New Britain herald., 1929-06-22

Ocean City, N. J., June e2.-When City Monday they will be shown the ghost of once mighty ship that now lies buried among dead mems bones under the ever shifting sands of the Atlantic seaboard.
 The ghost is a spar that marks the grave of the good ship Sindia, bound from Japan to New York when she came to grief off the Jersey coast. Beneath that spar and in the hold of the vessel is fortune in fine china, camphor oil, gorgeous mattings from the Orient, and wnatnot. There are other tragedies hidden under the sands out there
 Aye! It is said by sea-faring men that if 8 great dredger could suck the sands from the beach it would be found that there is not square foot there that would not divulge portions of wrecks. And it is req sonable to suppose that many men lie buried with their vessels.
 What treasure may be there! Who knows but what among that vast wreckage. there may be the hull of pirate ships loaded with Spanish dubloons and pieces of eight?
 But to get back to the Sindia:
 Her keel was laid in Belfast. Ireland. in 1888. An. there was ship! As she steamed out of the Victoria Channel into Belfast Lough, she was considered one of the finest steamships ever produced in that harbor.
 Four years later her engines were removed and she was fitted with sails and transformed into a bank. She was engaged chiefly in East h. dia and Chinese trade.
 Captain Mckenzie was her master. A lucky man was Captain Mckenzie. It had been said of him that during his S5 years as sailing master. the devel never sent gale that did not turn in favor of Mckenzie.
 Then came that December morn- ing. Twenty-eight years ago it was.
 All through the night the wind had howled. whipping sails into rib bons. It had seemed that Satan's witches rode upon the gale. shriek- ing in derision at the puny efforts of seamen to save the vessel-and their lives.
 At half past two in the morning signals of distress were seen by life guards at Ocean City and middle stations. Two life saving crews hurried to the scene.
 A line shot from a buoy and was made fast but chafed off at once. A second line reached the boat ! then a third. But when an attempt was made to operate the buoy it was found to hang so low that the sailors would have drowned should an effort be made to haul them ashore by means of a line.
 Daylight came. The wind was blowing almost hurricane now. However. surf boat succeeded in reaching the doomed ship. The crew was rescued. The captain who, at first, refused to leave his ship, finally consented to enter the life boat and was landed, but only after his men were safe on land.
 The boat and cargo were taken | charge of by New York underwriters | and wrecking company was given the job of unloading the vessel. | They sent several lighters to New York with water-soaked mating. which was offered for sale at auc- ton. and brought but small price.
 Afterward, the boat and cargo | were bought by a company that | paid $500 for them. although their estimated value had been placed at | $1.200.00o. It was found that the | cost of removing the cargo was too great and. therefore, fortune still | lies there. undisturbed by the hand of man.
 Still our ship" muse the owners
 And witches riding on the gale make answer:
 Sure! Try and get it."