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I
9S7.7
the Marie Celeste
Ck
How the
Brig
“Celeste”
Rolled
Heavily in
the Sea
and
Tore Open
the Casks
of*
Alcohol in
Hej; Cargo.
By Capt. E. K. Roden,
Nautical Expert of the I. C. S.
T HE story published in the Strand Magazine
pretending to explain the mysterious abandon-
merit of the brig Marie Celeste near the Azores
! in 1873 is as ridiculous and preposterous a yarn as has
j ever come to my notice. According to the solution
| given, one of the “survivors” of the crew of the Marie
| Celeste, in notes found after his death and jufet now
j come to light through the enterprise of an Oxford
| scholar, Captain Briggs, of the Marie Celeste, became
daffy” as a result of rough weather encountered after
[leaving New York.
W hat particular reason the skipper had to “turn queer”
I because of bad weather is not stated. Bad weather is
a condition generally met with at sha, and is always
dealt with as a matter of course, and -no seaman, least
| of all a commander, ever pays but passing attention
to it. With a stanch hull, strong rig, and plenty of
I searoom such as that occupied by Marie Celeste one
week out from New York, it is not clear why bad
weather should affect the captain in such a way
I as it did
However, the captain went queer and persisted in re-
| maining queer for the rest ol the trip. His idea to
build, in the forward pan of the brig just aft of the
catheads, a bridge or gangway running atftwartship for
his flve-year-old daughter must be attributed to his
mental condition. No sane man would ever put a bridge
in such an exposed position where jibsheets with heavy
blocks are flapping backend forth on the slightest luff
ing to the wind of the brig. Whatever the degree of
daffiness on the part oi the skipper of the Marie Celeste,
he certainly never ordered swell a bridge to be built,
or, if he did, his two mates would surely have prevented
the crew from carrying out the order a .being a bin
drance to the manoeuvring of the brig.
The skipper’s subsequent suggestion to his mate to
swim alongside the brig with .their clothes on, and the
following out of this scheme by a number of the men,
plainly indicates, if the story is to be believed, that the
entire ship’s company was daffy, or in a state bordering
i on daffiness. The upsetting of the bridge and the
dumping into the sea afterward of the remaining crew
The Manifest Absurdity of the Recent
Pretended Explanation Pointed
Out by Capt.- Roden
and the captain's wife and child while they were wutch
ffig the swimming race of the skipper and his crazy
companions is a piece of imagination entirely too
bulky to be swallowed even by a most phlegmatic Kan
sas farmhand who never saw a vessel in his life.
To complete appropriately the stage setting, sharks
had to be introduced, and the author of the story has
seen to it that there were plenty of these man-eating
monsters to devour ten times the crew carried by the
Marie Celeste. Of course, the sharks did their work
well and had the vicinity of the brig cleaned up within
a short time, except for the survivor, Abel Fosdyk. This
worthy individual, unaffected by the daffiness of Cap
tain Briggs and the rest of the crew, smartly dodged
the sharks and seated himself comfortably on ike upset
bridge, calmly awaiting developments. Here the story
Suddenly ends, with the cheerful information that
Fosdyk was lucked up by a “boat” and later on safely
landed, but no details are given.
Of ail fanciful accounts written to explain the aban
donment of the Marie Celeste, this story is by far the
most clumsy and ridiculous eveh penned. How this
man Fosdyk could be picked up by a passing vessel
without the captain of this ship reporting the fact is
beyond the comprehension of the average man. Even
if Fosdyk himself had reason to hide his identity, the
crew and officers of the rescuing vessel certainly were
not bound to keep secret the story that a man and raft'
bad been picked up iicthe vicinity where Marie Celeste
was discovered crewless.
