The Ordway new era., 1914-05-15
Sailors Great Fear

0011OI0 0Icdt rear
The dismasted. battered hulk OF q
derelict, floating 80 .ow in the water as
o be almost level with the waves. Ii,
of course. very great danger to navi
;ation, especially In foggy weather.
The majority Of derelicts are sailing
ships laden with timber. They may
have been dismasted and rendered alb
,olutely helpless In storms. partly de-
molished by hre, by collision with an
iceberg, or by the mere force Of the
waves themselves. The crew, unable
% make their ship seaworthy. may
nave abandoned It in the boats. or
nave been rescued by some passing
vessel. but. whatever their fate. their
,orsaken ship. II laden with wood. re-
mains practically unsinkable and Is
iriven hither and thither over the
ocean. at the mercy Of the winds and
currents.
In course Of time the swelling Of the
wood cargo may burst the hull asun-
ier. but until this happens. or until
he vessel is driven ashore and broken
nto matchwood against some ironshod
coast, 1t will remain q terror to pass
ing ships.
Now and again = steamer may be
rendered helpless owing to Its ma
chinery becoming disabled by shortage
OF coal. by hre or by the loss Of its
rudder or propeller in heavy weather.
is crew may decide to abandon it and
AXE to the boats. but II they neglect
% open the seacocks on their depar-
ture their ship may float for many
iong day. The g cratic movements OF
some derelicts are almost uncanny.
Not go very long ago Norwegian sail
ing ship called the Crown left Nova
Scotia for = South American port. 1t
was laden with timber. and while still
i'll the North Atlantic ocean was over
aiken by . 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. waa sighted at the end
Of this time on the edge. Of the 8argas-
20 sea. . good TOO miles away from
where disaster ovestDok It. Soon AFT
terward It was sighted on Bermuda.
but then disappeared again, and may
still be drifting about the ocean.
Another sailing ship was abandoned
on Cape May. The crew endeavored
to destroy 1t by nre on their departure.
but, although It blazed furiously, the
sodden. waterioggedi cargo eventually
extinguished the flames. A few weeks
later the hulk was on the English
coast and 1t was thought It would be
dashed to pieces ON the shore, but,
altering it, course. it proceeded to the
southward along the French coast and
was next seen near the Azores. Hav-
ing got thus far. 1t proceeded to cross
the Atlantic, and after covering fully
5000 miles In Its Wanderings. finally
dftfted ashore near Panama.
Derelicts arc sometimes salved and
bring in . large sum In salvage money
to the crews Of tho ships who tow
them into port On ono occasion an
American steamer bound for Liverpool
with . cargo Of cotton ran out Of coal
OF 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.
abted 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 ind the derelict and to tow It into
harbor. After . protraeted search It
came upon It and eventually took II
into Belfast. little worse for it, buffet
ing. The enterprtsing tug netted NO
less than E7,s6o for its share in the
proeesdipss. By an ast Of parliament,
passed in 1896. the mister Of any Brit.
Lab ship sighting derelict Il bound
to report the fact TO the nearest
Lloyds agent 90 that II the abandoned
ship Il In the track Of ships . man-of.
war nay b sent out to destroy or
bring It into port.