The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-13

makes no mention of the scarcity of water,
but states that at noon that day thew
sighted Copper island twenty miles off,
ran for six hours northwest, which must
have taken them pretty we'll close to
the shore; and then. i. e., 6 p. m. on the
18th of August, comm need a southeast
eriy course, on the average, for about
sixty hours. Then the log for the first
time mentions shortness, not of water
only, but OF fuel Also and that Can't Tur-
tie resolved To find a supply of both G e.,
water and driftwood) here" This was
al noon on the 18th. up TO which time
their course seems to have been well
enough directed for Victoria The dis
tance run each day, as wei as the rate per
hour. Is entirely omitted from the log. but
l. seems reasonable that on the 18th of
August they should re we'll TO the
southwark and eastward, not of Atu
island merely, but of Aguttou, an island
fifteen or twenty miles south of Attn: an
appreciahle distance on the return to VIC
toria. Then, according to the Jog, the
master, making tor water and fuel, turns
his course completely round, viz, west
ward. IN consequence Of which maneuver,
about 10 o. m Aguttou is stated in the log
to be aoeam; and they double the west end
Of Atu island the following morning, the
3tih. So completely does the log contra
dict the masters statement that ne could
not make the south side of Atu island for
the wind. whereas. be had just come from
the south SIDE. Of course. 1t may be that
there is no convenient watering place
either on Agurtou Or the south side of Atu:
but that Is not what the master says was
his reason for making Gotzeb harbor. The
masters evidence is also contradicted as to
the state of the weather on Gotzeb harbor.
HE log alleges the wind to be strong
northeriy; cloudy and rainy; the master
NeScTiDpS IL
facing due north, but that he was pro-
tected against the heavy sweil-"rough.
stormy, with q heavy sea"-by a westerly
bluff. which could hardly protect him from
the north. The log says nothing of this.
Commander Johnson's evidence contra.
diets 1t; and the state of the weather on
TINS lee shore did not prevent the schooner
taking on board 1, 500 gallons of water in
TWO or three hours when he once COM
menced operations Capt. Turtles evil
dence Tin itself not very probable) a. to
the statements of Commander Johnson.
immediately after the capture, is com.
pleteiy contradicted by the commander
himself. Nor does Capt Turtle fail to
contradict himself apparently "Gotzeo
Is the harbor know" (p. .. II did not
want 10 go into Tschitschogoff harbor,
Gotzeb" Up. 81 But at p. Ii ne
has forgotten this preference, and says he
went into Gotzeb as the only one he could
make with safety. BY his evidence also
on the same, p. II, Capt. Turtle appears
never TO have been in Berlng sea in his
lite. except on this unfortunate occasion
How did he know these two harbors so
well as TO distinguish between their char
acteFs2 He says he had no chart except
the general chart OF Boring sea, on a
sca,e, / suppose, of some forty miles to the
inch; and his deposition leads one to sup
pose that he had no other sources of in
formation: and (p. ID he had never been
"a saa hafo In
did he know? This seems to have struck
even himself little. for when asked why
he went into that particular arbor, he says
In the same page. after giving very bad
account oil the weather: lit was the only
harbor | could make out that I thought it
safe TO go into" Again. an instance OF the
extreme caution of this witness may be
seen al page 13. where he for long declines
to commit himself to the statement that
the Aleutian islands are the south boun-
Diary OF Bering sea, though he was warned
by the United States steamship Adams.
and furnished with a copy of prociama-
ton, act of parliament and order in coun-
Gil. Clearly none of these statements by
Capt. Turtle can be relied on for rebuttng
the statutory inference which l am COM
manded to draw from the equipment OF the
schooner.
Then was referred to the log, and GER
tainly the entries there show, if they can
be relied on, that the Oscar and Hattie did
not during the month of August enter on
the forbidden limits, except with an inno-
cent purpose. But upon the log, as pro-
duced, there are many remarks to be made.
In the first place apprehend that in these
proceedings the statements in the log like
the entries in a merchants ledger or day
books, may be evidence against the own
ers but not for them. In the next place.
on examining the handwriting, the whole
appears to have been written by Peters.
hA 7 a "a n~ntpSlaQ n no Yoi, 7
think, by German; and the last entry
states their arrival at Ounalaska on the
9Th of September. The original log book
ought surely to have been taken into the
possession OF the captors when the
schooner herself was seized and carefully
retained by them. Then the entries would
have been beyond suspicion, and wou d,
perhaps, have contained much informa-
ton which is now wanting.
do not quite understand how the log
book has been treated since August 81. At
page the master says it vas seized by En-
sign Harrison on August 81 but ii must
have been returned Immediately, for
Peters, the mate. continues to make en-
tries up to the arrival. on September 5 at
Ounalaska. The masters statement IS
either untrue or disingenuous in not stat
ing this clearly; if he and Peters had con-
temp!ated the construction of a fictitious
log they had most ample opportunity.
And the production OF lOgbook of this
character, under the circumstances,
merely adds to the suspicious nature
Of the whole case for the defense
But the curious thing about this log
book is that, although it is called on
the title page, Log OF the Schooner Oscar
and Hattie on a Voyage from Victoria
to the North Pacific" a title which is re-
peated Mt the head of each page up to the
Goth o. 9th Of August, and although We
are told that the schooner first left Vic
toria on the 2Sth of January, and received
her present master and sailed from va
Quna on the 18th OF February. the log pro.
duced commences on the Goth OF July at
SOM point off Copper island. There are
SIX months unaccounted for and this is
the only log b Ok referred TO or mentioned
in the argument. Under the circumstances
II seems very doubtful whether Capt. Tur-
ties statement IN his deposition or the
mates IN the log as To the transactions in
August Is the less entitled To credit. But
even II one Of them be exactly true do not
see how II proves more than this. that dur
ing one month ont of the seven, from the
a. RI h., 2n-h 81