The true account of the Marie Celeste’s abandonment
is clear and simple, and requires no imagination to ex
plain. 1 have gone to. some little trouble in ascertain
ing the records in the case, and here is the whole story
fold in a few. lines:
It will be recalled that Marie Celeste w’as bound for
Genoa from New York with a cargo of alcohol in casks
According to the principal owner of the brig, Captain
1. H. Winchester, who recently died in Rahway, N. J.,
she was chartered to Meisner. Aekermann & Co., of New
York, to carry alcohol to Italy. Captain B. S. Briggs, of
Marion, Mass., was her master, and he took along his
Wife and young baby. Albert G. Richardson, of Stock-
ton, Me., was her mate, and Albert Gilling, of New York,
her second mate, while her crew was composed of Ed
ward William Head. oV New York; Volkert Lorenzer,
Alien Hardens, B. Lorenzer and Gottlieb Goodshood, all
of Germany. No such name as Abel Fosdyk appeared
on her shipping articles.
One of the stevedores who loaded the Mane
Celeste in Brooklyn was a Swede by the name of Mud
berg, who at the present time resides in Gothenburg,
Sweden. A few years ago this man, in speaking to me
about the brig, said that for want of ample time the
casks were not properly stowed, and that in case of
heavy rolling they might work loose. This fact was
known to Captain Briggs, but he did not auach much
importance to it, being anxious to get started on the
voyage, and depended on the usual good weather pre
vailing during that time of the year to make a quick
passage.
By the records of other vessels traversing the North
Atlantic at the same time as the Marie Celeste, she ran
into heavy weather, and her cargo, being poorly stowed,
began to shift, and naturally some of the casks were
smashed. Coming into fine weather with high tempera
ture. the fumes from the spilled alcohol naturally began
to expand in the hold. As the pressure increased with
the expanding vapor, it blew off the fore hatch, sending
up from below gases resembling smoke, that naturally
led the crew to believe the brig was on fire.
Captain Briggs, realizing the explosive nature of the
brig’s cargo, took no chance of being blown up with the
crew, and no doubt at once ordered all hands to take to
the boat, carrying along the chronometer^ ship's papers
an<J such other necessities as could be reached in the
short time available. His intention was evidently to
stand by at a safe distance from the brig waiting for a
chance to he picked up by a passing vessel, or to return
to the brig after a reasonable time had elapsed and the
danger of explosion was over. As there was no time
to belay the sails before leaving, a breeze most likely
sprung up and made the brig drift, or run before the
Wind, faster than the men in the bout could row to
>llow her, and, consequently, the boat and brig were
/separated.
This, in all probability, happened during the night
following the abandonment of the brig. The rest of the
story is brief. The Marie Celeste was overhauled nine
days later by the British bark Dei Gratia, but the
boat with Captain Briggs, his wife, child and crew, did
not coine within sight of any passing vessel. They, like
many others who, by stress of circumstances, are forced
to take an open boat in less frequented regions of the
sea, perished, let us hope, by the swamping of the boat.
The fact that Marie Celeste had been abandoned for
fear of being blown up is shown by ail circumstances
surrounding the case. When hoarded by Captain Boyce,
of the Dei Gratia, the fore hatch was found open, and
one boat gone, but the cargo was undisturbed and in
good condition. The spilled alcohol by that time had
had a chance to evaporate and escape through the hatch
opening and everything looked normal. The evidence
elsewhere about the deck and cabin showing the great
haste in which the crew had left is but a confirmation
of the fear entertained by Captain Briggs that his ship
was in immediate danger of being blown up, and on
this account was abandoning his ship.
No amount of imagination or speculative writing can
upset the soundness of. this reasoning. The writer is
perfectly willing to stake his reputation as a seaman
and navigator as to its correctness. No professional
seaman will contradict this explanation after having
looked into all circumstances surrounding the case, and
there should be no mysterious or supernatural element
at all about finding the brig without a crew, but other
wise in good condition.
Everj- available evidence points to the fact that the
Marie Celeste was abandoned for fear of an explosion
of her cargo of alcohol, which did not take place, and
her crew, drifting about, failed to get within sight of a
sueeoring ship.
Hepirlntfil from sirand Manta* Ine.
The Imaginary Mishap on Board the “Celeste” Which Captain Roden De
clares Is Ridiculous.
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