, 1882-02-17
OFFICIAL PAPER or JEFFERSON CO
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY Il, 1882.
Do We NEED PlLors?-On Tue

v ~
day nigh, the Chiliam bark Norfolk
frnm Valparaiso, went ashore jns'
below Point HIds n At he lower en-
OF ,n,s town. An unsuccessful FL
tort was made Wednesday toget heI
off, and had a high wind arose sh"
would uu loubtedIy have su'ta ned
Fatal injuries, Night bef're hst
however, the steam.tag Mas lex sue
ceeded in towing her off. No Sc
rious damage sustained. The charge
Tor the service, We learn, was five
hundred dollars. Doubtless the
"Oregonisn," ct al, will try to tor
ture this event into another ",erri
bic wreck on Puget Sound" BE-
this as it may, the incident is not
without it's lesson here. Recently a
gentleman who pre,ends to know 1t
oil about this pilot business asserted
that masters of foreign vessels could
sal. into and through the Straits oi
Fuca aud Puget Sound as safely
without pilots as with them; that
they were more competent to man
age their vessels here than our local
pilots we're, whether said foreign
Captains had ever been here before
or not, etc. He thought pilots an
unnecessary tax upon commerce, &c,
and alleged that we were inconsis-
tent in claiming the necessity OF pi
lots when we were trying to con
vince the world Of the superiority aud
advantages Of our waters over the
Columbia river, and Of the oheapness
OF navigation here as compared With
the expenses attending voyage in
aud out of the gateway" We ask
ed for an explanation, supposing the
gentleman's position to be correct,
of the fact that while wrecks and
marine disasters had been numerous
~ and down both sides Of the
Straits aud Sound in the past, not a
single vessel had ever been lost dur
ing the twelve years duration OF
the pilot system, with licensed pi>
lot on board. The Norfolk went
ashore on one side sof channel
seven miles across, SO The blame
could not be laid upon the waters
or the shore line. There was Ger.
tainly room enough to get by with>
out exercising any great skill in nav
igation. BIT the fact still remains
that the vessel went ashore without
q pilot on board, and that any one
Of our pilots would have brought
her in safely without trouble. True,
she was not lost, but is was provi.
dental occurrence that the weather
permitted her escape in safety. No
sane man expects to conduct any ex
tensive business without carrying a
reasonable amount Of insurance.
The pilot system operates as kind
Of insurance upon commerce. The
Captain OF the Norfolk paid enough
at one time for the services Of "A tug
boat to have supp led him with a
competent pilot at east five trips
saying nothing of the imminent risk
Of losing his vsssel entirely during
the twenty odd hours while she was
aground. If any one wishes to be
lieye it purely accidental that no
vessel has ever been lost by pilot
in our waters, he is at liberty to
monopolize that kind of reasoning.
Experience has demonstrated the
facr that all ship masters, however
competent nayigators, s,nsed the assis-
sance Of pilots in any waters where
they have had little or no practical
experience, unless it be on the broad
ocean. Puget Sound with all its
depth and width and safety, is nc
exception to the general rule.
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