Bisbee daily review., 1918-06-02

1 WASHINGTON, June 1.-What be- came of the missing collier Cyclops?
 Is she a prize in some German port the victim of treachery? Does she lie disabled in some unfrequented cove of the tropical seas driven there and helpless by acident?
 Or has she made her last voyage and with more than 300 souls turned up in the Port of Missing Men to join seventeen other ships of the American navy which have disappeared just as mysteriously since 17S1?
 Sailing from Barbadoes in the West Indies March 4, with a complement of l 295 men, the great 19,0O0-tOn naval i collier has not since been sighted or reported By order of the Navy De partment all available naval craft in southern waters have been making a dragnet search for the vessel, but dai- | ly 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 retraced her route. Every island among the l 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 ship apparently plucked in day from a busy lane of the South American trade routes.
 To account for the disappearance of the Cyclops there have been sug- gested many theories-all possible, none entirely plausible.
 Was she blown into fragments by heavy charge of explosives placed in her hold before she left port? This explanation is hardly acceptable be- Leause wreckage would have covered the sea for many miles around. Was she tOrpedoed and sunk with out trace" by German submarine that had crossed the Atlantic to prey on a comparatively unprotected ship ping! That theory is discounted, be- cause in such a case, at least a 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 by a marauding enemy raider that had slipped into the Atlantic after eluding the British fleets? Even if attacked, it is claimed the collier's wireless would have put her in communication with other naval vessels or merchant shipping.
 Did enemy agents. carefully plant ed" among the ships personnel, seize ,F hn f,, ,frV, and dismantle the radio to make wire less communication with the outside world impossible2 This explanation had but little support because it is claimed that a small enemy force hard ly could be expected to reduce to pris- oners a force of nearly 300 men, many of them naval reservists.
 Again. if taken by an enemy force abroad where is the Cyclops now? Ev- cry 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 commission, cutting down her speed to ten knots an hour. Even if
  hardly could have slipped past the British patrols into some German port Her limping gait would have made her an easy victim for the fast allied destrOyers or cruisers.
 Did the crew succumb to the effects Of poisonous gas given off her cargo of manganese? Hardly, it is thought, because all shipping men used to car goes of that character take precautiOn to eliminate the danger.
 Did the big vessel of 19,000 tons dis placement, constructed with a view to withstanding the heaviest weather, founder in a severe tropical storm. This theory sounds unreasonable to many whc believed the ship capable Of riding safely out of any storm she mi.ht encounter. yet in view of all the known circumstances the explanation is accepted by most naval officials as thc most probable account for the dis appearance.
 The Cyclops although of deep draft and broad beam carried a remarkably