A MYSTERY OF THE SEA

Evening Star, Issue 14186, 11 October 1909, Page 1

A MYSTERY OF THE SEA

LETTER FROM A MAN SUPPOSED TO . BE DROWNED. . GEORGETOWN (8.G.), August 7. Considerable sensation has been caused in Georgetown, British Guiana, by the arrival of a letter addressed to a local hrm. It ,‘s signed with the name of* a man who, it was feared, had been lost, together with, every other soul on board the ill-fated ooolio ship Moy, which left this port in 1905 and has never been beard of since, being abandoned by Lloyds and all its complement being regarded as lost, ihe letter, which purports to come from Mr A. K H. Farquhar, who was formerly employed m one of the local newspaper offices, and who shipped on the Moy as an assistant rtewaid, is addressed from '* Vancouver, General Delivefy, June 50, 1900,” and it states:— “ Did yon think I had forgotten you altogether? ■ It is now about four years since I left you. We’ve had great doings. Left the Moy in- a boat, and got to Key West alter sixteen days, Mahr was a brute, anyway. _ I’ve been in Texas about two years doing broncho stunts. How’s George? Tell all the chaps ‘ howdy ’ from me. Never played football since I left Dcmerara. Will write later.—Tours faithfully.”

Ih© letter, it will be noted, is singularly scant, aj>d leaves a great deal to the imagination, There can, however, be little doubt as to its authenticity, as the handwriting has been positively identified by a number of poisons who know Mr Farquhar well. Mahr, who is referred to so disparagingly, was the captain of the Moy, and the “ George ” mentioned is presumably a Mr Tulloeh, who was a reporter on the ‘ Argosy.’ _ The point, however, that is puzzling shipping men is how Mr Farquhar managed to gel to Key West, as there are several ports that could have been made much easier, some of which, indeed, would have to be passed near at hp-nd in order to get to Key West. Nevertheless, though tlier© is some tendency to doubt the accuracy of the statements made, no ■ doubt whatever is entertained that Mr Farquhar is still alive and actually wrote the letter in question. The Moy was one of the fine fleet of clipper ships sailing under the flag of the Moarge Company in the Calcutta and Demerara service, and was regarded at the time as on© of the smartest specimens ol sailing craft travelling the ooean. Her gross tonnage was 1,697, and her net 1,544. After signing on a crew at Bristol in March, 1904, she went to Calcutta, where she shipped 523 East Indian coolies for work on the sugar estates of British Guiana She arrived at Demerara on January 22, 1905, and no little sensation was caused when it became known that forty-six of the coolies had died on the voyage, three more died while the vessel was in the'river, and it was found necessary to send eighty-eight more to the public hospital. A Commission was appointed to make strict inquiry, and a lamentable state of affairs was disclosed, in consequence of which the Governor decided to withhold the surgeon’s gratuity of £4BO, to stop the whole of the third officer’s gratuity, half of the captain's and the second compounder’s. The Moy subsequentlv left Demerara oa February 16, 1905, with 1,000 tons hal« ■ last in sand and water;. Ske has neve* been heard of since, and it has always becaf supposed she foundei'ed in the severe storms that were experienced shortly after her departure. Nor up to the. arrival of the letter from Mr Farquhar had there been any indication that there had been any' survivors.—‘Manchester Guardian.’