History of a Message in a Bottle

History of a Message in a Bottle,				Broderick,Jr.,13, who wrote the note as part
				of a class project two years ago. 'I'm
Believe it or not, Messages in bottles have				writing a letter back.'
been used through out history, and here are
some documented cases ...				Broderick this week received a letter from
				Anna Isabel Chaves Sousa, 16, who lives on
Queen Elizaeth I of England in the 16th				the island of Santa Maria.
Century used bottles to carry intelligence
reports.				He was a sixth-grade student of teacher Lynda
				Stofen at a local elementary school when he
"Elizabeth I once received an intelligence				and his two-dozen classmates launched their
report by this means and was so disconcerted				message bottles with the help of a fisherman,
to find it had been opened by a boatman at				who tossed them into the ocean. The girl
Dover that she appointed an official Uncorker				wrote back that her brother, a fisherman,
of Bottles and decreed that no unauthorized				picked up the quart bottle at sea. Wayne's
person might open a message-carrying bottle,				letter was the second from the school to net
on pain of death".				an answer. In November 1982, former sixth
				grader Frank Marston heard from a Spanish
"The strangest case was perhaps that of				merchant navy captain of the Canary Islands
Chunosuke Matsuyama, a Japanese seaman who				off North Africa.
was wrecked with 44 shipmates in 1784.
Shortly before he and his companions died of				Miss Stofan said sea message projects are
starvation on a Pacific coral reef, Matsuyama				good writing, ocean and geography exercises
carved a brief account of their tragedy on a				as students speculate where the messages will
piece of wood, sealed it in a bottle, and				drift. And Wayne said he also made a new
then threw it into the sea. It was washed up				friend. Anna asked him to be a pen pal".
150 years later in 1935 at the very seaside
village where Matsuyama had been born".				In the Lodi, California News Sentinel
				Newspaper appeared the following UPI article
"When he was postmaster general for the				on Friday, August 21, 1987, entitled,
American colonies, Benjamin Franklin realized
that, because their whaler captains knew the				"Writer of 31 year old note in bottle found"
currents much better than their English
counterparts, American ships were crossing				"Genoa, Wisconsin-
the Atlantic much quicker than the British
mail packets. He therefore compiled a chart				Joel Gruhn was only 8 years old in 1956 when
using both the whalers' lore and information				he scrawled a note, plugged it in a ketchup
he obtained by dropping bottles into the Gulf				bottle and had his father toss it into the
Stream and asking the finders to return them.				Mississippi River. This week Gruhn discovered
The information he recorded is little changed				a Genoa man found the bottle and the note
today".				last October and had been looking for him
				ever since. Duane Froh, 40, pulled the bottle
"In 1875 the crew of the Canadian bark,				from the Mississippi October 31, 175 miles
Lennie, mutinied and murdered the officers. A				south of Minneapolis, where it had been
steward who was spared because he could				tossed in. He showed it to his wife, Diane,
navigate steered them to the French coast,				and they tried to find its sender. 'My age is
telling them it was Spain, and				8 years old and one-half. I weigh 65 pounds.
surreptitiously dropped several bottles over				I am 4 feet and 5 inches high. The writer of
the side revealing the whole story. The				this note is Joe ... . .' the note said,
French authorities found one, boarded the				becoming undecipherable at the end. It was
ship, and arrested the surprised mutineers".				dated April 2, 1956, and had a Mound,
				Minnesota address".
"Fragile as it is, a well-sealed bottle is
one of the world's most seaworthy objects. It				In the Santa Rosa, California, Press Democrat
will bob safely through hurricanes that can				Newspaper appeared the following Associated
sink great ships. And for most practical				Press (AP) article in June of 1984, entitled,
purposes glass lasts forever. In 1954, 18
bottles were salvaged from a ship sunk 250				"Child's bottled message reaches England"
years before off the English coast. The
liquor in them was unrecognizable, but the				"Providence, Rhode Island-
bottles were good as new".
