Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1921-06-30
Government is Trying to Solve
the Mystery of the Twenty
Missing Ships.
MAY Be WORK OF PIRATES
Admiral Sims, Home, Tells Secretary
DENLY He Was Msquoted-Britain
Determined to Crush Irish Re-
voIt-DaWes Made Direc-
tor of National Budget.
By EDWARD w. PICkARD.

The interest of the world was eXcit-
ed and its Imagination stimulated last
week by the remarkable story Of the
20 lost merchant ships, the mystery of
whose disappearance our government
is trying to solve. Not since the days
of the German U-boats has there been
any such a series of maritime disas
ters, nor was there any such before
the war. A numfer of these 20 YES
sells which have disappeared within
few months were American or sailing
from American ports. The most mys-
tifying of the instances was that of the
American schooner Carroll A. Deering,
which ran ashore off the North Caro-
lima coast last January with all sails
set and every member of the crew
missing, as were its small boats. More
than two months later the following
message in a bottle was picked up
near Cape Hatteras:
"Deering captured by oil-burning
boat, something like chaser taking off
everything, Handwriting crew. Crew
hiding all over ship. No chance to
make escape. Finder please notify
headquarters of Deerfng.'
Naturally the favorte theory con-
cerning these events is that a pirate
craft is operating in the Atlantic. Rear
Admiral Mutton, commandant of the
Philadelphia navy yard inclines to this
view. He says:
1T would be possible for an outlaw
craft to run wild for a short tine, and
it could do considerable damage to
shipping If there is pirate craft, it
was or is operating with forged ships
papers. 1t is always necessary, when
a ship enters port, to have its papers
examined, and this craft could operate
for a short time with forged papers,
but in the end it would disclose its
identity.
''It is true, also, that by stripping
vessels of provisions and fuel the out
law could continue operations long
time. but eventually it would have to
put into some port for repairs. Machin-
cry, you know, cannot run forever
without being oyerhauled and repaired.
"If such a craft is operating it will
have to return to port at some time,
and when it does, I assume there will
be interesting developments"
Another theory is based upon the
fact that about year and half ago
the New York police seized documents
which revealed plot which the Uni
ted Russian Workers of the United
States and Canada were forming to
~
members who were out of work were
being instructed to ship on vessels in
| sufficient numbers to seize the vessels
at sea and steer them into soviet Rus
/ sian ports.
The Departments of State and Com
merce, however, hold to the plain pi-
rate theory and a worldwide lookout
for the missing ships and their crews
| has been ordered.
| Admiral Sims, recalled from Eng
land by an order from Secretary Den
by that sounded especially severe, ar
! rived in Washington Wednesday and
reported to the head of the navy
Thursday. In reply to Mr.. DENLY, he
asserted that he had been misqueted
| in the reports of his London speech,
and the secretary called on him for
correct text of what he said. Mr.. Den
by said to the correspondents:
Admiral Sims has denied the ac-
curacy of the statements attributed to
him. He stated that he was Incorrect
ly quoted. I gave him written men,
orandum setting forth those state
ments and asking him to inform me