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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1931-11-20, Page 60-4 found a last entry, dated November 24th. The hoardiug party then saw a strange sight in the cabin. AA the six windows had been battened uP with planking. ' No food or drink was on the table, and it looked as though the officers had abandoned the ship in hot haste. Not a crack appeared in the paint or planks of the "Mary Celeste,„1; and if she had met bad wea- ther, why did a phial of sewing ma- chine oil stand upright by a reel of cotton and a thimble? Would not the rough seas have spilled that oil? ,Why too, were the harmonium, music and books in the captain's cabin dry and uninjured? The perplexed captain of the "Dei Gratia" ordered the mate and two of the crew of his ship to take the derelict into Gibraltar, which they reached on December 13th. The British naval authorities were confronted with a marine riddle such as the oldest and most experienced man among them had not heard or read of. When their sea -sleuths ex- amined the logs pf the "Mary Cel- este" and the "Dei Gratia," they were surprised by a remarkable circum- stance. 'Between November 25th and December 5th, when the "Mary Cel- este" apparently was abandoned by her crew and she was actually sight- ed by the "Dei Gratia," the derelict ship seems to have held on her course for ten days, with no one at the helm. Now, the distance of the longitude of the place where the "Mary Celeste" was found, from that of the island of Santa Maria, is equal approximately to 507 land miles. "It appears al- most impossible," says the admiralty experts at Gibraltar. "that the dere- lict should have compassed within the same time a distance of 9:54 degrees eastwards, ail all events on the star- board tack, upon which she was met by the "Dei Gratia," when the log of the "Dei Gratia" shows that the wind v:as, blowing frasn the north all that time." Stripped of its nautical technicalities, this seems to mean that during those ten days the position of the sails of the "Celeste" must have been altered by someone. The keen intelligence of Sally Flood, Queen Victoria's proctor and Vice -Admiralty representative at Gibraltar, had been following alleged bloodstains on the deck of the "Mary Celeste," and on a sword found in the cabin, with the result that Oliver Deveau mate of the "Dei Gratia" was severely cross-examined about these Solly Flood: "Have you any opin- ion to offer the Court as to the origin of the blood -stains on the deck?" Oliver Deveau: "I noticed no trac- es of blood on deck. We never wash- ed or scraped the decks of the "Mary Celeste." The sea washed aver the decks." Solly Flood: "Salt water contains chloric acid which dissolves the part- icles of blood." Oliver Deveau: "If there are some parts of the deck or rail scraped, I did not notice them and they were not done while we were on board." Not a new coal but your old favorite D. L. & W. Scranton Anthracite. YOUR FAVORITE ANTHRACITE DEFINITELY tiade marked FOR YOUR PROTECTION Sold in Seaforth by J. J. Sclater HER FAT HAD TO G Activfty Melted it The Mystery of The "Mary Celeste" There is alwayS something peculiar about a mystery of the sea, particu- larly in a case where a criminologist has set himself to solve a problem. Yet, of all 'the skeletons in the cup- board of that mystery -spirit, Davy Jones mariner, nothing is stranger thari the riddle of the fate of the of- ficers and crew of the world-famous American derelict brig °Mary Cel -1 este." Fifty-eight years ago this staunch ship was found derelict in the North , Atlantic. She had left New 'York , for Genoa, Italy, on November 7th, KEEP TFIE Children Healthy ' When they're "off colour" give , them Dr. Carter's all vegetable Little Liver Fdls. Safe, acting gently on the bowels and liver, they soon bring back smiles and lug' b. spirits that healthy young- sters should show. 25c IS& 75c red packages Ask your druggist for 1872, freighted 'with alcohol. The captain, Benjamin S. Briggs, an Am- erican citizen, svaS part-owner of the ship, with James H. Winchester, a New York shipowner; and aboard on the last fateful trip were the captain's bert C. Richardson, the second mate the steward, and a crew of four Ger- man seamen. For about seventeen days, the ship held on her course across the Atlan- tic till, at 8 a.m. on November 25th, somebody wrote on the deck slate log that she pasied to the north of the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores Then something strange happened which caused the "Mary Celeste" to be hastily abandoned by all aboard. Twelve days after this last entry 'on the ship's records, the British brig "Dei Gratia," Captain Morehouse skipper, bound from New York to Gibraltar for orders, sighted a strange ship sailing in so erratic a fashion that Morehouse decided to hail her. He signaled,' but there was no answer. "I reckon she's a derelict," he said to the mate, Oliver Deveau, and ordered him and two seamen to go aboard and investigate. When the boat •got un- der the ship's counter, they read the name "Mary Celeste." They climbed aboard and searched the ship thor- oughly. Not a soul was to be found She seemed seaworthy, had plenty of food and water, but no papers. The mate examined the ship's log book and • Exercise is the enemy of fat. if you are overburdened with superfluous flesh, call up reserves o1 energy to fight it. Do as this lady did :— " During the past six months, I have made steady improvement whilst taking Kruschen Salts. I have lreduced 28 lbs, in weight during that period, and have benefited greatly from greater agility and liveliness --all directly attributable to that famous preparation."