				Stuffing a message in a bottle and tossing it
"It is impossible to predict the direction a				into the ocean with the hope of someone ever
bottle will take. Of two bottles dropped				finding it is the stuff of children's
together off the Brazilian coast, one drifted				stories- a dream that seldom comes true. But
east for 130 days and was found on a beach in				James Westerman is a believer. Westerman
Africa; the other floated northwest for 190				thought his handicapped students would find
days, reaching Nicaragua".				it fun to put messages in bottles found on
				the beach and toss them into Narragansett
"Speed is also bound to vary according to				Bay. Last week, more than three years after
wind and current. A bottle might be				Westerman's students last played the
completely becalmed or, if caught up by the				message-in-the-bottle game, a letter arrived
Gulf Stream at its raciest, might travel				for Bernice Graser, the principal of
along at four knots and cover as many as 100				Westerman's Pleasant View School. It was from
miles a day".				10 year old Jayne Ayre of Barnstaple,
				England, who wrote that she found the bottle
"The longest bottle voyage ever is thought to				January 29, while taking a Sunday stroll on a
have been made by a bottle known as the				beach in southwest England with her father.
Flying Dutchman. It was launched by a German				The note inside fell apart when they pulled
scientific expedition in 1929 in the southern				it out, but the managed to paste it together,
Indian Ocean. Inside was a message, which				she said. The sender's name, Nomp Travis, was
could be read without breaking the bottle,				clearly legible, as was the return address:
asking the finder to report where he found it				Pleasant View School, Province, R.I.
and throw it back into the sea.
				I found your name on it and was thrilled to
It apparently caught an eastgoing current,				see it had come all the way from America,'
which carried it to the southern tip of South				the girl wrote to Nomp. She also enclosed a
America. There it was found, reported, and				clipping from the North Devon Advertiser
thrown back again several times. Eventually,				about her find".
it moved out into the Atlantic, then again
into the Indian Ocean, passing roughly the				In the Santa Rosa, California, Press Democrat
spot where it had been dropped, and was cast				Newspaper appeared the following AP article
ashore on the west coast of Australia in				on April 27, 1985, entitled,
1935. It had covered 16,000 miles in 2,447
days (a little over 6 1/2 years)- a				"Refugees Find Freedom, Note in a bottle
respectable average of more than six nautical				changes lives"
miles a day".
				"Los Angeles-
"In 1953 a bottle was found in Tasmania 37
years after it had been dropped overboard by				A Vietnamese refugee family arrived in the
two Australian soldiers on their way to				United States on Friday to a tearful welcome
France in a troopship. The mother of one of				from an American couple whose bottled message
the soldiers recognized the handwriting of				floated 9,000 miles to the shores of Thailand
her son who had been killed in action in				and answered their prayers for freedom.
1918".
				'Welcome to the United States of America,'
Historical note: Australia fought for her				Dorothy Peckham told the family as reporters
mother country, England, against Germany on				and photographers swamped the refugees at Los
the battlefields of France and Turkey during				Angeles International Airport after an
World War I. Remarkably, Tasmania is a State				18-hour flight from Singapore. Hoa Van
in the country of Australia.				Nguyen, 31, a former South Vietnamese
				soldier, told reporters through an
"A message found on a beach in Maine in 1944				interpreter that he's 'the most lucky man in
read: 'Our ship is sinking. SOS didn't do any				the world.' He said he doesn't know why what
good. Think it's the end. Maybe this message				he called 'a sixth sense' prompted him to
will get to the U.S. some day.' It was				pick up the bottle carrying the message from
identified as coming from the USS Beatty, a				John Henry Peckham and his wife. Nguyen, 31,
destroyer torpedoed with heavy loss of life				flew in Friday afternoon with his wife, Joang
somewhere off Gibraltar on November 6, 1943".				Kim, 27, who clung to his arm and said
				nothing, their 16 month old son and Nguyen's
Historical note: the bottle from the sunken				17 year old brother, Cuong Van.
