The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-06-02
By Assoeiated Press

By Associated Press
 Washington. June 1.-What became of the missing collier Cyclops?
 Is she prize in some German port the victim of treachery? Does she lie disabled in some unfrequented cove of the tropical seas. driven there ana helpless by accident?
 Or has she made her last voyage and with more than 300 souls turned up in the Port of Missing Men to join IT other ships of the American navy which have disappeared just as mys- teriously since 1781?
 Sailing from Barbados in the West Indies March 4, with complement Of 2s5 men the great d9,000-ton naval collier has not since been sighted or reported. By order of the navy de- partment all available navy craft in southern waters have been making dragnet search for the vessel, but daily the conviction among officials grows stronger that the great modern mystery of the sea will remain un- solved
 But the search for the ship still is maintained with unabated intensity. Cruisers and destroyers have re- traced her route. Every island among the scores that dot that portion of the sea is being carefully scrutinized for any clue. But the unremittinG anxiety of the searchers has failed to disclose any trace of 9 ship apparently plucked in a day from the busy lanes of the South American trade routes.
 MANY THEORIES ADVANCED
 To account for the disappearance of the Cyclops there have been suggested many theories-all possible, none en- tirely plausible.
 Was she blown into fragments by a heavy charge of explosives placed in her hold before she left port? This explanation is hardly acceptable be- cause wreckage would have covered the sea for many miles around. Was she torpedoed and sunk with out a trace" by a German submarine that had crossed the Atlantic to prey on comparatively unprotected ship cause in such case, at least few S o s calls could have been sent out before the Cyclops went under. More over, floating wreckage certainly would have been found.
 Was she attacked and captured oy marauding enemy raider that had slipped into the Atlantic after eludina the Br1tlSn 1leelS: ENei II "tleiSNe'H' it is claimed, the colliers wireless would have put her in communicat tion with other naval vessels or merchant shipping.
 Did enemy agents, carefully plant ed" among the ships personnel, seize control of the Cyclops in the night and dismantle the radio to make wireless communication with the outside world impossible? This explanation has but ie r1 Ia ipaad that small enemy force hardly could be expected to reduce to prisoners force of nearly 300 men, many of them na- val reserviSts.
 Again, if taken by an enemy force abroad where is the Cyclops now? Every bay, every inlet capable of ad- hitting a vessel of her draft. has been carefully searched. She had not enough coal in her bunkers to make the transatlantic trip to some German port Moreover, one engine was out of l commission, cutting down her speed to | 10 knots an hour Even if additional coal had been procured she hardly ! could have slipped past the British pa- 1 trols into some German port. Her limping gait would have made her an easy victim for the fast allied de- | stroyers cruisers.
 | Did the crew succumb to the effects | of poisonous gas given off by her
 cargo of manganese? Hardly, it is
 though, because all shipping men
 used to cargoes of that character talk" precaution to eliminate the danger l Did the big vessel of 19,000 tons dis
 placement constructed with view te
 withstanding the heaviest weather 1 founder in severe tropical storm? This I theory sounds unreasonable to many who
 believed the ship capable of riding safe l ly out of any storm she might encounter
 yet in view of all the known circum' | stances, the explanation is accepted by
 most naval officials as the most prob able account of the disappearance
 HIGH SU UPERSTRUCTURE l The Cyclops, although of deep draf1 1 and broad beam, carried a remarkably high an1 heavy superstructure Eight great steel derricks lowered over hel hull, and there was other heavy frame l work placed above decks to give her a | maximum of efficiency in loading oi 1 discharging coal.
 | In case of a heavy list to port or star board, perhaps to the extent of 10 de grees, the Cyclops, burdened with nei heavy derricks, was perhaps unable te swing back into equilibrium crashed
 over 10 one side and quickly settled The heavy cargo of manganese might i have shifted and hindered the vesse l from righting after severe list. l Moreover, vessels which returned tt 1 Atlantic ports about the time the Cy- clops was due reported that unusually stormy weather had been encountered in southern waters. Caught in the trough of heavy sea. the Cyclops might have capsized and gone down quickly, drag | glng down beneath her hull all deck 1 equipment which otherwise might have | floated on the surface as an indication | of her fate.
 l The theory that the Cyclops suddenly | went down in a storm is about the only theory that adequately would explain
 her failure to wireless in case of danger The fact that no radio calls ever cam fro,,, tho x,assal is one phase that char