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)
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