The Key West Citizen Newspaper, August 30, 1949, Page 6

few York Daly Tribune Of May 17,1 185, Had ‘Suory't 5 Pegg {Seated to | the Courty-andthat their. Wreckers Copied From Old Paper ss eos ore = ss sate nner meee ye York Daily Tribune, srediay, May 17, 1855 ~The number of vessels wreck- on the Plorida Reef and the is in distress at the port of West, the wrecking em- Porium of the Union, during the Year 185!, were sixty-four. The te value of these vessels at $974,000, and the value their cargoes at $1,268,454 — the total valuaton . of and cargoes $2,242,454. ‘The expenses of the cargoes while in the port of Key West were 68, and the expenses of vessels $49,148.25; total $69,- 036.93. The amount realized from tales of damaged cargoes was .23; the amount of salvage led the wreckers $88,921.87, and the total losses on vessels and | Cargoes $432,167.42. ‘The Florida Archipelago con-/ sists of a chain of islands along; and around the southern point of ; Florida, extending from : Florida to the Tortugas — a dis- tance of about two hundred miles. Qutside of these islands, and at a distance from them of about eight miles, lies. the Florida Reef — a ledge of rocks underneath the surface, at depths averaging in different places from two to @ighteen and thirty feet. This teef may be propeily regarded as the northern wall or bank of the Gulf Stream — having Cuba and the Bahama Islands for the south- ern and eastern banks. Between Key West and Cuba this oceanic siream is about eighty miles wide; at Cape Florida it is nar- rowed to about forty-five miles. It is the outlet of the great Bay or Gulf of Mexico, and the com- merce of New Orleans and the other Gulf ports, with much of the gold of California, passes through it. The value of ths com- merce has been estimated at not less than four hundred millions of dollars annually A_ current commences in the Gulf Stream off Tortugas and runs easterly and northerly at the rate, commonly, of three or four knots an hour, but it is very irregular in its rapidity and direetion; and in consequence of these irregulari- ties, the narrowness of the chan- nel, bad weather, and probably, in some instances the careless- ness of navigators, many ships and vessels get ashore upon the reef, and are either totally lost, or are lightened and got off by wreckers Many vessels also put into Key. West in a leaky *; disabled condition. The persons employed in sav- ing this property are technically | called wreckers, and about 250 of } the more’ constantly and ex- clusively employed in sailing about the islands and reefs, in; little sloops or schooners of about | sixty tons burden Some one or) more of them visit every danger- ous reef every day, so that a ves- gel does not long remain in trouble before a helping hand is extended to her If the assistance } ef wreckers be accepted, they | generally lighten the ship, carry out anchors, and get the vessel off; or if she be lost on the rocks, they save the cargo, the -passen- gers and crew, and eatry them to Key West, where salvage is awarded by the United States | District Judge for the saving of | the vessel and cargo, but no charge is or can be made, or any | salvage allowed for saving the | lives of crews, passengers, ~ their baggage. Considering the large amount} of property saved from total de- struction, and the many lives of , pasengers and crews rescued} from death by these wreckers, no | Sensational NEW OIL PAINT |: HIDES SOLIDLY IN 1 COAT $3.65 Gal. $1.15 Qt. PIERCE BROS. 623 Fleming Street Vita “VAR ce (SSE a “ea ean fail to be impressed with depredations on the property, or different points along eeacnime Amp wencxEns importance and heroic dar- the commission of any rudeness Reef which are cf im: ing of their vocation To the cause or discourtesy to ‘passengers by fit to navigation on ite danger- twenty years, the United to the interests, these wreckers — a fact” ¢ redit- 5 coust;, | oe eoanaiaabe their services aie | able to them in an ao cout , c invaluable And no other class of | gree, although it may, péthaps be surveying 4 n. Peony cole ate exposed to greater temp-| attributable in part to another |enart the exact position of to embezzlement’ and ‘fact that the ‘compensation for: island and’ reef * lying cant tol large amounts of prop- | their services is awarded them, by:; Cape. 4 Sane Flake Cod the: will be an inv: security to States, Distwict Judge at Key. West; and ¢ in| we ‘have before had occasions to upon speak of his high judiciary in- every tegrity and ability. He has ex- een clusive jurisdiction in all Ad- lugas. miralty cases, and his, decisions alu- are tinal in all cases where the the amount is less than $2,000. The jfour hundred i suillions worth of business of his Court is almost no complaints are ever made of erected several Light-Houses atjalong the ocean stream. Florida bene- now, and has been ‘for near! ; ‘ } j coniusion of shipwreck, and yet} The National Government has property § that annually floats entirely devoted to matters grow- ing out of wrecking. He awards The Hon. William Marvin is salvage, and the amount thereof; he settles _consortships, and ap- . jhe salvage may" “TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1949 among the owners, masters and crews of vessels; he supervises and audits the commission and wharfage charges — and all with- out the intervention of a Jury. His official position, there fore, is not simply a responsible one, but it has a direct and personal re- sponsibility, which is neither terested in every wreck, and in the award of the most liberal sal- vage, and it requires a Judge of great moral courage and incor- ruptibile integrity to resist the influences surrounding and as- sailing him, And itis due to Judge Marvin to say that his honest, fearless and able admin- shared nor relieved by the inter-| istration of the wrecking juris- position of a Jury between him- | prudence at Key West has had a self and. the parties litigant. jmost potent and remedial. in- Nearly every man upon the is- fluence upon the wrecking busi- land is directly or indirectly in- ness. a - re You want the FINES T / and 7 Crown is Seagram’s Finest American Whiskey... whieh means the Fi inest Whiskey made in America.., Ther SSSSSSSSSq—q3; ii fi of the new Florida State Tax. is no need to pay more. 17 FIFTH Seagram's and te Sure Seagram's 7 Crown. 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