FAMOUS SEA MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19762, 8 October 1927, Page 14

FAMOUS SEA MYSTERY.

STORY OF THE MARIE CELESTE DISAPPEARANCE OF CREW. THEORY BASED ON FACTS. Half a century ago, the Marie Celeste was found in mid-Atlantic without a soul aboard and without damage or any other clue to show what tragedy had befallen her men. As a result of diligent researches, Mr. J. G. Lockhart has stripped away the legends that have gathered upon the actual facts of the mystery, and has propounded an explanation based only on the reality. The story and his explanation, as presented in a recently-pub-lished volume, were recently summarised in the Times. On the afternoon of December 5, 1872, the brig Dei Gratia, bound from New York to Gibraltar, commanded by Captain Morehouse, when about 130 miles from the coast of Portugal sighted the bngantine Marie Celeste sailing on the port tack, but with her jib and foretop-mast sail set on the starboard tack. Captain Morehouse and Captain Briggs, the master of the Marie Celeste, were old friends and had dined together in New York before the sailing of the Marie Celeste, which cleared a few days ahead of the Dei Gratia. Ten Days Without a Crew. Captain Morehouse saw at once that something was amiss. There was no one on board. He boarded the ship ' and searched it from stem to stern. Ihere was Nothing wrong anywhere. Hull, masts and yards were in good state, the cargo was properly stowed, there was no lack of food or water. In the forecastle the seamen's chests were untouched, and among the dunnage was some money. The cabin was in apple-pie order, and on the table was a slate on which were written notes for the log, showing November 25 as the date of the last entry. No sign of disorder anywhere, but every indication, from the trinkets and money left behind, that there had been great hurry to desert the ship. The captain s chronometer and the ship's papers, iVith the exception of the log-book, were missing. In the log-book the last entry -hs November 24. The slate recorded that at 8 a.m. on November 25 the Marie Celeste was passing north of the island of banta Maria, in the Azores. For ten- days she held her course for 750 miles, unsteered, to the point where the Dei Gratia found her. Captain Morehouse continued his voyage to Gibraltar, taking the mystery ship with him. Ten People Lost Without Trace. Some other discoveries must be mentioned. Two of them, as Mr. Lockhart shows, are without real significance, but they have misled many writers. One of the hatches over the hold had been displaced and lay, wrong side up, close to the hatchway it had covered. A cutlass was found with stains upon it, which suggested that it might have been smeared with blood and afterwards wiped. Near the displaced hatch were some small marks which looked like spots of blood. On either side of the bows of, the ship, two or three feet above the waterline, were curious cuts, which appeared to have been made intentionally. One of the barrels of alcohol in the hold had been started. Two further points, and they are important to remember in considering theories and faked stories by long-lost marines, are that official records show that from the time the ,Marie Celeste left New York till her discovery there were no gales on her route, the weather, indeed, being exceptionally fine for the time of year, and that everyone who examined the nhip at Gibraltar agreed she was perfectly staunch and strong. Captain Briggs "vas accompanied by ni3 wife and their daughter, aged two. In addition, the Mai ie Celeste carried a crew of seven men. Not one of those ten people was ever heard of again. Ship's Boat Used in Flight. Two questions are always asked: (1) Why was the Marie Celeste abandoned! (2) How was she abandoned? Every writer on the subject and every teller of faked stories has assumed that the boats were hanging to the davits when the ship was found. Mr. Lockhart establishes that there is no mystery concerning the means of departure. The crew left by the ship's boat Captain Morehouse and the mate observed at once that the boat was missing and that the davits were swung out' with trailing ropes. Other' legends have to go. The cuts on the bows have no significance. The stains on the cutlass were proved not to be bloodstains. The spo s on the deck were too small to be of co nsequence. Then why was the ship abandoned so precipitately ? Mr. Lockhart, going back to a statement made by one of the owners at the time, thi iks the clue may be found in the caigo, which consisted of 17! 0 barrels of alcohol. Gases generated frc .n one of the birrels may have caused an explosion, which overturned the hatch. Im igining there was danger of the whole car o exploding, the crew departed in pai c Possiblv the boat capsized in the hur:ied launching and all were drowned; or iev got as far as they could from the peri oiis ship, which, the wind suddenly fres ening, ran away from them. It is poss ble to conjecture at random on their fate.