Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-07
a.
WRECK OF THE BEAR
The Revenue Cutter on the Alaskan
Rocks.
PROBABLY NOW ROUNDED TO PIECES
Supplies for Poihf Barrow Station
t<,,
P'''ssy Lost.
N q T, " Il & ~~N Il d r n @ N,
N o LIv 4N ERE LOST


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SAN FRANCISCO. June THE United
States revenue cutter Bear rs almost total
wreck. and possibly by this time is batter
ed to pieces. That Information was re-
ceived in San Francisco last night from the
dispatch OF the officers of the well-known
vessel, which says she is fast on the rocks
at tie entrance to the harbor at Sitka
The steamer was blowing her way into
the harbor at good speed on the night of
May 20. when she struck on a rock and all
EFFORTS to get her relief We're unavailnG
She went on at high water, and the officers
state in their brief dispatch that they have
very little hope of ever getting her on Her
stern was the part to suffer most and the
dispatch says that her rudder. propeller
and stern post were gone, and in a sea the
vessel must surely break up it would be
In possible for her to withstand any amount
of pounding on the jagged points of the
rock on which she rests.
The Bear left San Francisco about six
weeks ago to join the Bering sea fleet to
protect the seals. In her hold she had
about 40 tons of freight for the naval sup
ply stations at Point Clarence and Point
Barry, and If it is lost the cutters will
necessarily be short of supplies unless
another vessel is sent up with the neces-
sary cargo.
No lives were reported lost.
The Wrecked Vessel.
The Bear was built in 1874 as a whaler
and ten years later was purchased by the
United States for the Greely relief expe-
dition. In April, 1855, by act of Congress,
she was transferred from the navy to the
revenue cutter service, where she has since
done duty. In November, 1885. the Bear
sailed from New York for the Pacific coast,
and con{hencing with 1886 has made an
nual cruises to the Bering sea and Arctic
ocean, foli the protection of the government
interests W Alaska and for the assistance
Of the whaling fleet in the North Pacific
The bFst is ies feet long. thirty feet
BEAM, $40 tfen ard one-haif depth Of hold
sna ar Of s 6sr 6e Ssss SHE ssss
built and I'm good condition. She is COM
manded by Capt NJ. A. Healy. who has
under him the Following officers: First
josn % E. ssurs anS F. G. SfsShS podse sniS Third
Lieut. c. NJ White. Chief Engineer f. G.
Schwartz, First Assistant Engineer C. f.
Coffin. Second Assntant Engineer J. e.
Dory and Surgeon James White. all officers
of experience and efficient in every way.
Capt. Healy is an especially competent
man and has had longer experience in AL
the service. covering nearly every year since
the purchase Of that territory. The Rev.
Sheldon Jackson, the commissioner of edu-
cation for Alaska, is also supposed to have
outfits for the government schools In north
ern Alaska
What Capt. shepard Says.
Capt. Shepard, chief engineer OF the rev.
enue cutter service Treasury Department.
| said at IL o'clock that he had heard nothing
of the wreck from the officials of the Bear
The nearest Telegraph Satstius1 to- Sitka is
Departure Bay. British Columbia. from sew
en- to ten days steaming from Sitka. Capt.
| Shepard. however, is unable to account for
the presence of the Bear at Sitka at this
time. The last report from Capt Healy.
dated Sitka. May H. stated that when the
Rev. Sheldon Jackson had completed the
object of his visit which would be the
following Saturday, weather permitting the
Bear would sail in pursuance of department
instructions received at Port Townsend.
These instructions directed the Bear to visit
Prince Williams sound. Cooks inlet, Shu-
magin Islands, en- route to Unalaska, the
Seal Islands and Point Barrow.
The fact that from Capt. Healy's report
the Bear should have sailed from Sitka
Dor on May ~ unexplainable Capt Shep-
ard, who has had extensive experience In
these waters the commander of the
Rush, said that the waters at Sitka harbor,
are OF sufficient depth to admit vessels of
| any draft, but that the channels are mar
row. crooked and beset with many sunken
ledges, and for these reasons entrance is
at all times difficult and in thick weather,
"HiS1i PicNaAS d great part OI tne tlme,
hazardous.
In one part of his last report to the de-
partment Capt. Healy says the Bear ex-
perienced very heavy weather on the pas
sage up, in which their lower sails were
more or less damaged. and that the davits
were so bent as to neceSSitate a new pair
on arrival at San Francisco. The weather
about Sitka, the captain said. was the most
| severe since American occupa ton, and the
snowfall had been the heaviest on record
during that period.
Much Concern at the Navy DEPART
| The news of the wreck of the Bear was
received with much concern at the Navy
Department, because of the grave interfer-
ence with the plans Of the department for
the patrol of the seal waters. The Bear
was to undertake the northern line Of the
patrol, for which service she was peculiarly
well fitted by reason of her construction
and the familiarity of her officers with the
navigation of the foggy and dangerous
waters. In the absence CT official informa-
ton the department has not yet decided
whether 1t will be necessary to send an
other vessel to replace the Bear on the sta
ton, or whether 1t will rely simply on an
extension of the lines of patrol assigned to
the other vessels of the fleet.
The loss of the supplies for the Point Bar
row refuge station is also a serious blow
This station is provsioned and supplied but
once a year, and tine season when it may
be reached is very limited SO that means
must be found to send another store of
goods there speedily.