—Mrs. W. P. You can take off fat with -Kruschen Salts if you will take one-half teaspoon in hot water every morning before breakfast, modify your diet and exercise regularly. While you are losing fat you will be gaining in energy—in endurance—in ambition. Your skin will grow clearer, and your eyes will sparkle with the good health that Kruschen brings. The old arm chair won't hold you any more—you'll want to be up and doing— ou'll enjoy work and active recreation and you'll sleep like a top. You'll lone fat, and probably live years longer. is not listed in the city directory'." What is the possible solution of this mystery? To a modern polica scientist it must seem strange that the authorities at Gibraltar did not set in motion legal machinery which would have led to the arrest of the captain, mate and crew of the "Dei Gratia"! Why, for example,, should a re- spectable seafaring man need to sail under an alias? Captain D. T. More- house, of the "Dei Gratia," was called "Boyce" by the owner of the "Mary Celeste," James AHI. Winchester, of New York, who must have known that "Boyce" was•.IMorehouse. It, also, is curious that the same "mistake" was made by a 'Captain Parsons who, in the New York Maritime Exchange Bulletin of August, 19.13, said he had a chat, "a year or two later than 1872," with D. T. Morehouse, master of the "Dei Gratia," whom .he met at Havana, Cuba, but whom he strange- ly calls "Boyce"! Why, also should the mate of the "Dei Gratia," Oliver Deveau, twice have destroyed import- ant evidence found on the "Mary Cel- este"? He made away with the mys- terious "vessel," for which he was severely censured by the British judge and evidently he cleaned with lemon the supposed blood marks on the sword aboard the "Mary Celeste." These do .not look like the unthinking actions of a seaman innocent and tot- ally igndrant of the requirements of courts of law and justice. Then, again, he told the court at Gibraltar, that the "Dei Gratia" left the port of New York on November 15, 1872, or eight days after the de- parture of the "Mary Celeste"; but `I have recently received from a New England port a remarkable letter from the surviving sister of the mate of the "Mary Celeste," who says: "I am the sister of Albert G. Rich- ardson, first officer of the 'Mary Cel- este.' "The last log of the Wary Celeste was November 24, 1872. The weather was fair, and no premonition of trou- ble was mentioned. Where the log is now I am unable to say. The mystery will never be solved, as the only people who could throw any light .on the tragedy are the crew of the Dei Gratia,' and they have disap peared. "Did it ever occur to you that they were responsible? The 'Dei Gratia' lay alongside the 'Mary Celeste' in New York City. She sailed ten days before the 'Mary Celeste,' yet was waiting for her and towed her to Gibraltar claiming the salvage money. Where had the 'Dei Gratia' been all the time? The weather had been fair and she should have been far 'ahead. "The crew of the 'Mary Celeste' were foully murdered. By somemeans they were decoyed to the other ves- sel, or part of them, then the exterm.- ination of the rest was easy as they carried nofirearms for protection. I am firmly convinced that is the solu- tion of the' mystery. "Capt. Briggs and my brother were first-class sailors and would never have left their ships unless compelled by force. If they 'took to the boat, and then saw their error,* some of them would have returned. Albert was a wonderful swimmer, and if ' I some of the crew of the `Dei Gratia' could board the ship, so could they." *This refers to the conjecture that, frightened by the explosion of bar- rels of alcohol in the hold, the cap- tain and crew of the "Mary Celeste" took to the one boat, and when the ship remained undamaged, were, un- able to regain her•deck, because the wind filled her sails and she drew rap- idly away from them. I Sally Flood: "Did you pick up a sword aboard the 'Mary Celeste'?" Oliver Deveau: "I saw a sword on board the vessel. I found that sword under the captain's berth. There was nothing remarkable on it, and I don't think there is anything remarkable about it now. I think I put it back where I found it or somewhere near." Solly Flood: "The sword has been cleaned with lemon, which has cover- ed it with citrate of iron, which has destroyed the marks of' the supposed blood, which therefore is not blood at all as at first supposed, but an- other substance put there to disguise