The Hawaiian gazette., 1890-05-27
LETTER FROM PORT TOWNSEND.

Following are extracts from
letter written by Mr.. J. G. Swan Of
Port Townsend, Washington, to
His Excellency the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, dated April "a,
1890:
al have recently received letter
from friend in Boston giving an
account of the building of the
Columbia and her first voyage,
taken from history of ship build
ing on North River, Plymouth
County, Mass, from 164O to 1872,
by L. Vernon Briggs of Scituate,
Mass. from which the following ex-
tract was made: 'The first Ameri-
can vessel that ever circumnavi-
gated the globe was built by Mr..
James Briggs in 1873 at Hobart's
Landing, North River. This was
the ship Columbia, which also ex-
plored the Columbia River in Ore
gon, which was named after the
vessel. She was the first vessel be-
longing to the country to visit the
Northwest coast.
In 1887, in which year she was
registered at Boston, a silver
medal, size 27, was struck off by
the owners at Boston, to common
crate the event of her outfit for the
Northwest coast.
In the Boston Museum of Fine
Arts is wonderful feather cloak,
which was brought from the Ha-
waiian Islands by the Columbia
during her first voyage This is
said to be the identical cloak worn
by the prince on the occasion form
erIy referred to.
ait fell to Benjamin Joy, part
owner of the ship. There are
descendants of his in Groton, Mass.
There are but few of these feather
cloaks said to be in existence, and
their value is enormous. The
feathers, which are less than an
inch long, are taken from the under
part of the wing of the co. a bird
found only on Hawaii. They are
sometimes called 'Mamo' feathers,
and are worth now more than one
dollar each, only two or four being
found on each bird. a small lei or
necklace is valued at $500.
1 have copied the foregoing
from my correspondents letter.
thinking it may be of interest to
you. It is the intention of the
people of Oregon and Washington
to have a celebration in 1892, on
the centennial anniversary of the
discovery of Gray's Harbor and of
the Columbia River, and l am col
lecting data to be compiled for the
occasion.
cit is hoped that within two years
we may have direct steam commu-
nication between Puget Sound and
Honolulu, and that eventually a
portion of the sugar trade will be
diverted from San Francisco to
ports on Puget Sound.
"On the 18th inst. l met Mr.. H.
G. Davis, confidential agent of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, who in
formed me that his company intend
putting on a line of steamers to
China and Japan, and another to
Australia, touching at Honolulu.
He stated that an extensive deposit
of superior bituminous coal has
been found within forty miles of
Tacoma, which is now being sue
cessfully worked, and he expects
that by September next the output
will be from 800 to 1000 tons
daily, and they will deliver this
Goa! to vessels at the bunkers in
Tacoma at 50 per ton. A contract
has been made with the Pacific
Mail steamers to supply them with
coal, land portion of their steamers
will run to Puget Sound direct.
"Mr. Davis also states that
Rockefeller and a syndicate of east
ern capitalists will be out here in a
few weeks to select site for build
ing steel steamers of the largest |
dimensions, instead of building in
the East and bringing them around
Cape Horn.
"The outlook for business on
Puget Sound is very encouraging"