The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-09-24
The Great LAKES
Romance and Tragedy Of These
UnSaIted Inland Seas.
A VAST MARINE GRAVEYARD.

RIO Equal Area Of Ocean Waters Has
Proved So Great a elutton For HUI
man Life and Ships and Rich Car
soes-Mystor.es Ct Missing Vessels.
Some day the great lakes are going
TO contribute Il glorious share to the
literature of America. Until now they
have been unhonored and unmng. ex
cept ia some isolated cases. where the
poet or the romanccr has sought his
audience In vain vi Of the romance
OF the uca Is not contained in the At
lautic or tie Pacific The great lakes
are rich il romance. History ant
icccnd have jo,led hands 70 weave
thrilling nara ivc avUud this cacAant
ed ,oln,g. EC.W tradition clustcrs
,hic5/aboat q, Three nations strur
elcd for dominion ovcr the lake coun
Ivy England France and The Un,tcO
Stutca lanameralle shipwrecks have
contributed ,hoir LA pages to the
story Of ;hr hlaad seas. The thrill
storm I'll sea, eli struggle with the Gle
ments IN The blackncss cf Lake Su
perior night. OF glorious victory or
brave defeat, remains 10 be recorded
fttingly
What chronicle contains q more fas
chatting record than the narrative Of
the voyage OF exploration made by
Rene Cavalier de Ia Sale in his good
ship The Griffin, the first sailing vessel
to venture forth on the great lakes :
In 1919 this ship, captained by the in
trepid French soldier Of fortune and
manned by u merry crew OF yoyagers,
with several Jesuit zealots. sailed the
length of Lake Erie. Lake ST. Clair and
Lake Huron on u voyage of adventure
and discovery. The Griffin was lost on
its return voyage La Sale. who had
remained in the north country, never
heard of it again. The first mystery OF
the great lakes had been recorded
Countless others were to follow II. Fol
the great lakes hold their grim record
Of tragedies
II is interesting TO note that no sim
liar area of any ocean, if suddenly strip
ped Of its volume Of water, would ex
pose to human gaze Il larger number o
| sunken ships or more valuable cargoe'
than lie at the bottom Of these inland
waters. a record kept between tn,
Years 1878 and 1898 reveals the start
ling fact that In that period $500 ship,
were wrecked on the great lakes, anJ
1898 OF these were total losses. Th,
loss of cargo during the score of years
was nearly SS,000000.
Some of these vessels disappeared al
most as mysterlously as did the Griflil
in the brave old days OF exploration
No wreckagc iloated to the shore Tilt
great lakes hid well their secrets. Nay
igators of the northern lakes insist tina
there are portions of Lake Superio
where II is impossible to find the bot
tom. The superstition is that SOM
ships that have gone down at sea ar
held forever in this unfathomable pl
beneath the waters,
Like the sailors Of the salt seas, tn
men who navigate the inland water
are superstitious lot. Almost ever
wreck that marks the history Of III
lakes is the inspiration Of some weird
fantastic story that by frequent repet
ton assumes the dignity of truth i
the sailors ready mind. One such ST
perstitlon that Is firmly rooted in th
minds Of all great lakes navigator
concerns the mysterious wreck Of tn
Bannockburn.
She was big, powerful freightel
carrying a crew OF twenty-five mel
She cleared Duluth on day in tn
late fall What happened 10 her wi
never be known She went out in tn
morning and was last sighted the mex
evening. That was the end. Not on
OF her crew was ever found, For NOR
than n year the chill waters OF LAX
Superior guarded well their secre
Then one day an oar was found floa
ing among the driftwood Of the blea
north shore. A piece Of tarpaulin wa
wrapped securely around it, and whe
this was removed it was found tina
the word "Bannockburn" was Scrape
into the wood. The oar is all that n
mains today to tell the story Of n
missing frclghter.
According TO the queer twist give
the story by the sailors OF the inlau
seas. the Bannockburn is supposed
be the Flying Dutchman Of the gre'
lakes. Sometimes at night, when ii
chill north wind sweeps across u
swollen bosom of Lake Superior an
the singing lice devils" I'LL the nj
, the lookout on some lonely point cal
loudly to his companion and points
I where he imaglncs the Bannockburl
all white with ice and ghostly In Il
+ darkness, is slipping through the blac
mystery of the lake.
The history Of the great lakes
punctuated with thrilling narratiy,
= such MS this There are brighter cha
, ters that tell Of heroic rcscues made 1
lint OF dnuntlcss courage and supe
human effort - George w. Stark
Outlook.