the original marks of the blood which were once there." When the salvage award was made at Gibraltar on March 14, 1873, two curious incidents occurred. The first is that, in awarding to the salvors the sum of $8,500, the Jndge severely censured the conduct of th emaster of the "Dei Gratia" in allowing his mate Oliver Deveau to do away with the vessel which had rendered necessary the analysis of the supposed blood- stains on the deck and sword of the "Mary Celeste." I have not been able to find anything. in the transcript of the evidence in the archives of the Supreme Court at Gibraltar throwing light on the meaning of the Judge's words. The other fact is that, three weeks after the date of the award, the British Judge at Gibraltar or the Vice - Admiralty proctor refused to let Mx. Sprague, the Consul for the United States, ywho was reporting the case to Washington, have a copy of the analysis of the supposed bloodstains. Then what about the character of the crew of the "Mary Celeste?" While the inquiry was going forward at Gibraltar, Consul Sprague received a letter from a German official who wrote, "I know three of the sailors personally; they are peaceable and first-class sailors." Mrs. D. T. More- house, wife of the captain of the "Dei Gratia," wrote a letter to -the Boston (Ma.) Herald in October, 1929, say- ing that her husband and Captain Briggs were "good honest men, as al- so was the mate Oliver Deveau." Her letter was written from Buffalo, N.Y., and it is a little curious that I should have before me a letter from the United States Postmaster at Buffalo N.Y., stating that "this office has no record of her address, and her name manUal effort of the driver. In contrast with this condition the designer would create a car'which would requike only two things of the driver. These would be steering—in Which he' would be helped by the fact that power from the engine would turn the whee14—and starting and stopping. There would be no gears to shift at all and no brakes to apply in the conventional manner. The engine would .provide every bit of power for all operations. It would have suffi- cient flexibility to `move the car from a standstill to a speed of 75 miles an hour without any gearshift- ing. To stop it, all the driver would have to do would be to reverse the engine's flow of power from pulling to retarding. There would be no choke to oper- ate. That would be dune automatic- ally—as it already has been proved somewhat simple to do. There would be no starter switch to press or pull. All the motorist would be required to do would be to turn a key. Even doors would not have to be opened in the regular way. The de- signer would connect them up with the electrical sytstem of ,the car and have them open and close upon the mere pressure of a button. When closed, the doors would automatically lock. Even the temperature of the car body could be regulated automatically to a large extent, this designer feels. It would be a matter of applying the thermostat idea which controls the present-day radiator shutters to the ventilators and car windows, he points out. Is this dream of an ideal car utter- ly impractical? As it is outlined, there apparently is but one difficult detail to work out. That is the opinion of quite a number of authorities. The difficult feature is that of giving the engine the de- gree of flexibility that will permit it to govern deceleration of the vehicle as positively and easily as it now con- trols its forward motion. Elven that is not impossible though no practical method of achieving it seems available at present. As for the other features of this particular ideal automobile, it is merely a matter of extending present principles to include other parts of the machine without increasing its cost. Here's a Little Story For Retailers. • AYOUNG tailor complained bit- terly about his poor business. "I make just as good clothes as 's do," he said, "and I sell them for less, yet 's get most* of the business of this district." This young tailor felt that men ought to find all about him—that they should search him out. He 'didn't see that it was his job to make known to all men the fact that he made good clothes and sold them at attractive advertised their business, and, of course, men went to them for their clothes. Oh It's the same all the world over— buyers go where they are invited to • go. They buy, in largest numbers, from those who give them informa- tion about their business, service, goods, prices. This is exactly as it should be. Why shouldn't the Most aggressive seller get most business? The world likes to buy from keen sellers—from retailers who pay them the compliment of telling them about what they have to sell and about their desire for their custom. Dumb retailers may be fine men, - may give good, values, may be first- class „store keepers, but the buying Public prefers to go where advertise- ments in their Newspapers direct them to go. • The wise retailer runs his business in line with what buYers want, because it is profitable to do so. It costs a retailer for more not to advertise than to advertise. the tallith of a Serino wined by the Ca adian-Weefily Newspapers AsSociation of which The Huron Expositor is a member. ►arhng Whata•care is, but bow pre - clouts t Your whole life is CeaPA tredinhum..