New-York tribune., 1921-06-22

ceived no response
Even the customary signals one shin
exchanges with another at sea were
ignored by the steamer. 1t is an un
written law with all shipmasters never
to pass a lightship without signaling
or answering signals if any are
flashed. This unknown vessel paid no
attention to the lightship and passed
on out of sight in the Darkness An
Official report of this vessels behavior
was made to Washington
Captain f. D. A Deotte, commander
oc the Coast Guard Service for this
district, declared to-day that the un-
usual circumstances connected with
the disappearance of ships and the
stranting of the Deerinr with all sails
set, caused him and other officers to be-
lieve that there was 4 mystery that
should be solved
81 want to give Miss Wormwell full
credit for all she has done" said
Captain Deotte, "and she certainly mas
made clear case out Of the Deerine
that should be and will be sifted TO
the end
Deering Was Ransacked
"rhe fact that the ship came ashore
with all sails set is in itself a very um~
usual thing. The reputation of Captain
Wormwell was at stake and his daugh-
ter is endeavoring to clear his name.
For ship to come ashore with all sails
set means destruction. No captain
would permit this under any circum-
stances. Captain Wormwel was skip
per that was known from one end of
the coast to the other He had an ex-
cellent reputation as man and ship
master.
when wreckers boarded the Deering
the second day after she struck the
beach they found the ship had been ran
sacked from top TO bottom. There was
nothing of value on board. Every pa
per had been either destroyed or taken
away. The two Iifeboats were missing.
| Even the drawers of the bureaus had
| been ransacked and were thrown on the
| feer of the cabin. All the clothing,
eufuE nnd otrsr things of value were
carried away.s
"These things would not have hap
pencd if the ship had encountered
rough weather and the crew been forced
to take to the lifeboats.
Gust what the Bolsheviki or pirates
| would want with the Deering I do not
know. The ship may have been over
the vessel was no good to them they
| decided to make prisoners of the crew
to prevent them telling the story Of
their capture at sea. This is mere spec
ujation, however; the entire mystery
may be explained satisfactorily later on
Girl Works on Case
Miss Worniwell worked the case
herself. When a message in bottle
picked up near Hatteras by c. C. Gray,
supposed to have been dropped over
board from the Deering, was delivered
to me Miss Wormwell asked that she
be permitted to take it home with her
in the hope that she could identify the
handwriting. She has established be-
yond doubt by handwriting experts
and by experts employed by the gov
ernment that the handwriting is that
of Henry Bates, of 1sleboro, Ne The
wrote his wife were declared by all
who examined the two writings tc be
Identical.
"This furnished the first real clew
| that something was wrong with the
grounding of the Deering."
While Miss Wormwell was endeavor-
ing to solve the fate of her father and
the other members of the crew of the
Deering Miss Barbara E. Bauer wrote
| this letter to the Coast Guard Service
here under date of May 7:
81 am very deeply interested in an
other ship, the Hewitt, belonging to
| the Union Sulphur Company, II Bat
terry Place, New York City. The
Hewitt is said to have disappeared
with it's crew of forty two men in the
latter part of January at about ex-
actly the same time and in the same
course as the Deering. She was bound
from Sabine, Tex, for Boston, and
has not been heard of since leaving
| Sabine. AS the highest velocity of
wind recorded at that time was forty
! two miles, it is believed it had no eff
| feet on this vessel.
Sea Conspiracy Feared
"The conclusion l have reached since
reading the message concerning the
Deering is that enemies took the men
of the Dcerng after having pursued
them, and since the schooner got
grounded, it was useless to them, but
! because of the fact that they had at
tempted to capture the boat it hscame
necessary to take her crew. III the
note should be true the object of the
men of the oil-burning chaser was to
capture some vessel that was ocean
going, probably to make their getaway
out of our country.
Having failed with the Deering, thew