St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-05-17
Five of the Crew PeriSh--She
Was Carrying No Pass
engers.
Quebec's Suburb, st. Sau-
veur, Completely De-
stroyed by Fire.
Twelve Hundred Families
Made HomeleSS--LosS,
100000.

PORTLAND. Ore. May 16.-The steam
ship Columbia, which has just arrived at
Astoria, bound from San Francisco to
Portland, brings report of the loss OF
the Oregon Railway and Navigation
company's magnificent side-wheel,
iron steamer Alaskan. This vessel is
reported to have foundered at sea off
Cape BlancO Monday, May Is, while on
her way from Portland to San Fran
cisco. Only meagre particulars have
been received yet. The Alaskan left
Portland last Saturday, May IL, bound
for San Francisco, where she was
to go on dry dock for some repairs
preparatory to being placed on the
Puget sound route. 1t is supposed that
she must have encountered very
severe gale while on her way down the
coast. The steamer fortunately car
ried no passengers, having on board
only her officers and crew when she
went down. Cape Blanco is some four
hundred miles south of the mouth of
the Columbia river. The steamship
Columbia. which was coming up the
coast, picked up the captain and mate
and eleven of the crew and brought
them to Astoria. Five men are re-
ported to be drowned. Two boats con-
tanning the remainder of the crew have
not yet been heard from.
FURTHER FACTS.
The latest reliable news concerning
the loss of the Oregon Railroad d Navi-
CATION cOmpany's steamship Alaskan,
which foundered off Cape Blanco, is to
the effect that the captain, mate, first
officer and eleven men were picked up
by the tug Vlgilante and afterwards
turned over to the steamer Colum-
bia. and brought to Astoria.
There were thirty-four persons
aboard. AS soon as the
vessel began to founder the officers and
men deserted her, taking to the boats,
Capt. Howse, COpt. Woods and eleven
of the crew all in one boat and the re-
malnder of the crew in the others. The
wind was blowing in a southwesterly
direction at the time and the men
drifted toward the land. The tug
Vigilante ran across Capt. HOwse and
his party and picked them up. Capt.
Boiler, OF the steamer Columbia, sailed
up from San Francisco last Tuesday
at 10 a. m. and when shortly this side
OF Cape BlancO, ran across the tug and
took her passengers aboard, bringing
them up with him. The fate of the
others is not yet known: hopes are en-
hONSNOls liIOy ulllICu
landward and were saved. 1t is posi-
lively known that all got into
boats, escaping from the sinking
steamer. The Alaskan was built in
1883 for the o. K. d n. com
pany at Chester, Pa, by Roach & Sons,
and launched August Sth of that year.
She sailed around the Horn, reaching
this port April 9th, 1884. She was eX-
actly like her twin steamer. the Olym-
plan, now plying in the sound. Her
length over all was 275 feet, her depth
of hold IA feet 6 inches, with 80 6-1O
foot beam. She was the most elegantly
fitted up steamer in the Northwest and
cost s350,O0O. Before starting for San
Francisco she was thoroughly re-braced
and her rear guards taken Off to
allow the water plenty of play. Her
forward guards were not removed. 1t
is supposed that ON account of her
guards she caught water under them
which ran into hei hold. She was fixed
up in pretty much the same manner as
she was coming around from Philadel-
phia. The vessel took no freight OF
passengers with her, and refused to
allow any one but actual members of
the crew to go down. A number of
people applied for passage. but none
got aboard. The Alaskan was insured