- If he is to be well and happy, he must be strong, and robust. Baby's dW Tablets help mothers to keep tbeir children well. Whey are the ideal laxative for children , --a simpie and safe preventive, and a remedy for colds, simple fever, indi- gestion and consti ation. They aid in relieving the distress which aceom'- ponies the cutting of teeth and gener- ally promgte the health and comfort: of children. 25 cents a package at any druggist's. BABY'S OWN TABLETS (Dr. Williams') 175 Farmers Can Profit Feeding Beef Cattle Reasonable buying -in prices com bine with a cheap and plentiful sup ply of feed at the present time to form a strong argument in favour o the feeding of beef cattle by farmers ing • Dominion Animal Husbandman a Ottawa. Both -in the domestic and expont market the past year has dem onstrated conclusively that there is•.a big desnarid for well finished cattle of suitable beef type and weight. Mr Muir summarizes the present situa tion lsy pointing out: (1) Although cattle prices are comparatively low, fed calves, year ling arid two-year-old steers, proper ly finished have demonstrated that they can turn our present ,plentifu and otherwise unmarketable coarse grains. into a reasonable profit. (2) Well finished young cattle command a premium on the home and export market and never lack a sale (3) Well finished young cattle have sold on the British market at prices equal to those paid for the best home-grown stack. (4) Western conditions are highly favourable to the production of fed calves and srarlings. (5) Eastern conditions favour the finishing of steers at eighteen months u p„to two years. (6) The age limit for profitable feeding is two years. (7) Outdoor feeding is generally practicable; and that barley, oats and bran put on fast gains, as much as two pounds per day being easily pos- • (8) And that the market is con- stantly bare of deep, well finished cattle, in strongest demand rto-day, and there is a profit in catering to the market preference for these. No Gearshifts or Brakes In Engineer's Ideal Car Men who design motor ears are nev- er more interesting in their conversa- tion than when they start talking a- bout their ideal automobiles. All of them, it seems, have a very definite vision of what constitutes such a mot - The one with whom the writer most recently discussed the subject centres his ideal in the car that will achieve all other virtues through being much easier to drive. For the present auto- mobile's performanee and all-round. abilitiea there were only 'Words of praise save with respect to one thing —that the ear was not as simple to operate as might be hoped. It is criticized as having too many controls to handle and too many tad. gets that demand the attention arid cars come to grief, ours is likely to, escape. We all like to ride with our faces toward the engine—in some cas- es, no doubt, because riding backward makes us ill, but even more frequent- ly from sheer force of habit. We ail carry books or papers to help pass the time when the beauties of nature pall an us. We all choose the shady side of a ear in summer and the sun- ny side in winter. In travelling front one place to another, if we should happen to alight at a wayside station our inclination for ever after is to get off at the same place. The signs placed in some stations reading "'Foi- 1 ow the Crowd" are of very little val- ue, since you will naturally do so in any case, just as you will yawn un- consciously if your neighbour in the car does. As yOur near your destination you will prepare for alighting some ten minutes ahead of time, just as every- one else does who intends to get off at the sarne'station, or as the crowd in a theatre all begin to put on their wraps during the last act. It is mit that there is anything interesting in standing up in the aisle with a heavy valise in each hand, wedged in among a crowd of other hot, impatient hu- mans like yourself, unable to move an inch backward or forward, but rather that it seems to be of an exaggerated importance whether you get out of that car at 6.15 or 6.16. The haste may have any one of three explana- tions: the modern idea of proress is never to stand still, always to be go- ing somewhere and doing something; the desire to get away from the me- chanical, of which we have never quite overcome our fear; or lastly, the rarest of all, that there is a real value in the extra minute OT two that we save in that way. Strange, too, how easily we make acquaintances on a train or boat. 1+Io one feels the need crf an introduction here, and from the moment a perfect stranger sits down beside you with a smile, which as a rule you return, you feel a sort of warm human friend - Travel Psychology • Except among the nomad tribes, to whom wandering about is a normal manner of living, travelling has al- ways been something of a mystery and a danger to man. For our far-off ancestors,taking a trip was a serious matter: the roads were far from safe, and travel by wa- ter had its own peculiar dan.gers. One felt that one was risking one's life and liberty: danger of attacks by brig- ands, assassins, torturers, thieves slavers, were added to the 'very rea peril of storms and rapids on water. 