The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-06-19


donations of the heavy cannon and the
impact Of hostile projectiles produce con-
cussions that actually rend the clothing
OFF,"
The details of improvements on the new
American liner St. Louis embrace many
things that are not apparent to the casual
observer, says the Marine journal BY
new system of ventilaAing pipes, operated
| by electricity, the air in every stateroom
is completely changed every ten minutes
without the necessity Of opening door
or port and in cold weather the fresh
sea air will be supplied warm. The chairs
at table in the main saloon are made to
revolve upon an eccentric so as to afford
more room to clear ones neighbor In get
ting up, and bring one closer to the table
| in sitting down. An improved mail hatch
affords very rapid facilities for receiving
and discharging mails from the sea posi-
office on board. The ship has stockless
anchors that heave right up into her
hawsepipes and are always ready to let
go. The main saloon is without pillars or
pipes to interfere with any part Of 1t, and
is undoubtedly 1.-THE most commodious
and best lighted saloon of any ship yet
built.
The investigation into the loss of the
Pacific mail steamer Colima, says the
Marine Record is not developing that
evidence of overlooking and mlsmanage-
ment that the sensational writers have
made so much of. II is a lamentabie
fact that in ala serious disasters Of this
nature, some space writer who scarcely
knows the keel from the truck, will seize
| upon some casual remark and around II
| weave a tale to harrow the feelings of the
/ community and bring odlum upon people
1 who may be entirely innocent. The true
reason for this terrible disaster will prob
ably never be known, for the master,
who was In a position to know all the
circumstances, went down with his yes,
| sci. The storm encountered was, from all
accounts, one of terrific force, making It
| impossible for any but extremely high
| powered engines TO hoCd a vessel up to
the sea. To fall off into the trough of the
sea was almost certain destruction for
any steamer, for man has not yet been
able to construct a vessel which will
Withstand the force of the ocean waves,
and 1t is not a question Of unseaworthi-
ness when "a vessel Is lost in such way
1t may be true that the presence OF a
deckload of lumber became menace to
life after the vessel was practically gone,
but ii is not probable that this deckload
of onGy 80 900 feet of lumber in any way
contributed to the loss of the vessel itself.
All that can be said is that 1t was an
unfortunate circumstance. Take the case
of the S. S. Washtenaw. A cable was re-
ceived that an American steamer was re.
ported ashore IN the straits of Magellan,
yet our daily papers with startling head
lines stated, Another steamer lost Fate
of crew unknown" And 1t was stated as
fact that the s. s. Washtenaw was un>
doubtediy total loss. But few days
afterwards the vessel arrived at Coronel
and the master cabled "All we'll" This
practice of making much out of little
should be condemned, and the Record has
no doubt but that the loss of the Colima
was due only to a psril of the sea, ana
, such a disaster is liable at any time to
lVertlke any vessel.
Captain Bell, of the Surprise, talks In a
, very interesting way about his trip TO
Alaska, and being keen observer of men
and things, always has fund of .nfci-
nation at his disposal. He left Puget
sound for To,sh bay, Bering straits, last
spring and on his arrival at his northern
fishing port Immediately began opera
tions. He has encountered splendid
weather during his whole trip. and con-
trasts this with his last years experience,
when there were fifteen feet OF snow all
over the Alaskan islands, and a success
sion of hurricanes that more than once
nearly sent the Surprise to the bottom
Fishing this year IS excellent There are
three varieties of salmon in Tolstl bay,
the Taihees, Red salmon and Pink
salmon, the first named being generally
used for smoking. The salmon trout In
the vicinity are probably the largest
found anywhere on the Pacific coast.
and the mountain rainbow trout that
come down into the bay are a magnih-
cent and tasty fish. The hunting in the
vicinity of the spot. where the little Sur
prise pursues It's operations would de-
light the heart of any sportsman. A party
of Indians went out on hunting exedc>
tion a few days before Captain Beld left,
and the day he sailed came In with 500
worth of bear and beaver skins. The
vicinity of Tolsti bay abounds In copper
mines, and railroad seventy miles IN
length is now in process of construction
to Klawak, which will, 1t is expected
open up several new mines. The whole
country is populated by Indians, and
among them are some of the most in
telligent men that Captain Bell has ever
met. They own and operate some Of the
largest sawm.lis in Alaska, which they
.
aid. They have established several good
schools, and conduct their settlements In
a model manner. They are believed to be
the only Inllans in United States terri
tory VINO are entirely self-supporting,
and who have never asked for any ass. ST.
ance from Uncle Sam. The Surprise made
a remarkably quick run TO this city, COW
er,ng the distance q7OO miles, in a little
over five days. She will start up again
on Saturday and continue fishing till the
end Of September.
The Big Bonanza, ship. siiled from
Baltimore for San Francisco on March 20
and on May returned to Hampton
roads, having been partially dismasted in
hurricane. The following graphic de-
scripdOn Of the mishap the vessel met
with Is taken from a private letter re-
celved from Captain Bergman, her COM
mander: I'VE struck hurricane in
, lat. 81 IS N, Ion. so W., which robbed US
of our principal spars and broke our new
iron foremast below the deck and
strained the ship very considerably, so
much so that we pumped by steam with
both pumps from p. m. Of the 2Sth TN
. II a. m. Of the 10Th Of March before It
! showed the first sign that we gained on
the water in the hold The hurricane oc.
|
. us off Cape Henry, and 1t took me 80
| days to get back TO Cape Henry, but we
had to make large detour In order to
meet favorable winds to return with. The
gale lasted little over two days, whfpe
tie cyclonic disturbance of the center
which dismasted us only lasted about
three or four hours, and added TO the un-
pfeasantness Of tn. whole affair, Il was
so pitch dark that could not recognize a
person standing alongside Of me except
by the voice. Looking up at the masts
that were left, though not being able to
make out the spars on account OF dark
ness. we could see the st. Elmo free
on the extremities. When our bowsprit
and foremast were carried away was
standing on top OF my afterhouse, along
side the forward skyl.ght, and though
l heard tae terrible crash and knew
} something uncommon had happened,
could not see what It was that caused the
noise, until a big fash OF lightning re-
veaied to my gaze a sickenlng spectacle.
There was the iron mast lying across the