Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-03

memb er0 to visit the scene OF the dis 4
aster in person and to make further
private Investigations regarding the
characters and histories of the prin-
cipal parties concerned. No verdict
had been reached, but the general
opinion seemed to be that the cap
tain would be acquitted, because he
had chosen the safer and wiser
course when suddenly placed In
most difficult position that required
prompt and decisive action.
And so the whole question was
thrown in the ring" and the COM
munity was left to decide for itself
just what 1t was the captain saw
II. indeed, he really saw anything at
all. In a word. What was the phan-
tom junk? Where did 1t come from
and where did 1t go to? That was
enough to keep all the gossips and
takers at homes. at the clubs and in
the streets busy during the next ten
days and to abstract from them
every variety of opinion. Every one
that had ever had any thrilling ex-
perience Of 'spooky" or ghostly
nature trotted it out and touched 1t
up for the occasion, and made It
doubly horrible II 1t had been ct
sea and not on the lano. Old skip.
pers drew out Of the sea chests Of
their memories tales and stories. OF
serpents and dragons, phantom ships
and spectral visions of the deep.
Some joked about 1t, some laughed
L. ylSnk rny
Clarke had eaten for dinner that
night, as If his vision Of the junk
had been merely a torture Of the
demon OF indigestion. Some looked
serious; some merely shook their
heads and said nothing. 1t went so
far that even the public library had
special calls for volumes of the
weird and gruesome, and ''The An
cient Mariner" was taken down from
many a shelf and read over again in
the silent hours Of the night. =
what of Clarke and the phantom
junk?" became the test-word that d.
vided the coast ports from Hongkong
to Tientsin really into three separate
classes. We will call them "a" "B'
and &c" as follows:
Glass A believed him to be abso-
lutely honest and to have been the
innocent victim of q temporary delu-
sion or mental alteration.
Glass b believed him to be honest
but weak. and his vision Of the junk
to have been the result of some slim
ulant or drug.
Class G believed him to be absolute
ly dishonest; to have concocted the
junk story to deceive the public and
to have wrecked the steamer for the
sake of her insurance.
Each one Of these classes had it's !,
own arguments to bring forward and
Its own presidents and examples. but,
on the other hand, each Of them
seemed to have been thoroughly and {
answered by the testi-
mony on the other side. Those who
knew him intimately claimed that he
had never been the victim Of delu-
sions of any kind whatever. but was
an exceedingly even-tempered and
man. All the stories as
to the possibility Of his having been
intoxicated were at once ruled out by
the fact that he was known to be q
strict total abstainer. So when old
the tea broker remarked
at the club tiffin that 1t was nothing
at all to see black junks after Q
spree-for he always saw red and
green and painted ones with mon
keys and parrots on them when he
went out to sea"-his joke recoiled
upon himself.
The idea that the captain had ac-
tually put the steamer on the rocks
intentionally--which idea was only
held BY very few OF the residents
was based on the fact that he was
known to have bought considerable
share Of the company's stock and that
he had been overheard to say on one
occasion that ''he hoped the old girl
would lay her bones on the rocks be-
fore she got much more cranky" That
being very common remark, how
ever, among the shippers assigned to
the old and worn-out coasters, It
failed to have much effect upon the
court. s
Wide and divergent as were these