SEA MYSTERY

Evening Star, Issue 22444, 15 September 1936, Page 3

SEA MYSTERY

LOST SAILING SHIP TWO STRANGE STORIES Of all the mysteries of the sea none has been more peculiar or puzzling than that of the Scottish sailing ship Marlborough, which left Lyttelton, for England on January 11, 1890, with a cargo of frozen meat and wool and went missing. The actual fate of the vessel will probably never be known, although two remarkable stories have been recorded about her. When the Marlborough set out on her last voyage she had a crew of 29 and one passenger. She was a handsome ship of 1,124 tons, and when she was lost she was under the command of Captain W. Herd, Two days after leaving port the Marlborough was spoken by a passing vessel and she was never heard of afterwards. The ship was subsequently posted at Lloyd’s as “ missing.” One of the strange stories concerning the fate of the Marlborough was recently revived in an American publication. This version is that in November, 1913, the British sailing ship Johnston, homeward bound from New Zealand, sighted what appeared to be a schooner, with its sails floating in the wind, off the coast of Chile, near Punta Arenas. The commander of the Johnston signalled her, and when he received no response, ho ordered his ship about and approached the vessel. As tho two ships neared each other, the men on the Johnston observed that the masts and sails of the other craft were covered with some kind of green moss, and the vessel appeared to have been abandoned by her crew. Upon boarding it, the skeleton of a man was discovered beneath the helm. Tho deck was decayed to such an extent that it gave way under the weight of the searchers. Three more skeletons were found near the hatchway; there were 10 skeletons in the crew’s quarters and six more on the bridge. “ There was an uncanny stillness around, and a dank smell of mould which made the flesh creep,” reported the captain of the Johnston. Upon the battered prow of the vessel tho words “ Marlborough, Glasgow,” could still be made out. If this story is authentic, tho Marlborough must have been cruising about the seas for 23 years with a literal skeleton crew. Another story, which came to light many years after the happening, was told by an American pilot; He said that in his youth he was wrecked off Staten Island, and while searching for a whaling station he and the only other survivor, came across, in a cove, a large ship with painted ports. Nearby were the skeletons of 20 men, and large heaps of shellfish provided mute evidence of the crew’s vain attempt to fight off the starvation which apparently _ overtook them. The pilot said he distinctly saw tho name “ Marlborough ” on the wreck.