Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-02-27
PACIFIC COAST.
The Taesn,a inxe.,,r.,,.,.


sAS FRANCISCO. Feb. Co. rnvestirs
Ton INTO the loss OF the Tacoma was +,
suned this morning. At the request Z
captain freeman, the ssaternen. of .
n o!einoerger. mining expert of th
Iac'hc improvement Company. VII
was aboard the vessel az the tina q
ner loss, was heard. After briefly men
Looming the preliminary incidents OF tn
voyage from Port townsend. ne say
We vessel struck In the inner breakers
aiieT having passed the outer breaker:
which were heavier. de heard the Car
'ain give orders 70 reverse the engines
ana a! the end of half an hour the en-
glne room began filing with water. |
was darA, and the wind Was from tn
northwest. The sea broke heavily owe
nef all night, and the rivets of the shiI
could be heard cracking. About
CLOCK IN the morning she parted nsa
tue pilot house. Her bow rested to
wards the shore and her length headed
IN at about an angle of sixty degrees
considerable time was consumed by tn,
captain and officers in consultation a
20 tne best course to pursue under til,
circumstances. About this time a littl,
tug BOAT came outside the breal ers, anc
remained IN sight only few minutes
Wnen she steamed off in the direction
or Coos Bay, as it was impossible K
reach the ship. The Captain finally or
oefeo niIn and some others into boat
but after trying to make the shore they
We're Obliged to give up tho attempt
Ine captain Was urged to make another
attempt, but he refused, saying he did
not like to leave his ship. He finally
consented, the chief officer saying the
undertaking was hazardous, and at the
same time urging him not to send a
boat out. as 1t could not live in the
breakers. When the Captain succeeded
In making the shore, he saw him talk
ing with a man on horseback, who, after
a brief conversation, galioped away.
The Captain then endeavored to reacn
the vessel, but was unable to do so, ow-
Ing to the heavy sea that was running
at the time. The statement goes on to
recIte incidents already narrated by
other witnesses. He considered the
discipline ON board the Tacoma good,
though be had seen evidence of bad
feeling between the Captain and the
second officer.
The statement of Harry Wilson,
chief Engineer, was also made public
today. he says he was in the social
hail when the vessel commenced bump
ing. The first blow was light and the
second almost knocked him off his feet.
tie went down into the engine room,
and gave orders to his assistants to keep
sharp watch of the steam pipes. They
soon broke, and shortly after the Off
GERS quarters were washed away. About
three the following morning the vessel
parted near the coal bunkers, and SUBJ
sequently in the engine room. The
water bottoms had been filled to prevent
humping SO hard. When the crew from
ashore came alongside rush was made
Dy the sailors, and the boat would have
been swamped had not Engineer Grant
stoooan the Way and kept order with
his drawn revolver.
Chas. IL. Wells, who was also on board
tho vessel, corroberated in his statement
the principal points made by Steinber-
ger. especially in relation to the Cap
taln's dislike to leave the vessel, and the
further fact that he placed Simmons,
Chlef Ohcer, IN command when leaving
stor the purpose to run the lifeline to
hore.
Andrew Prindle, Third Assistant En-
gineer, testified that shortly after hear
ing the scraping sound he heard the
indicator signal full speed astern. He
backed accordingly for Ii minutes and
then got hell to 60 ahead full speed,
which he did keeping it it up for Ii
minutes, then getting bell to stop.
Word was handed down to all hands
to leave the engine room, open the
furnace doors and release the safety
valves. be started for his life pre-
server, reached the hurricane deck and
stood by ready to lower the boats.
While the Captain was preparing the
lie line man named John Bergen
took OF nine men and came back and
took similar load but capsized in the
breakers, leaving seventeen men on
board tho ship. Ga Wednesday after
noon they made up their minds not to
remain on the wreck another night,
and set to work making RATS. He
went ashore on one, Mr.. Grant and
three others on a second, and they made
shore IN that way, leaving those on
board making quite number of other
RATS. When the vessel struck she car
rled about 80 pounds of steam, and the
wheel was making about 60 revolutions.
Joe Santos, lookout, testified to moth
ing OF interest, except that he saw no
land or breakers when the vessel strand
cd.
l.. L. Simmons, chief officer, who was
recalled, testified that they were about
five miles of Cape Flattery when they
passed. He was asked BY Capt. Free
man to compute the distance OF the yes.
sci from shore at IL o'clock tho after
noon of the day the ship struck, max
ing due allowance for variations, ard
he found that the ship was exactly forty
four miles at sea. Resuming, he said it
was not customary for the captain and
himself to verify their position. He
had been told by him to put the vessel
in the trough of the sea so as to ascer-
tain how she would behave.
To Captain Kortz-I remember We
felt perfectly sure of the safety of the
vessel, and that you told me there was
nothing to fear about the ship, and the
only theory can give is that the vessel
did not steer the compass course. From
our experiences with compasses in Pu-
get Sound we did not consider that there
was any apprehension from pursuing
the courses indicated. / also remem-
Der that you told me to put
pole compass on top of the pi-
lOt uoASc, AIlQ tuab IL ulubt D6 QUuo az
once, as you wished to guard against
other c0mpasses by correcting the vari-
alton. The ship went from Seattle to
New Tacoma on a dark night, without
trouble, and We had no difficulty in
making our course. l consider that the
greatest vigilance was exercised on
board Of the Tacoma.
1t was compass work all the time, day
and night.
Investigation viii be concluded to.
morrow.
Yielding Gracefully. oFs
San Francisco. Feb. 26.-At q meet.
ing of the Police Commissioners this
afternoon a resolution was adopted
agreeing to accept 40 per cent. reduc
ton on gross amount of salaries paid t.
tho department. Reduced salaries t.
continue until the end Of the fiscal year
Interesting Grist from webfoet.
PORTLAND, Feb. 36.-An Empire Cit,
special says: Last night at Sullsy'.
shooting gallery at Marshfeld, w
Phillips shot and killed A. Hendrick
son. The shooting was accidental.
Capt. Healy. Of tho United States
steamer Corwin, and Major Blaksly o
the Life Saving Department, arrived a
Empire City yesterday to Investigate
the conduct Of the life-sa wing station
4 kaav,ar ut Caysa GraoOvv at the time n