MYSTERY OF THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 32, 7 February 1913, Page 7

MYSTERY OF THE SEA

ABANDONED VESSEL IN MIDATLANTIC ALL SAILS SET AND UNDAMAGED PICKED UP, BUT LOST I» A GALE. »y Teleitrftph.-PrM* AttoclaUon.-Copyflthl, (Received February 7, 11.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, 6th February. Captain Claridge, of the steamer Roumanian, reports the loss of the Norwegian schooner Remittent. He found the barque with all sails set and undamaged in mid-Atlantic. There was no trace of a single soul on board, although evidently the vessel had only been vacated a few hours when found. Captain Claridge took the Remittent in tow, but lost her * during a terrific gale. : It is not known if she foundered. ! Captain Claridge's story was disbe« lieved at first, but afterwards he substantiated it. The case recalls that of the Marie Celeste. The Remittent is a steel three-masted schooner, 390 tons, built in 1897. The steamer Roumanian, 4906 tons, is owned by the Petroleum Steam Ship Company. One of the strangest of all sea mye^ teries, the one concerning which old sailors are never tired of theorising, is that involving the fate of the passengers and crew of the Marie Celeste. This fine clipper-built ship was • spoken in mid-Atlantic on 4th December, 1875, by the captain of the Highlander, and reported all well. The two vessels sal- I uted and parted. Two days after she was again hailed by a different craft, but this time there was no response whatever. As she appeared to be all spick and span, with sails set and everything in order, the captain of the hail* i! ing vessel was, not unnaturally, considerably puzzled. Altering his course, he ran his ship close under the lee oi the Marie Celeste, and sent a boarding party to investigate. The result was astonishing as it was inexplicable. Not a soul was found, either above or between decks ; yet the vessel was perfectly seaworthy, the cargo was well stowed and ih good condition, and even the brass work appeared te have been just recontly polished. Moreover, in the saloon was a cold luncheon set ready far the passengers, and the steward's pantry showed that preparations for an evening nieal were well advanced. Evidently, too, the derelict had not en-cc-untered heavy weather, for a phial of medicine stood upright on the table. of the captain's cabitt. The personal effects of officers, crew and passengers F were undisturbed, and the investigators noted that not a single boat was missing. More than 30 years have elapsed since then, but of the one hundred odd persons that were indubitably on board the Marie Celeste on 4th December, 1876, and who were as certainly not on her on the 6th, no trace has ever been iound. Apparently they vanished into thin air, like so many ghosts. Yet, of course, this is ridiculous. Somehow they left, or were decoyed away. But under what means no one knows, no one can even guess, and their ultimate fate is enwrapped in an equally impenetrable mystery.