VANISHING SHIPS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 10 September 1921, Page 9

VANISHING SHIPS

HEAVY CLAIMS

Although the marine iindenvritlng market will be called upon to pay heavy -cfaituf} in connection with the disappearance of a dozen souan-going vessels, according to American mail ad- • vices, the aggregate losses being placed at about 1,50O,00(Jl dollars, underwriters fail to understand why the nowspupers shoufcl treat these sea tragedies as something of unusual importance. "There ih really nothing uncommon-' in tho fact that so many ships should bo reported lost during «, f ew months,'' remarked an underwriter. If the public should keep track of the sea lossesm they occur thay (would realise that What has been magnilied into a sensational recurrence of old-tim o piratical' raids is nothing more than a continuance of normal conditions. "The thing that should receive the most emphasis is tho criminal- manner that some of the shins an* loaded —utterly regardless of the rules of tho sea. It is because of these violations that a large number of vessels are lost and doubtless is tho cause of. some of those mentioned meeting a tragic fate."

There ia a disposition to place some of thc&o disappearances with other unsolved mysteries of the sea. one of the most puzKljng of which was that of the American barque Marie Celeste, which was found off the Azores three months after she left Europe in 1872, with all sails set, undamaged, in <*|!m weather, but with th© crew missing, A boarding party from the ship which sighted the bantutj round the tables set for dinner, with hot coffee 'in the pot and "everything on board the ship in the* same condition it would have been had the crew left only n few minutes before. On a sowing machine, was a waist which the: captain's wife had been making, while toys used by the captain's eon were on the floor. In the forecastle was a table with, playing cards distributed around- as though members of the crew h«ul leisurely left a ganse of cards. Besides the captain, his wife and son, there 1 were ten men in the ship's crew. The vessel was taken to port and again put in service, but about six years later she disappeared completely with her crew, and no word has ever come from her. The following are among the ships listed as having disappeared, together with the value of their cargoes. William O'Brien, steamer, 3143 tons, of the Franco and Canada Steamship Company, left New York on April 14 of lust year for Rotterdam. Next day the vessel returned to port, the captain reporting serious trouble with his crew. The next day the vessel sailed again; The vessel I was^ never heard from again. Loss, 300,000 dollars. British Canadian Maid, of 293 tons, sailed from Monte Cristo on April' 4, 1920, for Canada, and never reached its port, nor was there any word ever received from it. Loss, 30,000 dollars. j Italian steamer Monte San Michele, ' of 4061 tons, sailed from New York • for Genoa in February last with.a load of grain. It was due at Gibraltar on J February 18, but the freighter never reached its destination-: Loss, 400,- j 000 dollars. United States tanker Hewitt, sailed frntji .Sabine, Texas, on January 21 last for Boston with a cargo of sulphur. The Hewitt was neverrhead of after sailing^ Loss/ 150,000. dollars. ' Spanish freighter "Yute, 2924, tons, sailed from Baltimore in November last for Dunkirk. Ten days later it reported its position 242 miles east by i south-east of Cape May,-tiut after that ' it was never heard from. :Loss, 150,000 I ■dollars. Norwegian vessel Florine sailed from Copenhagen on November 26 last for J Hampton Roads, but^nesgr leached its , destination, nor has^any word, ever been received to indjcai#*s¥&%£ate.' Loss 70.000 dollars. ' . . , Esperanza de -Laragrie, British-owned vessel, sailed. from Newfoundland on1 February 3 fast for Europe and then dropped* utterly from sight. Loss, 30.000 dollar* , | '• British schooner General" Home,' sailed^from England on-October 19 last i for Newfoundland, and since then no word has been received of it. Loss, 30,000. dollars. Danish barque Fylla sailed last September from.- Newfoundland for Nova Scotia, and has never been seen or heard of sioee that time. Loss, 50,000 dollars* • - . Albyn, sailed from Norfolk last October aqdl disappeared, leaving no clue to her whereabouts or fate. Britisfe steamer Octiana. Port Lobos to Manchester, via Norfolk. February 2. Loss,. 200,000 dollars. British steamer C&bedello, from Norfolk, February 2. Loss, 150,000 dollars.