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A MYSTERY OF THE SEA.

THE FATE WHICH OVERTOOK THE “CITY OF BOSTON.”—­CAPTAIN MURRAY’S IDEAS
AND EXPERIENCES.

A few years ago, the City of Boston sailed from harbor, crowded with an expectant throng of passengers bound for a foreign shore.

She never entered port.

The mystery of her untimely end grows deeper as the years increase, and the Atlantic voyager, when the fierce winds howl around and danger is imminent on every hand, shudders as the name and mysterious fate of that magnificent vessel are alluded to.

Our reporter, on a recent visit to New York, took lunch with Captain George Siddons Murray, on board the Alaska, of the Guion line.  Captain Murray is a man of stalwart built, well-knit frame and cheery, genial disposition.  He has been a constant voyager for a quarter of a century, over half of that time having been in the trans-Atlantic service.  In the course of the conversation over the well-spread table, the mystery of the City of Boston was alluded to.

“Yes,” remarked the Captain, “I shall never forget the last night we saw that ill-fated vessel.  I was chief officer of the City of Antwerp.  On the day we sighted the City of Boston a furious southeast hurricane set in.  Both vessels labored hard.  The sea seemed determined to sweep away every vestige of life.  When day ended the gale did not abate, and everything was lashed for a night of unusual fury.  Our good ship was turned to the south to avoid the possibility of icebergs.  The City of Boston, however, undoubtedly went to the north.  Her boats, life-preservers and rafts were all securely lashed; and when she went down, everything went with her, never to re-appear until the sea gives up its dead.”

“What, in your opinion, Captain, was the cause of the loss of the City of Boston?”

“The City of Limerick, in almost precisely the same latitude, a few days later, found the sea full of floating ice; and I have no doubt the City of Boston collided with the ice, and sunk immediately.”

Captain Murray has been in command of the Alaska ever since she was put in commission and feels justly proud of his noble ship.  She carries thousands of passengers every year, and has greatly popularized the Williams & Guion line.  Remarking upon the bronzed and healthy appearance of the Captain, the reporter said that sea life did not seem to be a very great physical trial.

“No?  But a person’s appearance is not always a trustworthy indication of his physical condition.  For seven years I have been in many respects very much out of sorts with myself.  At certain times I was so lame that it was difficult for me to move around.  I could scarcely straighten up.  I did not know what the trouble was, and though I performed all my duties regularly and satisfactorily, yet I felt that I might some day be overtaken with