The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-31

i vas that which overlook the Saginaw in
the year 1870. 1t was steamer of the
snrth rate and carried a complement of
seyenty-five men and officers Midway in
the vast expanse of the Pacific ocean
/ the vessel was wrecked upon a noun
/ tain peak. This peak rising three and
4 abalf miles out of the level floor of the sea.
nroiects its top above the water and is
known as Ocean island, one of the Mid
way group. On this uninhabited and in
bospitable rock the hapless voyagers were
1 thrown, and thought themselves fortunate
l 70 get ashore without the loss of single
life.
Captain Mon tgomery Sicard who was in
command, ascertained by taking reckon
ing that he was somewhat more than 1000
4 miles northwest from the Sandwich
group, which was the nearest inhabited
land. So he and his ships crew set to
cork and, with pieces of wreckage from
sAe lost vessel. made such additions
| 10 the gig. which had been saved,
as we're calculated to render it sea-
worthy In this little boat, only
tventy-eight feet in length, Lieutenant
Talbot and five men started off for help.
The voyage was a perilous one enough in
Of the Pacific, and the anxiety of those left
behind, whose only hope lay in the brave
venture, may well be imagined. However,
l IN thirty-six days the most westerly island
Of the Hawaiian group was reached. A
u lsnding was attempted through the surf.
the small bark was capsized, and the noble
Talbot together with four of the men was
drowned Only one member of the expe-
Salf bn ba
u vas an exceptionally lucky fellow.
he could not swim stroke
and yet he had survived six ship
| wrecks before. His name was Halford,
and for his services in conducting a re-
u scuing party back to Ocean island he was
made gunner in the navy, which honor
able post he now holds. The boat in
which the famous voyage was made is
II preserved to this day at Annapolis.
ii A very surprising disaster overlook the
/ wooden corvette Monongahela at Santa
u Cruz in November. 1867. While she Law at
u anchor in the harbor there a tremendous
earihquake shook the island, followed
: by tidal wave which came in
from the sea looking like a mighty
\ wall of water rushing upon the land. Some
I said that the wave was sixty feet high,
| J at forty feet. AT all events it picked the
vessel up and carried it clear over the town
Of Frederichstadt, and then back again.
The ship knocked down at least one build
ing, and finally landed about fifty feet
! from the beach, high and dry. Strange to
. say no lives were lost. The Monongahela
II vas afterward got off and set atioat once
, more, at a cost of about 100000 Prob
! ably the operation did not pay. being per-
l brmed rather for the satisfaction of en-
l cheering pride than for any other reason.
. i The hulk was taken to Portsmouth, n. H.,
and rebuilt.
III Asomewhat similar accident befell the
III toop-of-war Wateree in the very next year
Al uArica Peru. A tidal wave, one of the
II greatest ever known, caught up the vessel,
l carried il through the main street of the
III Town and landed it several miles inland in
I'll the midst of a tropical forest, where it
. ended its days as hotel. The same wave
l upset the storeship Fredonia, which lay in
Il the harbor, and drowned all hands on
n board
II Few disasters at sea are so impressively
& tragic as the disappearance OF great YES
II Gel OF war that sails ont of port with a
numerous ships company, boating and
garrisoned fortress, and is never heard
nom again. Yet many a noble craft of
81 Uncle Sans navy has met that melan-
tholy fate. In 1850 the corvette Levant
left Honolulu for Panama. She went
DOWN somewhere in the midst of
Inc Pacific with 212 souls on board.
II Nobody ever saw her again. The
6rampus schooner of war, was cruising
southward along the Atlantic coast in
II io42 bound for the West Indies. She and
her sixty-hve officers and men went to
pavy Jones locker together. IL is sup
posed that she capsiZed in squat. In
/ 1880 the schooner of war Hornet foun-
II ,l.,r ahn,l r1nf "a
nom Iampico, and Ter crew of 200 sea-
men and officers gave their lives 10 the de-
/ sourlng ocean and their bodies TO the
I hshes. The brig of war Porpoise, while on
n ssuTFeying expedition in 1854. was lost in
we formosa channel with all hands. In
.ne same year the sloop-of-war Albany
/, 'ahshed from view in the Indian ocean
l Win all her officers and men, and was
nrVsr heard from afterward. The irgate
1 ihsurgent, which had been captured from
we French, was lost at sea in the year
~" No one knows what became OF her.
oAe ana the 400 souls on board Of her were
/ SIMPLY wiped ont OF existence. Like faies
/ overlook the sloop-of-war Wasp in 1874,
@meWhere between Gibraltar and the
Sadeira islands. and the sloop-of-war
lFrvier in the following year, the latter
uoaotless going down in a cyclone.
u"e o. The most extraordinary catastro-
yaes that have befalien vessels of the
L
val oneida IN 1859. She was bound home
saa with Jolly ships company, eager 10
e"lVes ana sweetheaTts and native land
Al ~ more, when, not far out of port, she
- US struck by the British steamer Bonn
n ~N' coming IN. The stem of the Bombay
Il ~ The stern OF the Oneida clear Oft, and
~ gaping chasm into which the water
-sued The ship was sinking rapidly.
~1u guns OF distress were Immediately
'ed but the Bombay instead of render
l .g aSslstance-the disaster occurred at
aght-steamed on her way. and left the
unhappy vessel 10 meet her doom. She
n down presently, and all were
uTNhed bat one or two Of her crew.
iAe captain If the Bombay gave no
i S.1tr reason for his cruel conduct than that
e asd Lady Eyre. the wife of disiIn-
4 shec British satrap, on board, and did
a." "!Sh 10 disturb her nerves with scenes
Nlp"reck. He Vas mobbed when he
Nned Yokohama. dismissed from the
A.fce, socially raoOoed from that time on,
-. u'ed IN disgrace q year or two later.
~ curious accident happily unattended
- loss Of I3le happened 10 the paddle
-! vessel SaTanaC. in is-5. on her way
the northwest coast - Boring strait.
.aA'hg pilot on board she attempted 10
4 Ss through the ljttie-known sew
sVar narroWs. The passage Is
Az dangerous one the current
sahhlng at the rate uI fourteen
aAes an hour when the t5c i AT It's fun
\ aIeheth. with q tremendous ''overiah,"
II e"aFes tDmblIng over aud over in their
eaoiong rush. The vessel struck rock,
~ hole n her bottom and sank inn
u ss tiateiN. 50 that the crew had only about
meeh minutes % get ashore. She sank
l'efF deep water. ybe rock being merely
- pinnacle rising from the bottom. and