The Washington herald., 1921-08-26

attention of five government de-
rartments and interested the entire
country. -..-.
The Carroll A Deering, out of
Bath. Me-, was found ashore on
Diamond Shoals, Cape Hatteras.
January 20 last. under circum-
stances so mysterious that her case
was likened to that of the Marie
Celeste, long one Of the unsolved
mysteries of the sea
When later a note was reported
to have been found washed ashore
in bottle, stating that the Deer.
ing had been captured by an oil
burning boat something like a sub,
marine chaser" which had captured
all the crew. the government began
to take an interest in the case.
This interest was heightened
when Miss Lulu Wormwell. daugh-
ter of the master Of the vessel.
presented to the Department Of
Commerce evidence that the note
in the bottle was in the handwrit-
ing Of the mate and apparently
genuine.
Tho departments of State, Navy.
Justice. and the Treasury began an
investigation. and with the disap-
pearance of a number Of other ves-
sells in the same vicinity, it was
limited that Soviet pirates" might
be responsible -.
Lawrence Richey. special assist
ant to. Secretary Hoover. was put in
charge OF the governments investi-
CATION. and II Is his discovery made
public last night which has pracu-
cally written Finish" to the chapter.
As described by Richey. the sosu-
ton of the mystery has many of the
elements OF detective masterpiece.
served In Navy.
Unfortunately many OF the early
phases of the Investigation cannot
be made public. but suffice to say
that governnmAnt handwriting ex-
perts of the Navy and the Treasury
identified the note as having been
written by Gray, who formerly
served several enlistn.1nts in the
Navy.
Gray. 1t was le--ued, had applied
for a position in the lighthouse
service Of the Department of Com
merce. Desiring to Siscredit the
lighthouse staff at Cape Hatteras in
the hope that he might create a
NoCaHSS " NC
ment. he seized the wreck of the
Deering as an opportunity.
The finding of the note. it was
hoped by Gray, would. cast . refiee-
ton upon the Coast Guard and the
staff Of the lighthouse who had
heen unable to solve the mystery.
Confronted by the evidsnce in the
of Richey. Gray con.
fessed, II was stated. to having
written the note. ri - 60.
Relieve Capitals Was Slain.
Investigating further. the Depart.
ment Of Commerce finally recovered
from fishermen VINO had searched
the Deering when she went ashore,
the chart of the Inflated vessel.
1t showed, according to Richey, that
six days had been consumed by the
ship in going from Cape Fear light
ship to the point when she was last
sighted by the Diamond Shoals
Iightship.
This fact and the report Of the
last named lightship. that the crew
were observed to be swarming all
over the vessel leads government au-
thorities to believe that Cant.
Wormwell was murdered in a mu-
tiny. The mate was known to have
threatened his life when the Deer
ing put into the Barbadon and the
last entry on the chart is of January
70, six days before the vessel
grounded.
II the nnutiny theory is sus-
tanned. the condition in which the
Deering was found, Is explained
and the pirate supposition finally
disposed of. Further search will be
made by, the gevernussnt for any
members Of the crew Who might
have gained the shore. but the be-
lief is that ell probably persisted
In attempting to negotiate with
small boats the dangerous surf of
Diamond Shoals