Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-08
SEA-TOSSED NOTE
MAY END MYSTERY
Fate of Crew and Identity of
Owners of 1901 DereIict
May Be Barred.
mr the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, September ga mes
sage given up by the seas Saturday at
st. Petersburg. Fla. may be q clue in
the 29-year-old mystery as to the fate
OF the crew of the Commodore Of Phila-
delphia.
rs message, contained in a rusted
esH can, which fell apart when handled,
March 81, 1899.
Send help at once. Our ship, the
Commodore, was wrecked two weeks
ago, send help at once. Longitude So.
latitude 81. GEORGE, EVERETT"
Longitude SO is directly on the Flor
ida coast. Latitude 81 evidently was
misread, or blurred from water, for the
Poles are at go, both North and South.
However latitude 81 would place the
ship OF the Florida coast, and the up
per loop of the figure 3 might have
taken the appearance of 8.
Mystery Craft TO All.
The Commodore of Philadelphia.
owners unknown and never traced, was
q mystery ship which rivaled tales of
the ancient mariner.
On April s. 1901, two-masted So
foot rigger drifted into Brooklyn Har-
Dor. With q hard bump she struck a
wharf in W. NJ Tebos yacht basin.
She had come in on the tide.
No one could be seen aboard her, and
when the schooner struck the wharf
and rolled about workmen boarded her,
expecting to find her crew had been
killed by midnight harbor pirates and
their ship cut loose to float with the
tide and wind.
To their surprise no sign of life was
found, and there was no evidence of a
H@n InkA Hs.@
the schooner had been abandoned or
whether her crew had been swept over
board and drowned.
Owners Never Learned.
She bore on her stern the name Com
modore of Philadelphia. Ofdcials of the
Tebo Basin communicated with Phila-
delphia shipping people, but were never
able to find the owners.
The Commodore was hauled up to
the wharf and made fast. An inveSti-
CATION showed she was of substantial
character, but had sprung leak and
unless looked after would soon go down.
bumpers were put to work, and the
schooner was kept af1oat.
Tebo officials expected to hold the
wanderer of the seas until claimed by
the owners. After more than two
months, during which wages Of pump
CTS ana cost OF keeping the schooner
@foat mounted rapidly, no word was
9eceived and hope Of obtaining salvage
was abandoned. The Brooklyn Dock
Board then was asked to take the sink
ing craft OF the Tebo Basin.
Many strange tales gained circula-
eion. One was that the schooner braved
o great storm of the New Jersey coast
and was whipped about by wind and
swell for eight days. her crew being
washed overheard. save for one who es-
capped to tell the tale. But the identity
of the survivor was as mysterious as
the craft itself, and this story was
short lived.
No Trace In LlOyd's Registry.
1t might be that the note found yes
Serday of the Florida coast is the an
swer to O 2s-year-old question. Avail
able shipping records do not list the
Commodore. Lloyd's registry of missing
ships contains no information OF such
craft. Lacking other detail. the theory
could be entertained that the Commo- /
dore OF Philadelphia, in trouble at sea
and believed sinking, was deserted by
all except its master, who conceivabIy
was the George Everett who signed
the note found at st. Petersburg yes
terday.
Perhaps firing of his two-week vigil.
ne also abandoned ship, leaving the
schooner to the mercy Of the tides.