then
the boat rides over the sea toward the
dsrelict, risky ridA II the swells are
running high.
And tbs next comes the work Of plac-
ing the mines where they will create
the greatest explosions. II the wreck
b submerged the task d more diflcult
More mines must be used. Exquisite
care must b employed In their placing.
Finally the explosive charges are CON
Dectsd BY means Of the insulated essc-