Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-23
West Wind Drift
BY GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON
Copyright. 1890. bp George Barr Mccu.cheon

,ro,e come $50 souls on board and there
.,,,s stores that filled her holds from
and to end--grain, foodstuffs. metals,
oh,m,cals. rubber, and certain sinister
.h,nes of war. Her passenger list con-
.a,red the names of men who had
.,,,sved distinction In world affairs
q, finance, in busirees. In diplomacy. In
..or besides that less subtle pursuit
sdventure--men from both hemispheres
sror, all continents. It was a cosmopoli.
tan company that sailed out to sea that
nlacid day bound for port 5000 miles
.vav Her departure, heavy laden.
tror, the South American port was
rronerly recorded In the then secret an
na,s OF a great nation the world at
large. however, was none the wiser. For
those we're the days when sly underseo
monsters Of German descent we're prowl-
inr about the oceans, taking toll Of hu-
manity and breeding the curse that was
IA abide with their progenitors forever.
Down through the estuary and Into
nm spreading bay slid the big steamer
abreast the curving coast line she drove
her way for leagues and leagues. and
then swept boldly into the vast Atlantic
desert
Four hundred years ago and more.
Ameripo Vespucci had sailed this un-
known southern sea In his doughty cara
vel: he had wallowed and rocked for
months over q course that the Doraine
was asked to cover In tho wink of an
eve by comparison. Up from the south
ne had come In an age when the seas he
sailed were no less strange than the
land he touched from time to time: the
blue waste of sky and sea as boundless
then as now; the west wind drift as
sure and unfailing the waves as savage
or as mild the star by which ne laid MS
course as far away and immutable-but
he came In 1901 and his ship was alone
In the trackless ocean.
The mighty Doraine was not alone
she sailed a sea whose every foot was
charted, whose every depth wac sounded
She sailed In an age Of Titans. while the
caravel was froNcsome pigmy, dancing
70 the music of a thousand winds, buffet
ed today, becalmed tomorrow, but always
q snail on the face Of the waters. Four
| hundred years ago Vespucci and his
men were lost n the wilderness of waves.
Out Of touch with the world were they
for months---aye. even ycars-and no
man knew whittier or whence they sailed
nor whence they came. for those were
the days when the seven seas kept their
secrets better than they keep them now.
Into the path traversed by the lowly
caravel steamed the towering Dora.ne.
pointing her cleaning nose to the north
and east.
She was never seen again.
Out from the lairs of the great Amer
lean navy sped the swi.test hounds of
the ocean. They swept the face Of the
waters with q thousand sleepless eyes !;
they called with the strange. myster ous
voice that carries q thousand miles /;
they raked the seas as with fine-tooth
comb; they searched the coast Of con-
tinent they penetrated its rivers, circled
Its Islands. scanned Its rocks and reefs
and asked single question that had but
one reply from every ship that sa led the
southern sea-
For months ships Of all nations
searched for the missing steamer. Not
% much as the smallest piece Of wreck
age rewarded the ceaseless quest The
great vessel. with all its precious cargo,
had slipped into It's niche among the
profoundest mysteries of the sea. Came
the day. therefore, when the secretary
OF the navy wrote down against her
name the ugly sentence; Lost with
all on board"
Maritime courts issued tho DEGREES /:
lesatees parceled estates, great and
small Insurance companies paid in hard
cash Tor the lives that were lost, and
went blandly about their business more
man one widow reconsidered her
thoughts OF self-denial: and ships
fsgsin sailed tho course Of Amerigo Ves-
puScl without thought Of the DOra,ne.
For months the newspapers In many
lands speculated on the fate of the miss
ing liner, That great ship could disaL
psar from the face Of the waters In thes,,
iss"ine iprifme days OF navigation without
,esSlng 80 much rs a trace behind was
inconeelvab!e. Al first there were tales
ot the daStardly U-boats then came the
ntr s.a,',. reports OF treachery on board
resulting In the ship being taken over
X. 'esman plottors, with the prediction
well'armed "raider" cruising in the
worth Atlantic: then the generally no.
Ssgted Ss theory that she had been swiftly,
sHuaeniy rent asunder by q mighty ex-
theories. all ccnjectures, however re-
yoNed about single fear--that rhe was
s.o @ victim OF German plot. But in the
,,Uurse OF events there came day when
,aO,S o herman navy, ever boastful of its
shoole deeds. issued tho positive and
no doubt sincere declaration that It had
~ ~ record OF the sinking of\the Doraine
ame rate or the ship was as much of a
wsssry 70 the German admiralty as It
"as 70 the rest Of the puzzled world.
~ Mno so It was that the Doraine, laden
NJ th nearly 1000 souls. sailed out into
irnr, %e broad sae Atlantic and was never heard
Tho captain of the liner was an old
soon. ~sn re had sailed the seas for twn
r,ore years. at least half of them as
master master At the outbreak Of the great
sr sIn ne was given command of the Dor
Srn Se, renewing younger man for more
rssslc Sn TldGt dGty In the North sea. He was
bv TTI,slsnman and his name. Weather.
~ w. ine list OF retired naval officers in
~ e erltlth admiralty offices II one cares
~ 70 the trouble to loUk Il up,
esrtatn Two years, the Doraine, with
knosnn other vessels involved In a well
howh and somewhat thoroughly de-
os,S .eu transaction. became to all inter-
ifnI, sha purposes the property of the
IInsea states Of America. she flew the
crsv Nericali nag, carried an American gun
some some ada dtr,c,,,,e american rapers. and, with
ave ave captain was making his last voy.
ce. ee as master Of the ship. An American
tSas SseaE n was to succeed him as soon as
liz HHoialne reached its destination in
,ne M.ue past seventy, had sailed for nearly
tInc. years under the American flag at q
ssn no when all Englishmen were looking
sSsn snoe AT It and wondering II II was
rivb,sSta S take It's proper place among the
taken taE0us vs., banners Of the world. It had
VIZ man. was harpy
snf,s crew Of $50 was what might bo
few described as International rhe
no, EnElshmen he had en- board were
" war zone, There was a small contingent
SOM nshericans, a great many Portuguese,
mors Span'ards, Norwegians, and n
nsuonNr, or less polyglot remainder without
"@IsI,1hai classification.
can nrst ofticer was a Scotch -Amerl-
cha, he second an ish-Amerlcan, the
Amar,oe engineer a plain unhyphenated
nnrs.ean from Baltimore. Md. The
mar Mr Codge, was still an English.
sta,sa although he had lived in the United
matt. since he was two years old--a