The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-06-27
THE HARBOR OF REFUGE.

Ar the meeting Of the Board ef En>
giueers in San Francisco on the 18th.
several wituesse, Of high character gave
testimony.
Captain H. G. Morse Of the Dakota
thought the prevalence Of roush
weather on the coast was betw cen the
months Of September and Marca He
did not exactly favor harbor OF refuge
but thought place should be selected
as 8 station for 9 steam cutter. Then q
di,s lied vessel could signal aud be towed
into some harbor. or furnished with
food, water. .ails, or whatever things
they needed. No mariner will take his
vessel near land when she IS disabled.
Small YES sels put into Port Oxford in q
northeast gale. but steamers only when
their machinery is broken. Captain
Morse thought be would locate har-
Dor midway between Point Reyes and
the Straits of Fuca. II Port O:ford
was selected. the sailing feet that goes
into the Sound would not enter the port
very often. and Cape Gregory Harbor
wss better than Port Orford the for
mef would answer for q refuge in a
southeaster and the latter in q north
easter The southeast gales are ugly,
turbulegt and d.ngerou'. The wind is
worst in winter between ATTITUDES AZ
and As degrees. near Cape Foulweather.
which is we'll named. These south
eastern gales last about thirty hours,
and moderate 20 westpOrthwest or
or northwest These seas are not
heavy. but are sharper and have no
hazs when compared with tkoss iu
other part, of the world The seas in
the Engli.h ChanDel. are 10. ss heavy
and rolling as tie seas on the rorthern
coast Tie fogs are the th!ckcst be-
tween C,pe Mendicino and tbi. city.
aud they are ~ heavy and thick a. can
be found. NJ M,ie l. cal storms exis. of
Washington l,rritnfy than off Oregon.
where they arr mJs.. re- Gular. The whole
line of cot,i from this city up has not
,iu.lr gnnd harbor II the wind
blew "a strong OH the coast n. II docs
pSr,iil With II. the coast would te
,trewn with wr.ck>.
Toxic tho III: that ,ht deep sea men
wer- not grratIy concerned abont the
h.rbor oi refuge, for the location of tn
pref nircted port WAS out Of their course.
and they had their ports to enter when
in !istress. Captain Maury volunteered
the statement that unless the Board
had harbor which they could srtitici-
ally improve by use Of the reefs sur
rounding II. they would have to encoun-
ter sea which they had never dreamt
of. He doubted that any artificial
work could withstand the action Of the
swell as found on the northern coast
Captain J. w. White, Of the Revenue
and Marine service. and who has been
engaged in establishing life-ssving sta
tions on the Dorthern part of the coast
for the past two years. said be had been
on this side of the Continent since 1855.
So far as his experience went he knew
Of no point on the coast where the es
tablishment Of harbor Of refuge
would benefit commerce in general"
which he understood to be the main
object for its construction. He thought
the Columbia river could be made
available by building a stone wall part
way across the river, which. with the
prevailing currents, wonld have O ten
dency to throw the bar farther out. aud
leave safe anchorage behind the pres
ent bar, where vessels could ride out
almost any storm in safety. As far as
his experience went, however, he
thought the benefits to be obtained from
such a harbor would hardly justify the
expense the Government would be put
TO unless the point selected had cOasi1-
erable commerce.of its own, as in his
opinion the benefits would lie purely
local. for vessels gong from here TO
Puget Sound or any of the more north
ern ports. generally gave the coast such
q wide berth that they would be unable
to reach it IN case Of q storm. There
fore, only vessels cruising i'll the viciu-
ity OF such harbor would be sble to
avail themselves Of its shelter.
Captain G.. Debney. OF the steamer
State Of California. next gave his opin-
ion on the subject. He had been ell
gagged in navigating this coast since
1857. and thought that q breakwater
was needed somewhere on the northen
coast, where vessels could put in and
make repairs or get safe anchorage in
case of a severe gale which they would
probably be unable to weather. He
objected to its location at Port Oxford
ON accsuat of the reef outside, which
would be extremely dangerous to ves-
sells scek..n an entrance in bad weather.
He was opposed to Crescent City on
the ground Of sunken rocks with which
the harbor was infested. Cape Gregory
was the most advantageous point be
could suggest. partly on account OF its
natural advantages rs q harbor and
partly because Of its freeness of rocks
and reefs. and then. again. 1t Was q
point where high winds were quite
frequent, and therefore vessels were
more apt TO need such haven. He was
Of the opinion that the small coasting
vessels would be most benefited by
anything o: the kind, no matter where
located. He did not agree with Capt.
White ~ to the feasibility of using the
mouth Of the Columbia river for this
purpose. but believed that the expen
diture Of four or i've millions of dollars
at some point on the Oregon coast IN
the construction Of q hsrbor would be
iustifiable. The harbor. if built, should
be located where tug boats can be had,
or one or two should ba provided espe-
cis,ly for vessels on approaching the