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Expedition to Dutch New Guinea by steamer "Jules Verne" - ?

From: J.C.T.Ludeker <jctl~at~xs4all.nl>
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 16:22:32 +0100
To: <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Cc: <haroldmania~at~yahoo.se>, <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl>, <BGYKRAUTH~at~t-online.de>

Dear friends,
 
After contacting several institutions like the Nautical Museum and the Royal
Institute for the Tropics and a friend of mine who is an expert on nautical
affairs, I ended up with the Royal Dutch Geographical Society (R.D.G.S.).
This Society organised in the 19th century the majority of expeditions to
our former colonies. The expert on the history of such expeditions, Dr. Paul
van den Brink, could immediately answer my question on the to us unknown
steamer "Jules Verne". It is true, that in 1885 the R.D.G.S. intended to
send a ship to Dutch New Guinea, but first they had to raise the necessary
funds. There were long discussions in the Dutch Lower Chamber but the result
was negative, the Dutch Government did not want to invest a penny on the
venture. The R.D.G.S. than decided to try and organise the expedition
themselves. They were informed that in Nantes, France a steam/sailingship
was offered for sale. As the descriptions of the said vessel fitted well in
the ideas of the Society, they sent two experts to Nantes in order to
inspect the ship and open negotiations..
For one reason or another, at the moment still unknown to me, the
transaction fall through and consequently the whole expedition was
cancelled.
In short: the solution of the riddle is, that Jules Verne was not the name
of the ship but the name of the owner. The ship for sale was Jules Verne's
Saint-Michel III, which he had to sell because of the financial difficulties
he had to face, mainly because of his extravagant son, who, as we all know,
was a big spender.
The ship was sold in December 1885 for Francs 55.000 to Prince Nicolas I of
Montenegro, who renamed the "Saint-Michel III" in "Sybil" .
There is a Dutch proverb that says: "He heard a bell ring but he does not
know where the clapper hangs". Newspapers often have this attitude. A
journalist hears somehow, somewhere, something and a story, right or wrong,
is born. That's what happened in the newspaper "Finland" on December 15.
1885. The journalist in question will not have realized, that his "slip of
the pen", caused 121 years later confusion amongst Jules Verne fans all over
the world.
 
Jan Ludeker.
 
Dutch Jules Verne Society,
Received on Fri 24 Feb 2006 - 19:21:42 IST

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