The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-07-03
TWENTY SKELETONS
ON ABANDONED ship
Captain Of British Vessel Reports
Weird Discoveries In
Straits.

London.-A weisd story Of the SEA
has been briefly cabled from New
Zealetnd. 1t is the story of the find
ing of the sailing ship Marlborough
with twenty skeletons on board.
The Marlborough, Glasgow-own-
cd bark, belonging to Messrs. Leslie
4 Co, sailed from Lyttelton, New
Zealand. with several passengers and
a crew Of thirty-hrrce under the
command of Capt. Hird in January,
1890. She was homward bound by
tehee Cape Horn route and was spok-
en- in midocean in the Southern Pa
cific after which no other word OF
her was ever heard.
In Aprel of that year she was post
al as missing, and lsier on was Civ
en- up as having been lost around the
Horn, whore the bones Of many .
good ship and many hundred sea-
men lie. A Government cruiser search
ed the rocky and tortuous coasts Of
Patagonia, but no trace Of her was
found. The Marlborough became tust
another of the thousand mysteries
OF the sea,
A day or two ago another Brit
ish sailing ship arrived in Lyt;teiton
with the story that she had found the
Marlborough and the skeletons Of
twenty of her crew In one Of THE
rocky coves near Punta Arenas (San-
dy Point in the Magellan Strait.
The captain Is quotad as telling
the story in the following words:
I'VE were off the rocky coxss near
Punta Arenas. keeping metz The land
for slelter. The coves'are deep and
silent. the sailing difficult and dan
gerous.
I'VE rounded a point into a deep
cleft cove. Before US a mile OF more
across the water STOOD sailing ves-
sci with the barest SHRED of canvas
fluttering in the breeze.
I'VE sisna,ed and hove to. No
answer came. We searched the istran
Ger with our glasses. Not soul
could we see, not a movement of any
sort.
'Masts and yards were picked out
in green-the green Of decay.
AT last we came up. There wals
no sign of life on board. After an
interval our first mate with a mem-
Der of the crew boarded her. The
sight that met their gnze was thrill
rng.
Below the wheel lay the skeleton
Of d man. Treading warily on the
rotten deck. which cracked and broke
in places as they walked. they en-
countered three skeletons IN the
hatch wsV.
In the messroom were the re-
mains of ten bodies. and six were
found. one alone, possibly that 'pf the
captain. on the bridge.
There was an uncanny stiffness
around and q rank smell Of mould
which msaie the flesh creep. "A few
remnants Of books wore discovered
in the captains cabin and a rusty cut
lass.
Nothing more weird in the his
tory of the sea cen ever have bekn
sten. The first mate examined
the still faint letters on the bows and
after much trouble read Marlborough.
Glasgow"
Punta Arenas is a pretty large
place. as South Anssricap towns 30.
1t hasa population of several thou
sands and. of COURSE. the Magellan
Strait is great highway lraversed
by hundreds of ships yearly, which
take this way Ito avoid doubling the
Horn with its furious gales.
The whole of the Magellan Strait,
from Cape irgus 30 Cape PilLtr. Is
familiar to thousands of seamen and
inddnted and rockbound though It IL
It seems Sncs,edlble that a ship could
Lie concealed for nearly quarter Of
a century an> that part near" p
place like -Runts ARENAS.
Had the discovery bean made
among the desolsate and multitudiu-
ons isles of the Cocdburn Channel or
down about Cook Bay ar False Cape
Horn-pa'haps the widest coasts IN
the world---it would have bean moro
credible. Indeed. shossly after the
ship was lost there wss nepos<
THAT the crew Of . passing shdp skw
seamen signaling from IN ialand dowi
that way which - 800 or 40 mixlss
from PunuA ARENAS. so 80 '..''' =