Show NAUTICAL NOVELTIES strange tales of the deep what becomes of the ships missing at sea and taking all hands and the ships cook with them there are r L a any ny number of explanations bu but t when a vessel so disappears without leaving so much as a burnt of grating on the th match or a piece surface of the sea to indicate indica te her last position the mystery is complete explosions are believed to be the cause of many strange disappearances of oil tankers such as the S S golden shell which vanished in the caribbean sea in 1923 she was on en route from los angeles angels to no now york but to this day has not arrived sailing ships under incompetent commands sometimes carried too much canvas in the winds ivings and capsized or were disman dismantled tied and left tu to float hopelessly and heedlessly until rescue came or the ship went ashore on sume some lonely reef sometimes a few survivors live to toll tell the tale sometimes not such is the strange story of the barkentine which vanished at sea in 1908 1903 while from san francisco to sidney australia I 1 for or a long time the owners waited for word from her when at last they had given up all hope and lloyds had crossed off overdue on the register and was about to inscribe in its place missing with all hands a bedraggled group of men in tattered clothes and with horror and suffering written indelibly in their eyes arrived on planning flanning island in the south pacific in a small open boat they told how the had been shipwrecked on a small reef on christmas island the ship was a total loss and could not be patched up and put to sea again christmas island was far from the steamer lanes and never a sail was sighted the tha crew lived in robinson crusoe fashion for years one day the mate becoming desperate gathered about him the strongest and most fearless of the survivors check ed a few tropical fruits and a keg of water in the boat and set out with empty stomachs dry tongues and hopeful hearts for rescue they made it gold laden ship the U S S louisville certainly had a gold filling when she docked at the navy yard in new york last january A terse navy treasury treasur y statement announced that the louis ville brought a sum of gold which the united states had purchased from south africa it was not announced officially how much gold was aboard but it is generally understood der stood to have been in the neighborhood of hawaiian oddities both king and his queen died in great britain they had journeyed there on a british warship seeking protection of the british hag flag when both were overcome with measles |