The Carroll M. Deering
Folks along* ihe coast hove argued ahoui her
si range fale for inan.v years, but now comes
a Coast Guardsman willi a logical e\|ila-
nalion of wlial probably bappikiied lo Ibe
vessel.
By W.U. KEITH SAIMIFRS
DKBfXKIXG legend* and clear¬
ing ut» mysteries i* u business
which tunny people look upon
with approbation, and many others
with indignation. Hut he that a» it
may, it is high time the 18-ycar-old
mystery of the Carroll M. Peering
wore cleared up :uid the legend sur¬
rounding this so-called "phantom
ship" debunked.
One misty morning in February
1921, the Coast Guardsman on duty in
in the Lookout Tower at Creed* Hill
Coast Guard Station near
« аре
1 1 at¬
torns squinted his eyes. | . rod seaward,
and saw a live-masted schooner appar¬
ently just outside the treacherous Out¬
er Diamond Shoals, "graveyard <>t‘ the
Atlantic." lie promptly notified the
keeper of the station that a schooner
seemed to be in trouble on the shoals,
and in a very short while
я
«urfboat
put to sea to find out what wa* wrong.
As the Coast Guard crew ap¬
proached the schooner, the name of
which was the Carroll M. Prrring.
otto of the officers sent an "Ahoy!"
ringing across the waves. Hut
но
answering hail came front the vessel.
No One on Board
Guard*inen
rlir- irll
Hill
e Ship,
те
wa*
“ helm,
in, the
Puzzled, the
pulled alongside
boarded b-r. Still mor.- *ur
they at what they found
о
The sails were all set, bu
no one on the bridge or a
The decks were scrubbed
hawsers neatly coiled ami everything
else seemed to be shipshape. ^ et there
was not a seaman to bo found aboard
the schooner. In the forecastle, places
were set and food was on the table,
but there was no one to eat it.
The theory was advanced that
pirates had boarded the schooner at
sea and set her adrift again with all
sails set after capturing or murdering
her crew. Hut this theory was proved
implausible by reason of the fact that
there was no sign of a struggle having
taken place on the ve**el and the cargo
had not been disturb'd.
Then someone advanced the theory
that the crew of th . booner might
have contract*1.! some dread fever or
other disease in a tropical port and
i*lectml to CMt I lit *iii m*i vo* ovorboanl at
sea rather than waiting for a -low
death to overtake them. But this the¬
ory was dispelled when it wa* learned
that there was nothing wrong on the
Peering when -be cleat'- 1 Savannah.
Georgia, a few day* earlier.
The mystery wa* investigated bv
the Department of Commerce, the De¬
partment of •! ust ice and several other
governmental agencies, principally at
the insistence of the captain's daugh¬
ter. who felt certain that her father
and his crew had met with foul plnv
at *ea. However, no evidence of
idracv. suicide or ntivthing else of that
iritUTV Tt|rUV*i •jlirilii? til**
1оц,т
in-
ve-tigation. and the matter was
pm on iuv rroini* a* uiiiwiow u. _
And now comes Chief Boatswain
Charle O. ’Vele, of the 1'njted State.
Coast Guard, to shed new light on the
mystery of the Deering. which he says
never was any mystery to him.
pftr# 1><UI1„
мкл %« НАП'
.tMfi.'itnJ
A.apu i Hi**, «no i« nn« eiaiiMiiw
..t nuvri^f
(»«'»
f Ctianl 1»« n<!-
ASK BY NAME FOR
TDMLIN5DN
QUALITY
FURNITURE
Sold Through Leading
Dealers and Decorators
the Peering that February n
IS yea Vs ago.
"What happei
auneh over and made for shore, hut
treneherou*
d Out'-r Dili-
SliotiK nil. I Wont tA *| W'tVft*
Swamped on the Shoals
e •ehot'iior had undoubtedly
I some sort of small lent, and
easy to L
iow the boat cc
1 ,4.4.11 .Hiitiituul (II tn-iiKT ar
«»«**
4
И
,11111" <1 III IV t 1 ■
Diamond Sh
gerotu and mo-
the Athintic >
Itl I l«*T T
would liave
1 e AvtPi.m* If
I4N 11
Р.МП'ШМ »
SSA'J-E
i,L jf ifP(M4 tl
is what happened to the crew of
inVr«tiL'A(io|l« (4l;
rkon that w
л
le. Thev wer
down all sorts of v
chasing wild goose."
