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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1959)
Mystery of Brigantine Mary Celeste Still Lingers on Books of Atlantic Insurance kill By ELMER C. WALZEH UPI Financial Editor , New York - (LTD - Eighty six year ago, the proud brig antine Mary Celeste unfurled ztiumJk? her canvas i ... Jana sei uul for Genoa, tofe'if Italy, with a Darreis 01 al cohol. Before sail ing, her cargo had been duly insured by Riser waixer five American companies, including Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company of New York. Atlantic then was located at 45 Wall St. right near the docks. Its sole business then was marine insurance and it probably never wrote a more famous piece of insurance than it did on the Mary Ce leste's cargo. But it has written many a bigger piece of insurance since and today it is right where it was back there at 45 Wall st. - its third n building on the site. Those days of long ago were hazardous ones for ships and sailors. In the case of the Mary Celeste, the ship came back but the entire crew and passengers were lost forever and they've been a mystery to this day. Found Sailing Unmanned A somewhat similar brigan tine the Dei Gratia found the Mary Celeste sailing slowly with half her sails set and the wheel spinning gaily as the vagrant winds blew her hither and yon. A rump crew of the Dei Gratia took her to port and received only a fraction of the salvage they had antici pated. A new crew and skip per took her back after his- charging her cargo. Atlantic lost nothing on the insurance since the cargo was delivered intact But the mystery lingers on and many a wintry night in the Mary Celeste room at the newest of the Atlantic's buildings, 'tis said the ghosts of Capt. Benjamin S. Briggs and his crew of seven paw over the mementos of t heir last cruise. In the dead of ' the night one can hear the weird notes of the captain' as he orders "abandon ship." Atlantic Insurance Com pany is the only survivor of the more than 40 mutual in surance companies that car ried on a marine insurance business during the booming shipping days of the 1840s when America's clipper ships were the queens of the seas. Although Atlantic, with its subsidiary, the Centennial Insurance Co., now writes al most all kinds of insurance, except life, its roots in marine insurance go back 117 years. Series of 'Disaster Books' The company has amassed a series of 341 volumes of its records "Disaster Books," they are called, which record all available .details of mar ine disasters throughout the world back to 1850. They include stories like 3rd Section Medford 10 Pages. Tribune MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1959 that of the ghost ship, Mary Celeste. Also there are logs of old clipper ship captains, records of the gold rush days of 1849, and the comments on the mortality of the day are among the records. Gold shipments of the 1850s had a long way to travel by steamer from San Francisco to Panama, by mule train across the isthmus and then by steamer to New York. Myriad records piled up at Atlantic and the wonder grew how the company could house all of them.- There were jokes on their extent and authentic ity. Someone suggested the company might even have a record of the ark, so he sent in a request for the data and got the following reply: Last Reported Stranded "Built BC 2448 - gopher wood - pitched within and -without - length 300 cubits width, 50 cubits - height, 30 cubits - three decks - cattle carrier owner, Noah and sons - last reported stranded Mount Ararat." Miles F. Young, president, said the Atlantic companies are using a new method of in troducing new policies in the fire and casualty insurance .business. "In the past," he noted, "companies have figured out what combinations .of cover ages they thought would sell, then they have introduced them as new policies and tried to get their agents , to market them." Today the company solicits the views of its agents and, adjusts its new policy proce dure to their ideas. Next year Atlantic plans a series of in formal seminars for agents to sit down with company execu tives to discuss common needs and problems of the company. Times Have Changed Things aren't as simple as they were back in the 1800s. j And costs are quite different too. Take the case of the com pany lunchroom. Back in 1906 the week's provisions for that room cost only $46.70, includ ing corned beef at 14 cents a j pound; bacon at 16 cent; T-1 bone steak at 22 cents a pound, pork chops at 15 cents; j veal at 10 cents and leg beef at a mere seven cents. i And the rules aren't as ' strict any more either. There j is no rule to say one can't ! light or smoke cigars or pipes in the office. And at quitting time, one can go home with out shuting off the gas at his desk. - Today the help works 35 hours a week. Back in the old days the rule said one must be at his desk at eight and a half a.m. And remain until at least 6 p.m. or until the work in his respective de partment was completed no matter how long it took. Mining Council to Help With Course The Northwestern Mining Council Thursday night voted to help organize an adult in struction course in prospect ing and practical mining with Norman Peterson of the Grants Pass office of geology and mineral industries as the instructor. The Council also voted to sponsor a 4-H trophy for the top rock and mineral exhibit at the next fair in Medford. Council members also sup ported governors of the 11 western states in their posi tion on the issue of a free gold world market. Following the business meeting, Mr. and Mrs. F. -J. Clifford showed colored slides of western scenes. Deputies Investigate Rogue River Burglary Sheriff's deputies Friday investigated the burglary of Dr. E. V. Chance's office in Rogue River, it was reported. Burglars Thursday night took a tape recorder, type writer and a table model ra dio, deputies reported. . - FLOOD WATERS WRECK PIER-Men stand amid the shattered wreckage of a pier at Ste. Maxime, France, following bursting of the Malpasset dam. Ste. Maxime is about 20 miles from Frejus, the town inundated by raging waters from the broken dam. Waters flooded surrounding lowland areas and claimed the lives of at least 260 per sons in Frejus, with many more feared dead. Note the wrecked car on the beach and the twisted girders in the foreground. (UPI Telephoto) PRESCRIPTION SERVICE Avoid the Rush Shop NOW for See our wonderful selection of CARDS GIFT WRAPPINGS, TABLE AND TREE DECORATIONS, CANDY AND GIFTS SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE AND ALL AGES. 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