MYSTERY OF ATLANTIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1921, Page 2

MYSTERY OF ATLANTIC.

SHIPS DISAPPEAR. SUGGESTION OF PIRACY ON HIGH SEAS. NO TRACES LEFT. A telegram sent out from Washington •recently stated that four United States Government departments are seriously and earnestly endeavoring to determine whether piracy on the high seas has actually' leaped out of the pages of early seafaring • history, recalling the bizarre days of “Morgan’s merry men,” amidst the sober realities of present-day ocean commerce. At least eight Atlantic freighters, wit'll the crew of a ninth; disappeared during the last few months ns completely as if the ocean had swallowed them, leaving : no trace, except in a single instance, in which a floating bottle contained, a message telling of the imprisonment of the crew of the American schooner Carroll A. Deering. This ship was afterwards found beached near the Cape Lookout lightship. There was no sign of life on board. The State Department, on June 21, made the following statement regarding this vessel: “On January 29 last, the American schooner Carroll A. Deering, sailing at the rate of about five miles per hour, passed the Cape Lookout lightship, North Carolina, and on January 31 was found a few miles north of that point in such a condition that there is every suspicin of foul play, having occurred. The vessel was bound from Rio de Janeiro to Norfolk (Virginia), in charge of Captain Wornell, an experienced and reliable navigator. After passing Cape Lookout the vessel was not seen till she was found wrecked. When passing, someone aboard the Carroll A. Deering hailed the lightship. He said the vessel had lost both anchors, and asked that the fact bo reported to the owners. Otherwise the ship appeared in good condition.

“Shortly afterwards, a steamer, the name of which has not been ascertained, which was was asked t'o take a message for transmission, but did not respond to the lightship master’s at’terupts to commiEnicate with her. “Nothing mote was heard of the Carroll A. Deering or the crew till April 11, when a bottle was found near Cape Hatteras. Il contained a message stating that the schooner had been captured by an oil-burning boat, something like a •chaser.’ Everything was taken off the ship, and the crew was handcuffed, having no chance of escape. The Carroll A. Deering carried a motor lifeboat and dory. have been traced since. The ship’s provisions—clothing and supplies—were mostly removed.”

Since November at least eight other vessels have disappeared on the Atlantic coast. Mahy others are long overdue, and are about to' be posted missing. Among the ships fruitlessly searched for are the following:— The Yute, a Spanish freighter, sailed from Baltimore to Dunkirk on November 14. She was las’t heard from when she wirelessed for help on November 17, 240 miles off the New Jersey Coast • The nature of her trouble is not stated.

The Albyn. a Russian barque, bound up coast in November. She was sighted and spoken by coastguards off the Capes. She has never been heard of since.

The Espenanzo Larrinago, a British steamer. She left Norfolk for Reggio on February 2. She has not been heard of since. The Oetiana, a British steamer. She sailed from Norfolk on February 2 for Manchester. She was spoken four days later by the steamer Dorington Court. She has not been heard of since.

The Cabedello, a British steamer. She left Norfolk on February 3. There has been no sign of her since. The Hewitt, an American steamer. She left Sabine. Texas, on January 20, sulphur-laden for New York. She was last sighted off the Jupiter Inlet, Florida. She has not been heard of since.