Cheyenne Wells record., 1922-02-23


Her officers say she is lucky to be afiOat.
The West Wind steamed 1000 miles with her
bunkers ufire the record shows, drove within three
cable lengths Of the rocks after an ali-hsht s''uS
gle when her anchors dragged In typhooh OIL
Newcastle. N. S. W., clawed out OF brisbane mar
Dor half an hour ahead of quarantine prociama-
tion for bubonic plague and had to shift cargo IN
mid-Pacifc to tinker her. tail shaft. All this to
say naught of being laid up two weeks tor ooher
repnirs at Panama.
An entry in the log dated August records that
the ship was Joined that day at Pulpit Point, Sgd
ney by one Sinbad: An elaboration Of this entry
reveals that Sinbad Is n tabby tom cat, formerly
ships mascot and. supercargO' of the S.oX8f6n
freiglter, Canastota also flying the U. S.sA
house fng, which mysterously vanished With au
hands between Sydney and Wellington the last
week in June.
The advent Of this feline marine adventurer out
of vast and mysterious void enshrOuding the
fate Of so men and officers who constituted the
CanastOtas complement appeared to have been
considered an event Of rare Significance. The crew
say he's the luckiest cat afOat. Hundreds OF good
seumen are ashore In worlds ports because Of
hard times in the ocean carrying trade. but Sim
bad. rover Of the Seven Seas, can Sign on any
minute anywhere. All he's got to do Is walk
aboard
Both the Canastota and West Wind piled be-
tween New Zealand and New South Wales ports.
carrying benzine for the Vacuum OIL company Of
New Jersey. The CanastOta had 6O.O0O cases
aboard when she left Sydney bound for yelling
ton to take on more cargo This vessel was spOk-
en- of up and down the Australian and New Zea-
land coasts as 'the bomb ship" Her commander,
Captain A. w. Locke, capable officer, was well
known in New York, Montreal. Havre and up the
Mersey. He ran the submarine blockade between
Montreal and French ports through the war.
The West Wind. probably In recognition of haz-
ards inseparabe from the benzine carrying trade,
is referred to alongshore in Sydney. Newcastle,
and Aunk oplo H3p ho&, Iya,
commander. Captain Abbott, halls from New York.
His home Is at 99G Simpson street. the Bronx.
Among officers and men of the West Wind few
without mementOs, such as burns and bruises
Of terrific hurricane that kept the vessel steam
ing full speed ahend into her anchor chains during
a thirty-hour fight to prevent, pillng up on tho
"Nobbies'' off Stockton Blight Newcastle July "a
During that storm everything loose on deck went
oversize. When day dawned the West Wind was
close enough to have tossed biscuit ashore, with
only three fathoms Of water under her keel. The
typhoon had blown itself out.
Since the Canastota signaled "All clear" off Syd.
ney harbor that June afternoon, trace Of her
has been found. What happened tc the vessel will
probably never be known. Australian sea lawyers
hold that benzne from punctured containers leaked
into her bilge, mixed with the water there form.
ing m explosive gas and blew her sky high when
a lantern was carried into the hold by an oIler at
work shaft bearing. 1t is q sufficiently reason.
able hypothesis, but that Is all. Whatever hap
pened must have taken the ships company un-
awares, because, although equipped with modern
wireless outfits, the Canastota sent no calls for
aid. All any one really knows Is that she van
ished-spurlOs versenkt.
Far out at sea the West Wind picked up wire
less alarms gent out by Dagettys Australian ship
ping agents, and by Captain Williams, director of
navigation at Sydney. Half dozen times a day
the radio chartered: Report Canastota" vary
ing this later to Report Canastota wreckage" The
West Wind laid of her course and swung wide.
vainly seeking the missing vessel. Her disappear
constitutes another deep mystery, inscrut-
able as that surrounding the fate of the United
States naval supply ship Cyclops. The West Wind
headed for Newcastle.
1t was three days later that Sinbad, the Canas-
totas mascot, bounded up the gangplank at Pulpit
Point William Hodgson, able seaman of the West
Wind, spotted the old cat, having served ship
mates with him aboard the Canastota when she
was known as 1.-THE Falls Of Orkney and sailed
out of British port. Hodgson instantly recog.
nized Sinbad's cinder-scarred body. The cats ad-
vent was followed by serious discussions above and
below decks esas
why had sinbad quit the canastotal Plain