Peter
Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 105 Location: Gosport, Hampshire
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject: Grisly finds in old ships |
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...Ship breakers were probably the first individuals to turn to economic account the utilization of apparent waste.
In the breaking up of ships of various kinds, every nail, plank, beam and piece of equipment and apparel are put up for sale and re-use… When some old planking in the forecastle was torn down, nailed to the bulkhead were two mummified hands of a negro, and in the palm of each hand and transfixed by the same nails that held the hands, were two counterfeit silver dollars. The hands had been roughly hacked off…The most curious part of this find was a set of books – a privateer’s books evidently- showing the capture of various French ships …a canvas bag was found in which were 190 guineas of gold. With the money were found a curious and unique deck of foreign playing cards, some loaded dice and three magnificent pieces of amber. All these were found in the false bottom of a wooden bunk…
At Rotherhithe, in the forepeak of an old wooden merchantmen, the skeleton of a young boy was found jammed behind the skin of the vessel. The boy had been a stowaway in all probability….
E.K. Thompson, 'Found in Old Ships', The Mariners Mirror, 58,1,pp.102-103 |
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