SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 62, 10 September 1910, Page 12

SHIPS AND THE SEA

'A MYSTERY OF THE SEA., The British barque Inverness-shire, with a good cargo, sailed away from Hamburg on 2nd March, bound for Santa. Rosali, Cal. With everjj bit Of canvas standing she crept down around the Spanish coast to Africa, whore, taking advantage of the north-east trades, she crossed the Atlantic, passing the Cape Verde Islands and Cape St. Rogue, on the east coast of South America. Captain Kinnon, a careful navigator, was in command. He knew his course and his ship, and his crew had sailed with him and knew him as he knew them, as able and willing. The Inver-ness-shire was spoken passing the Cape Verde Isles, and again oft Cape bt. Rogue. Captain Kinnon reported aII well." This was in May, and it was the last seen of captain or his crew. His ship, in perJect condition, was found at anchor west of the Falkland Islands, in south latitude 62, longitude 50 west, on 15th June, by Captain Mancho, of the Italian steamer Vernia, from Valparaiso de Chile to Naples, but she proved dumb. Captain Mancho was impressed with the quiet on board, and getting no reply to his signals, sent the first office 11 to see what was the matter. When the gig drew up alongside the big windjammer none was waiting at the gangwuy, unless the ship's family of cats be excepted. They seemed well fed and happy, and to yearn for companionship rather than food. A thorough search was made of the ship, and from truck to keelson she was in perfect order. • On the messroom table lay a pack of cards, where someone had been playing Klondyke His game had been interrupted ere it was half finished. The fire in the galley stove had burned itself out, and the stove was cold, yet on it was a pot of "slush," the sailor's beef stew. And it had not yet spoiled. Every sail was furled. The deck was I shipshape and tidy. In the captain's cabin, on a table, lay a copy of Coleridge's "The Ancient .Mariner," opened, face down, as if it had been placed there when the reader was called away for a moment. In the fo'c'sle were an accordion and a banjo, on a table, where some musically inclined seaman had left them, and on the same table were the glasses, some still half filled with grog. While there were these evidences of a hurried departure, there was not a thing to show the .reason for it or the way in which the thirty-odd men suddenly had departed. From the davits swung the long boats and the captain's gig, each stocked with its customary supply of water and hard biscuit. With both port and starboard anchors holding fast in 10 fathoms, 12 miles to the west of the southern point of West Falkland Island, tho barque rode peacefully in the calm sea, technicaly a derelict, yet in perfect condition. Proceeding to Port Stanley, in East Falkland Island, tugs were despatched to the Inverness-shire by Captain Mancho. Thither she was taken, and there she now lies safe and sound in hull and cargo, awaiting the pleasure of her owners, T. Law and Co., of Glasgow, who will have to meet a largo salvage bill. But whatj became of her crew and of her skipper (Captain Kinnon) none can explain. Why he deserted her, there within sight of land, close to Cape Horn, midwinter though it was, is also a mystery. It could not have been an epidemic of sickness. At least one dead man would have remained to tell the story, unless he had dived overboard in desperation. The epidemic theory is quite upset by the presence of the boats, in which the shore might easily have been gained. But the attempt was not made. It may bo that the crew became frightened because the rats left the ship. None were found on board, though the well-fed cats would explain their absence. The Invernesshire is a four-masted steel barque, 282 ft long, 42 is-3ft beam, and 27* ft depth of hold. She registers 2147 net tons and 2607 tons gross. She was built at Glasgow in 1894 by R. Duncan and Co.j Ltd. The only parallel recalled is that of an Italian barque, which was found off the east coast of Africa several years ago. She was sailing before the wind with all sails set, yet without a soul on board. On the galley stove in this case the water pot was boiling over a hot fire, and a sewing machine, with the work stopped in the middle of a seam, was in the cabin which had been occupied by the captain's wife. What Had become of her crew or what had happened to cause their sudden departure only a few moments before never has been learned, for neither captain nor crew was ever heard from again. GERMAN MOTOR LINER. ' There has been no more interesting announcement for a long while than the intimation that the Hamburg-American Company are to build a large cargo liner whose twin propellers will be driven by oil engines. It suggests (says the London Daily Telegraph) that the long-standing contest between the gas-engine and the oil-engine as a means of marine propulsion is pretty well concluded. The new vessel, it appears, will be fitted with two Diesel engines, each of 1500 horsepower. The biggest Diesel engine heretofore employed in a vessel is one of 500 Jl-P- supplied to the yacht Lady Evelyn. The present project, therefore, marks a considerable step in advance. The idea oi ever employing internal combustion engines for the propulsion of battleships has been widely scouted. This new step. is, however, suggestive of the possibilities of tho motoiven.f{im>. Economy, as usual, is the aim in view. Theie will be, among other things, a great savmg of space. Boilers will go by the board, and a larj-o proportion ot the bunker space will also be rendered available lor cai go-carrying. The stokers, the hardest- worked- and often the most unruly element in the kkvp, will be dispensed with. The engineers and a few greasers will do all that is wanted. As for the fuel to be employed, it will be petroleum residue, the cheapest grade of oil, and readily obtainable on either side of the Atlantic. It is the certainty of a sufficient supply which v* necessarily at the base of the venture. li, is to the credit ot the Germans that, after all that has been talked about the possibilities of the jil-engine in big ships, they should be the first to make this experiment on so important a scale. The new boat is to be built by Messrs. Blonm and Voss, of Hamburg, and the oil-engines are also to be made in Germany.

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