Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1934-07-13
OLD OCEAN GUARDS
WELL HER SECRETS
Many Legends Inspired by
Crewless Ghostly Ships.

ton IL 1t can be proven beyond doubt
that wreckage recently washed up on
the coast Of Australia In from the lost
Kobenhavn. The sea guards well her
secrets, and the world has waited 1--WE
years for news Of the Danish training
ship which sailed out Of Montevido In
December. 1928, bound for an Austria
lian port.
THE kobenhayn," says O bulletin
from the National Geographic society.
was new, five-masted, steel bark,
the largest sailing vessel In the world,
equipped with auxiliary engines and
powerful radio. On December 81 she
reported all we'll She was then 400
miles out, well started on her course
through the South Atlantic, the lone
lest waters in the world. Thu was
the last word that was ever heard
from her.
zone month later the sott,eSp on
Tristan da Cunha, an isOlattd rock
halfway between Brazil and Good
Hope, were greatly excited BY the ap-
proach Of sailing vessel. Ehe seemed
to be steering aimlessly with q light
sail set, before gale which waa drIy-
ing her straight for the islands 3aggs0
reefs. Just as disaster seemed newt
able she veered aside and drifted safs.
ly past, not 400 yards offshOre.
There was no sign of life on board,
and she was riding far down at the
stern, Indicating some damage. 9th
erwise all was in good order, and there
could be no doubt OF her identity.
She was the lost Kobenhavn. By the
next day when 1t was calm enough %
put out in boats she had vanished fer
ever Whatever the fate that overlook
her crew, it must have been disastroas-
ly sudden to have prevented even Q
wireless message. Scarcely less strange
is it that her wreckage should turn up
halfway around the world ana on the
Australian coast.
Stranger Than FiotisA.
MANY are 3he legends, sonss, and
stories inspired by ghostly, cvewless
ships, wandering on year after year.
alone on wide, wide, sea-
Even stranger than ghost ships Of
fiction are the ships Of wood and steel,
ships of fact, which in modern times
have sailed our seas unnamed. One
of these, the Hudson's bay steamer
Baychimo. has haunted Arctic waters
for the past three years. Loaded with
Nrn1s .ubt - f..ra ~.
caught In the ice on Wainwright, Alas
ka. Her captain and crew went
ashore, resolved to wait until the
spring breakup to work her free One
night terrific storm broke her loose
from her mornings and set her on her
wandering course. At intervals she Is
reported BY the captains of whalers
and trading vessels Eskimoa have
salyaged most of her cargo, and twice
she has been boarded by parties of
white men from passing ships But al
ways she eludes capture, drifting on
ward with the ice pack into northern
mists.
Some ten years ago Atlantic ship
ping was for months endangered by
the erratic behavior Of the Governor
Parr, a disabled British shooner.
abandoned by her crew In mid-ocean.
guperstitious sailors credited her with
supernatural control over storms She
carried In her hold a fortune in Cana
dian lumber. Twice steamers put of
from Nova Scotia to tow her ashore
and salvage her cargo. but each time
after they had boarded her q sudden
storm forced them to abandon the at
tempt. Months later she appeared of
the Azores, where again efforts at sal
wage met with the same defeat. Her
final fate. like that of the others, re
mains mystery.
Mary Celeste Mystery.
perhaps the most famous mystery
Of all. puzzle that has defed solution
for over sixty years, is the question Of
what happened one day in December.
1872, on board the Mary Celeste
Countless ingenious theories have been
advanced, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
fashioned from his explanation ro-
mantle novel, but no one will ever
know the true story. On November Z,
1872, the brig Mary Celeste put out
OF New York harbor for Genoa, hsR
hold filed with barrels Of alcohol. On
board was the captain, Benjamin g.
Briggs, his wife, their small daughter,
and crew of seven men.
"Fiye weeks later the British ship
Del Gratia found the Mary Celeste 300
miles west Of Gibraltar. Her sails were
set on starboard tack and she was
blowing steadily eastward, but their
signals to her met with no reply. Wor
lied by this they sailed along side and
,oarded her, finding to their astonish-
nent that she was completely desert
d. The decks were absolutely In or
Ter. no sign of struggle. mutiny, rob
aery, or murder. In the ships cabin
we're the captains watch, money! and
',ompasses. They found Mrs. Briggs
sewing machine with garment half
stitched In the forecastle were the
seamens chests, their money, and even
the remnants Of a meal. The ships
log was lying open, the last entry dat
ed eight days previous. Chronometer
and sextant were missing, and the
ships only boat--an open yawl--was
gone.
OBVIOUSLY the Mary Celeste had been |
abandoned In great haste-but whyi |
Possibly those aboard feared an Ok. |
ploslon in her hold. put on hurriedly |
with no provisions, then awaited a dis
aster which failed to occur. Too late |
they may have tried to oyertake her,
only to find her sailing steadily farth- |
er out of reach"