"GHOST SHIPS”

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1929, Page 28 (Supplement)

"GHOST SHIPS”

MYSTERIES OF THE SEAS. The captain of the Mexico, the Danish motor-ship, which has recently been searching for the missing training ship Kobenhavn, has reported a story related to him by the inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha that the Kobenhavn was sighted more than a quarter of a mile from the Tristan reef, with not a soul on board, and her helm unmanned. When it appeared that the ship would strike the reef, she turned mysteriously, drifted into a current, and disappeared into the mist. Thus the Kobenhavn may yet be added to the long list of mystery ships which have been found in every ocean of the world, remarks G. J. Matson, in an overseas journal. . In the West • Indian .waters a Dutch liner.fell in with a tramp steamer which was plainly not under Control. The' Hollanders came up alongside the vessel, and. when they boarded her, they found no living'thing except a large retriever, which was almost mad with terror. On inspection they discovered steam in the boilers, although shut off from the engine, and in the charthouse a pen-holder was stuck between the pages of the logbook. and the ink on its nib was not yet dry. As far as can be ascertained, however, there had been no fight or storm peril, but the mystery was added to by the fact that two lifeboats and a skiff were missing: A whaler from Peterhead once reported that it had sighted a weird-looking chip, badly battered and weatherworn, in the Barentz Sea. All her boats were gone, but when she was boarded the body of a young and very beautiful woman was found on the floor of the cabin, perfectly preserved by the intense cold. -Sitting close- to her was the body of a young man, also preserved, who still held a flint and steel, which he appeared to be striking. In another cabin a third body was found, but no facts ever came«to light which might help to solve the mystery. ■ What must be one of the most mysterious stories of all, however, is that which concerns a boat, sighted in 192'2, by the captain of the French sailing vessel, Emilie Galline. This captain was rounding the Horn when he encountered a field of icebergs;’and while creeping his wav into open waters again he suddenly came upon a gigantic berg which carried in a cleft on its summit and some 120 ft from the sea., a large three-masted vessel. The vessel appeared to be intact, and, although' none of its boats were missing, no human beings were sighted either on the ship or on the berg.