American warship floated to the shores of
that country during World War II. The				Peckham took the sleeping baby, Hoang Gia
destroyer was probably sunk by a German				Thay Nguyen, and grinned widely despite tears
submarine in the Atlantic Ocean off the				that streamed down his face. Nguyen then gave
Southwest coast of Spain.				the Peckhams a present, a picture he had
				crafted while in a refugee camp in Thailand.
"...both the British and U.S. Navies have
used bottles extensively to compile intricate				The family was whisked out of the airport by
current charts. And the movements of oil				officials from the Catholic Welfare Bureau,
slicks, mines, and even fish have been				who settled the refugees in an Echo Park
predicted with help of seaborne bottles".				apartment rented for them by the Peckhams".

"Paolina and Ake Viking were married in				This information collected from Reader's
Sicily in the autumn of 1958, thanks to a				Digest Strange Stories, Amazing Facts,
far-traveling bottle. Two years earlier Ake,				printed by the Reader's Digest Association,
a bored young Swedish sailor on a ship far				Inc., Pleasantville, New York in 1976. To
out at sea, had dropped a bottle overboard				order a copy contact Reader's Digest call
with a message asking any pretty girl who				800-723-1241 to obtain a back issue.
found it to write.
				As you can see there are many uses for a
Paolina's father, a Sicilian fisherman,				message in a bottle through out history, even
picked it up and passed it to his daughter				today new uses for this age old communication
for a joke. Continuing the joke, Paolina sent				device have gone commercial.
off a note to the young sailor. The
correspondence quickly grew warmer. Ake				A Message in a Bottle as a gift, souvenir,
visited Sicily, and the marriage soon				alternative to Flowers.
followed their first meeting".
				With the invention of the world wide web one
In the Lodi, California News Sentinel				creative entrepreneur brought the world its
Newspaper appeared the following United Press				first Message in a bottle gift. DreamWeaver
International (UPI) article on Friday,				Studios, brought the first MIB(message in a
September 6, 1985, entitled,				bottle) to the world via the world wide web.
				This message in a bottle is used for every
"Message in a bottle found, in nine years"				and any occasion, from birthday gifts, to
				Christmas gifts, anniversaries,
"Berlin-
				To say I am sorry, to say I love you. lets
A message in a bottle dropped into the Baltic				you design your own or choose from dozens
Sea was found nine years later in San				different selections for all occasions and
Francisco, the East Berlin daily newspaper				feelings. Since DreamWeaver Studios creation
Tribune said Thursday. The bottle, with				many variations of the message in a bottle
numbered message '4,764,' was one of 13,000				gift product have sprung up all over the
'posted' into the sea at Oresund between				world.
Denmark and Sweden on August 7, 1976, by the
East German Institute for Marine Studies in				DreamWeaver Studios paved the way for a
Warnemuende, the paper said".				message in a bottle to be used as wedding and
				party invitations. Imagine announcing your
In the Lodi, California News Sentinel				destination wedding with a message in a
Newspaper appeared the following UPI article				bottle. Tired of plain boring invitations,
on Friday, July13, 1984, entitled,				send your guests a message in a bottle.

"Note in bottle answered after almost two				A message in a bottle is not limited to
years"				wedding, but party invitations, promotional
				products, giveaways at trade shows, numerous
"South Portland, Maine-				uses can be found at DreamWeaver Studios
				website
Nearly two years ago a South Portland boy
wrote a note and stuck it in a bottle that				A message in a bottle has come along way from
was tossed into the Atlantic. He forgot about				the time of Queen Elizabeth, now they are
it but this week he got an answer from the				gifts for any occasion and the recipient will
Azores- more than 2,500 miles away.'I didn't				never forget the person who sends them a
think the bottle would make it,' said Wayne				message in a bottle.

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History of a Message in a Bottle