The morning call., 1893-10-22
BIG COFFERDAM.
1t Is Sunk Beneath the
Columbia.
CHEAPER THAN DOCKING HER
Arrival of the WaterIogged Schooner
Corinthian i'm Tow of the
ReSCue-NoteS.

II the steamer Columbia of the Portland
route of the Union Pacific started for sea
this morning she would have to do &c
under sail and with great box OF an
affair fastened TO her sternpOst The boz
is cofferdam which, after a great dea
of hard work, was placed about the Co.
lumbia's propeller, which has broker
blade and caused the steamer to sigma
distress" when off Point Reyes las
Wednesday evening.
Captain Bolles of the Columbia say:
that the accident occurred to the COlumb bls
when the vessel was off Cape Blanco. She
immediately headed toward port under
slow pressure of steam, but did not gel
here till 10 O'Clock that night.
How to replace the fractured blade with
out docking the steamer had next to be
considered. 1t costs about S1100 day for
big steamer to go on the Hunters Point
DryGock, and the Merchants dock Is a
good many feet too short to accommodate
the Columbia. The Union Pacific sought
an expedient and found it in the shape of a
cOfferdam.
The big box was sunk under the steam
er's stern, and held firmly in place by
strong braces and timbers. Then the
water was pumped out. and, 10 and behold.
the broken propeller blade was exposed
to view. The blade Is fractured in an
obllQue way about three-quarters OF It's
breadth. The work of removing the use.
less piece of iron was in progress up to 3
O'Clock last evening. and by this evening.
it is thought, provided work be con-
tinued to-day, the Columbia will have
propeller that is just as good as new.
The work upon the big steamers ma
chinery attracted a large crowd OF sight
Seers yesterday afternoon.
Close by the Columbia and on the Mer-
chants drydock is the lumber schooner
Corinthian, which went ashore at Albion
last week. The tug Rescue tOwed the
Corinthan into port yesterday morning
and proceeded with her direct to the dry
dock. The Rescue took hold of the Cor
inthian Friday morning and was just
thirty-one hours in getting her safely to
the dock from the time the first hawser
was made fast
Ugly dents puncture the sides OF the
Corinthian. Her entire keel is carried
away, her sternpost broken off and her
rudder gone. On tie starboard side hole
had been crushed through the schooner
near the rail by the rocks. Her bottom
timbers are badly damaged and will all
have to be taken out and replaced by new
ones.
The Corinthian has in her hold 10000
feet of lumber and fifteen cords of wood,
which is pretty badly waterlogged.
dispatch to the exchange states that
the schooner Albion, which went ashore
at the same time and place as the
Corinthian, is in the river at Albion. Her
rudder, bowsprit and rigging are gone, but
otherwise she is not injured.
The value OF the steamer Newbern is
placed at about S135000. The Pacific
Coast Steamship Company had spent
about $4,000 for repairs to machinery,
and, although the steamer was old, there
was not an unsound timber in her.
The Saturn cleared for Panama and way
cargo of merchandise. including wine.
wool. canned salmon, beans, dried fruits.
and q deckload of lumber for Central
American ports. The Saturn also carried
the United States mails.
The Norwegian ship King Cenric cleared
for Hamburg with general cargo, in
Guiding a large shipment Of canned good s
Ions of wine shipped by the King Cenric.
Local wine merchants say this is the first
wine shipment to Hamburg by sailing
vessel for many months.
Slowly but surely the Detrick line OF
steamers is coming to this port. In its cir
cular Issue of yesterday the Detrick CON-
pany calls attention to the monopoly of
as follows: IF the Union Pacific steam
ers can carry goods from San Francisco to
Astoria for 81 per ton why should they
charge to Portland from 100 to 500 er
cent more? If they are willing to lose
money to run off our opposition they do ii
because they know that when they have
run our opposition off they will be able to
raise rates and make you pay for all their
present losses.
"Why not look az a TRANSFORMATION com
pany as a corporation that must do busi-
ness on business principles in order to
make perman ent success? Do you con-
slider it good business move to trust your
future to a concern that is not doing busi-
ness on strictly business principles?
"It has happened several times in the
past that Astoria has favored an opposi-
tion line. but. lured by the promises of the
Union Pacific, gone back to the mo-
nopoiy and helped them kill the opposi-
tion. Every time the Union Pacific has
again secured its monopoly it has imme-
diately advanced rates and quickly made
up for the low rates on its former short
f,.aa ko ~