The Republican journal., 1885-07-16
BELFAST, MAINE, THURSDAY, JULY l6, 1885.
Puget Sound Pilots.


sKILLFUL NAVIGATION IN THICK FoGG,
WEATHER. FULL SPEED ALL THE TIME
He had just picked up morning pa
per and read an item to the effect tha
owing to the dense fog which had pre-
vailed on the bay the day previous, th'
ferryboats had missed some of their reg
ular trips. He laughed as he laid tn,
paper down, and remarked, "That il
allowable, perhaps, in San Francisco
bay, but Captain Of Puget Soun(
steamer would be without a situation il
very short time if he missed trip OF
account Of fog"
"What do you know about fog on Pu
get Sound ?" said the Alta reporter, who
chanced to be present.
The first speaker replied: "Well,
have seen all the fog want to for some
time to come, and have run day after
day through fog SO dense and thick thai
we never saw the shore line at all, unit
we docked at some wharf along oul
rou>e. | remember one particular Sum
mer, when it seemed as if the whole
Sound country was doomed to desolatio1
by fire, so universal and desolating were
the fierce conhagrations, which for months
ragged throughout the forests.
DENSE FOG AND SMOKE.
"The immense volume of smoke Great
ed by these fires would in itself, have
been bad enough, but in addition to this
an unusual amount of fog was eXperienc
ed that summer, so that taking the fog
and smoke together, the Oldest captains
on the Sound said it was the worst sea-
son they had ever known. | was at that
time an officer on one of the boats run
nlng between Tacoma, Victoria and way
ports. We carried the mails and pass
engers, and had to make time, fog or nc
fog. The only things that would excuse
lost time were broken machinery OF
heavy weather in the Straits of Juan de
Fuca. We called in at five way ports
and it was perpetually profound Won
der and amaZement to me how the cap
tain always found these ports, no matter
how thick the fog. We always ran al
full speed, the steamer making some
| thing between twelve and fourteen knots
an hour Sometimes the fog was SC
black and impenetrahle that it was i'm
possible from the pilct-house to see the
lookout on the toothpick deck, not tif-
teen feet away. Leaning over the YES
sells side you could hear the water as it
rushed away from the cleaving bow OF
the steamer, but see ii you could not
The hoarSe blast of the whistle sounding
its frequent notes Of warning, the steady
patter Of the paddle wheels and the sub
dued voices of the captain and steersmen
are well calculated to arouse in the breast
of a novice an uncomfortable feeling OF
awe and danger.
THE CAPTAIN AT HIS posi-.
"The captain stands at the window OF
his pilot house. one hand on tie gong
pull the other on the whistle cord. He
watches his compass and clock with the
eye of an eagle. He leans forward tC
catch the echo Of the whistle. The time
for running a certain course is up, a few
quick words to the steersmen and the
steamer swings into the new course. The
tide is running strong and heavy, and
though due allowance is made for it, the
captain, nevertheless, thinks it may have
| set him little closer to a certain point
may be. than he cares to 60. He can tel
to the fraction of minute when he ought
to be eff the point. He says something
in quiet voice to his first officer, who
goes forward, somewhere, into the fog
which envelopes the vessel in its drench-
ing embrace. The officers voice comes
back to US through the fog, as in a werG
sing song he reads the lead line. Sud
denly We hear the sound of ships bel
dead ahead of us, and the captain him
self springs to the wheel to aid the steers
men as they fairly climb the wheel in the
effort to put the helm hard over. We
Just clear the ship as we fly past her, anC
we hear the frightened call of her look
out. The captain smiles grimly as he
says, Il guess I'll hit one of those fellows
yet Presently the gong is sounded, anC
TIE ENGINES SLOW DOWN
until the steamer just holds steerage
way. 1t is impossible to see a thing
you can't even see across the steamers
deck, Again the gong sounds, and the
engines are silent. There is a wharf JUS
off the starboard bow, but you can't set
it, although you hear voices and the
wharfmen call out to you. The mate
hurls the heaving line of the head line
ashore, and you hear it rattle as it strikes
the wharf. Somebody on shore sings ou
'All right, I've got it, pay out pay ou
your head line,' and the vessel is made
fast to wharf on which men seem to bt
only shadows, and it is impossible to re-
cOgniZe faces until you are near enough
to shake hands. When this wharf is lef
we back out into the stream and the tos
again and lay our course for the mex
port. When you hear it said of maj
on Puget Sound that he is a first class
fog pilot, you can make up your mine
that he is a man of no ordinary nerve anC
endurance. Imagine for a moment tht
tremendous responsibility resting upoI
the captain of a costly steamer ladel
with valuable freight and crowded will
passengers. In perfectly clear, cain
weather it is bad enough, but | tell 70,
when the weather shuts in black an(
thick With fog, and to the gloom Of th,
fog is added the darkness Of night, d,
you not think it would be strange, in
deed, if deep lines of care didn't carl,
make their appearance on the counter
ance of a man who knows that the Law
and his tcllowmen hold him responsible
for the safety of the vessel, her cargo an(
passengers and yet he knows he must
! at all hazards, pilot his steamer, running
at the top Of her speed, through the aw
ful
DARKNESS OF THAT TERRIBLE FOG.
''In running in the fog the Captain
must be absolutely certain where he i
all the time. He cannot think that be i
about at such and such point, he mus
know it, better even than he does hi
alphabet, One minute of hesltancy 0
doubt may wreck his vessel. tbs, indeed
no child's play. The Captain must neve
for second lose confidence in himsei
during foggy weather. If he does, he i
gone. The man who to-day is consider
ed the best fog pilot on Puget Sound one
told me, that if he should ever feel hi
courage failing him in the least the frs
thing he would do would be to come t
anchor, if there was chain orrope enoug
on board to reach bottom. Some people
have an idea that in clear weather tn
Captain must have very easy time, be
cause he is frequently seen about th
decks, mingling in a social way with tn
passengers or lelsurely putting cigar
; Let us see what this easy time consist
: of. In the first place the captain is onl
sanD ont 0f tba piIot- honSp when tb