Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1914-03-27
SAILORS, GREAT FEAR
FLOATING DERELicT ONE OF
WORST PERiLs OF THE SEA.
Forsaken Ships, Practically unsInk-
able, Can Rarely Be Perceived un-
I'll Too Late to Avoid the
Fatal Collision.

The dismasted, battered hulk of
derelict, floating so ,ow in the water as
to be almost level with the waves, Is.
of course, very great danger to navi-
cation, especially In foggy weather.
The majority Of derelicts are sailing
ships laden with timber. They may
have been dismasted and rendered abb
solutely helpless In storms. partly de-
molished by fire. by collision with an
Iceberg, or by the mere force Of the
waves themselves. The crew. unable
to make their ship seaworthy, may
have abandoned 1t in the boats. or
have been rescued by some passing
vessel. but, whatever their fate, their
forsaken ship. II laden with wood, re-
mains practically unsinkable and Is
driven hither and thither over the
ocean. at the mercy of the winds and
currents.
Now and again a steamer may be
rendered helpless owing to its ma
chinery becoming disabled by shortage
Of coal, by fire or by the loss of its
rudder or propeller In heavy weather.
Its crew may decide to abandon 1t and
take to the boats. but II they neglect
to open the seacocks on their depar-
ture their ship may float for many q
long day. The erratic movements of
some derelicts are. almost uncanny.
Not so very long ago Norwegian sail
Ing ship called the Crown left Nova
Scotia for South American port. It
was laden with timber, and while still
In the North Atlantic ocean was over
taken by a terrible storm, which dis
masted and left 1t battered wreck.
The crew, realizing 1t was useless to
remain on board. abandoned It and
took to the boats, never to be heard
Of again. but their ship. although It
vanished completely for no less than
three months. was sighted at the end
OF this time on the edge of the Sargas-
30 sea, a good 700 miles away from
where disaster overlook II. Soon aft.
terward 1t was sighted of Bermuda,
but then disappeared again, and may
still be drifting about the ocean.
Derelicts are sometimes salved and
bring In large sum in salvage money
to the crews of the ships who tow
them into port. On one occasion an
American steamer bound for Liverpool
with cargo Of cotton ran out of coal
on the north coast of Ireland. The
sea was running high. signals of dis
tress were made to passing steamer,
which passed tow rope to the help
less ship. But the towing wire snapped
and the crew were accordingly taken
on board the newcomer, while the dis
abled vessel was left to drift.
A Liverpool tug heard of the affair.
and being doubtless aware of the great
value of the cotton cargo, determined
to find the derelict and to tow Il into
harbor. After a protracted search It
came upon 1t and eventually took Il
into Belfast. little worse for its buffet
Ing. The enterprising tug netted no
less than e7,960 for It's share in the
proceedings. BY an act OF parliament.
passed In 1896, the master of any Brit
ish ship sighting derelict is bound
to report the fact to the nearest
Lioyds agent, so that II the abandoned
ship is In the track OF ships a man-of-
war may be sent out to destroy or
bring 1t into port, '.., !