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GRAVITY IS GREAT STRAIN ON THEM, THEY TIRE EASILY & MUST REST OFTEN WHEN ON "TERRA." Nine days later, at Gibraltar, Deveau swung the ghost ship into port with the idea of collecting salvage money for the 1,700 barrels of alcohol under her hatches. But the destiny of the Marie Celeste was more complicated than that. The Marshal of the Vics Admiralty Court put the brig under arrest. The Queen's Proctor, Frederick S. Flood, asserted that a crew just didn't leave a ship with $80,000 worth of alcohol, to risk their necks on a directionless joy ride. What, then, had Deveau done with the missing crew? The Dei Gratia had also pulled into port. Flood turned suspicious glances toward its hands. Clearly he was determined to find evidence of crime. He entered the Marie Celeste's cabin, and his eyes snapped when he uncovered an old Italian sword under the Captain's berth. Flood scrutinized the deck— and found the stains he expected! Dr. J. Patron was summoned to make a chemical test. John Austin, the ship surveyor and diver, next examined the brig's underside. He came up dripping to report that there was no indication that the brig had struck anything like a reef which might have caused the crew, fearful of being trapped on board, to abandon ship. Then, why had the Marie Celeste been abandoned? It was learned that her master had been Captain Benjamin S. Briggs. Nine others accompanied him, including his wife and daughter Sophie. Surely Briggs, and old sea master, would have done nothing to endanger his family. The destroyed compass was a clue—but there was no further evidence of violence. Superstitious seamen pedicted: They break compasses, fearing that we may use More than one Bar Magnet, & thus fly as they. A compass "card" Looks EXACTLY Like a FLYING SAUCER from the top, Looking down on a Large Ships binnacle compass card floating in its Liquid. "You'll never find the answer. An unworldly power cleared the brig's deck." The tribunal scoffed. Ghost ships! In the 19th Century! Lack of evidence now bogged down the court's hearing of the Dei Gratia's salvage claims. Meanwhile, as news of the riddle boiled in the world presses, amazing background facts came to light. Rumor stated that the current tragedy was only a continuation of the misfortunes that dogged the brig since she was first launched in Nova Scotia. Who ever had touched her had suffered disappointments, financial losses, or worse. As the Amazon, in 1861, the 206-ton brig made her maiden voyage under Captain Robert McLellan. He took sick while plying the Bay of Fundy. Ashore, days later, he died. John N. Parker, the next skipper, was only mildly successful with his trips. The owners replaced him with William Thompson. Promptly, the brig cracked up on Cape Breton Island. This broke her owners. Salvors seized the vessel. John Howard Beatty bought and lost her quickly, for as the Sackville, New Brunswick, Tribune reported, the Amazon piled up on the Maine coast. As a condemned hulk she was auctioned off at New York. On November 12, 1868, Richard W. Hains paid $1,750 for her, and it was he who named her Marie Celeste. Scarcely ten months later he forfeited the brig for debt. James H. Winchester, her newest proprietor, put the blame for his poor profits 85 NOT A CHILD, WAS ANOTHER "LITTLE-MAN" OF MU EXCEPT UNDERSEAS. "No," he told Flood, "these are not blood stains."