'In those days men propitiated the gods with sacrifices and purifying ceremonies. On no account must one set out on a journey on an unlucky day. It would be better to stay at home than to attempt the Fates by going after a hare has crossed your path. These and countless other re- structions made of even a holiday a tremendous occasion. And after all, we have not left our ancestors so very far behind. The morning of our journey our prayers are especially fervent, not only far our own safety but for the loved ones we are leaving behind. Having pro- piatiated the God of our day, we, anxiously examine the weather. In our modern rainproof carriages, the question of rain or sun is of little moment, but we still hark back to the days when open vehicles meant an uncomfortable drenching. By the way, is this Friday? Then, of course there will be no trip to -day. Friday is notoriously unlucky, and the rec- ords of railway companies go to prove that many people are influenced by that fact. Nor will we go on Satur- day if we intend to stay any length of time, or if we are mowing, for "a Saturday flitting is not long sitting.' Jn packing our valises, how careful we are not to forget anything of im- portance, 'A few years ago it would not have been possible to have had it sent after us, and the fear is still with us. Then how many there are who refuse to open a trunk which has once been erased no matter how important the reason. When the moment of departure at length arrives, let us not leave the house until we are absolutely sure we have everything, for if we are forced to return, we dare not set Out again unless we first sit down and count twenty. Yet the people who have missed their trains on account of this have not considered themselves lucky. Once on our way, we are' in an ex- cited but happy,,strate of mind, unless a black cat has the extremely bad taste to cross our path. Then, nat- urally, we simply mustNalk around the block to avoid the evil that will curely follow. It is quite as unfortu- nate if we chance to meet a cross- eyed man or a hunchback, Should either of these be ofthe feminine sex the journey might as well be given up for that day. Man is a gregarious animal, and he has never lost the feeling of security that the old caravan method of trav- elling gave him. Then there was in- deed safety in numbers. To -day most of us still feel safer in a crowd, es- pecially when on a journey. Notice how people will cram into the one car, and as near to the, centre of that as possible. Families, no matter how numerous, would not take a king- dom and be separated, even though the compartment they are using Was not intended for more than three or four at the most. On steamboats, eV- eryone rushes for the centre of the boat, enduring the noise and discom- fort stoically, while at either end of the vessel thoge unique souls who have outgrown those ancient ideas are enjoying the delight and 'peace that plenty of room and perfect quiet, ness bring. It is strange how quickly we forin habits, and how almost exactly alike many of Us are when we are travel- ling. We all halve baggage, some of which we carry with us, and some of which we check. Vle ail choose the centre of the -train, in thn fond be. liek that WliSther the front or the rear liness creeping over you, and unless you are careful, you find yourself tell- ing him things you wonld not tell your best friend. Stories told by your fellow -travellers never bore you as they would anywhere else. You listen with real interest to tales of coun- tries and cities you hsiVe never seen told by someone who poses as a much -travelled man. In disputes with the conductor or any of the em- ployees, all the passengers cling to- gether like the members of a brother- hood. There is an unspoken but wholehearted rivalry between the travellers in one tra,in and those in an6ther, even _sometimes' between one car and another. In other words, you conceive a love for your train. And, at the end of your journey, how quickly you forget all you saw and heard. You forget the names and races of your fellow -travellers, and you have the comfort of knowing that whatever indiscreet confidences you made to them, they, too, probably for- got all about you and what you told them within ten minutes of the time they left the train. The entire trip with all its manifold impressions—its swift friendships, its discomforts, its beauties—it all vanishes as if it had never been. Doubly sensible, then, are the people who remain quietly at home content with the simple but last- ing joys of their own fireplaces and meditate on the wise old saying:— Though you should travel to the ends of the earth, you will never really see the earth, the plants, the air and the Water. ir •