A PHANTOM NAVAL FLEET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12740, 17 December 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

A PHANTOM NAVAL FLEET.

AX EXTRAORDINARY HOAX AT RHOOSE, NEAR BARRY.

Tub quiet little village of- Rhoose, .near Barry, was the scene of considerable excitement lecently, owing to circumstances of a sensational and amusing description. It appears that man, with the appearance aid conversational accent of a foreigner,'; and who was attired in naval uniform, called at the- Temperance Hotel at Rhoose and: ordered tea, bed, and breakfast. He gave the mime of Captain McCarthy, and i informed; the landlady (Mrs. Isaac) that if? had come to .'order rooms for a aumhei- of officers o£ a fleet of naval destroyers which were (.owing up channel, and would drop/ anchor ;in Barry Roads. The fleet would * remain in the channel for a week or two, and the officers desired to stay at a quiet placi--near the principal docks of the channel, and Rhooso had been selected for the purpose. :■;'■.;The mysterious visitor partook of tea and supper, and remained at ; the; hotel: over; night.i; : Mrs. Isaac, being ; satisfied as to the man's bona-fides;- meanwhile busied herself in arranging for the arrival of the naval officers, who would be her "paying guest"" for the coming week. * ■ \ , On tlbe Sunday morning Captain McCarthy inquired fori the address of a local clergyman, with the object of getting him to con- ■ duct a i service on board the flagship of "the, fleet iii .'■■ the' evening. After breakfast ■ha accordingly proceeded to a neighbouring' parson and; arranged for the: attendance of the clergyman at seven o'clock the sain* evening, the '■; fleet being expected i"at Fontigary Bay. Early in the afternoom the villagers got wind cf the affair, and there was considerable Kixcitement in ■'■.'. the:; neighbourhood;: Scores. of people, including farmers:; and others, flocked into Rhoose,in the evening to await the arrival of the destroyers. " Cap-/ tain McCarthy," having been out :for severs! hours during the : : day, : returned -to the Rhoose Hotel to tea.'and ;suddenly ;went ; out again between five and ? six o'clock. Shortly afterwards the clergyman: who ha«! been' asked to officiate called at the hotel to make inquiries as to the ;whereabouts 'at the phantom fleet, which, of course, had not. yen arrived, and this fact, coupled with the mysterious disappearance of Captain McCarthy, who has not since been seen or heard »i. in the neighbourhood, created ; for the first-time in the minds of th«; landlady and clergyman the impression that the whoiai affair was a hoax. "'The '"; matter was ; reported; to the polieeconstable at Rhoose, who made uiquirte* during the evening, only to find tlint: ■Obtain McCarthy", had gone as mysteriously as he tame to "rejoin his fleet."