Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-05-22
The Old Fashioned Plunger.

About twenty years ago, and almost
anywhere prior to that time, the
"plunger" was as common as Indian
canoes and they threaded every blight
and inlet of Puget Sound.
One of these pioneer craft was
moored in Olympia harbor this week,
a circumstance which suggests the
present "reminiscences. II newcomers
should be led to ask, "What is a
plunger?" we would answer in brief, a
plunger is a sailboat, sloop rugged,
from one to five or six tons burden,
and mainly used in early days to carry
supplies from the larger towns to the
various trading posts and logging
camps throughout the length and
breadth Of the Sound.
Freight carrying, however, was not
their only business for they carried
passengers from place to place and
over such routes as were not then
traversed by steamers, or larger craft
of any kind. They were also the
mail carriers as new postal routes
were opened along the Sound border.
But one of the chief things which dis
tinguished plunger was its wonder
full seaworthiness and the hardy char
acter OF their pioneer owners.
A genuine old Puget Sound plunger
would make its appointed trip through
thick and thin, and it was seldom or
never that it was detained on account
OF stress Of weather. 1t will be re-
membered by old Puget Saunders what
daring feats were performed by many
OF these little craft when larger vessels
and the few steamers then running
stayed safely moored in port.
The plunger was remarkable for its
depth of hold and breadth of beam for
its length. It had no matches to bat
ten down in rough weather, the COM
panion way being the only means of
ingress or egress below the deck.
With the house" we'll secured, a man
at the tiller and another to reef and
manage the enormous mainsail and
jib, one OF these sloops would weather
cyclone which would have sent
death and destruction to the passenger
carrying vessels OF those days.
Plungers are now occasionally seen
in remote sections of the Sound, but
as class they are sadly deg5 nerated
from the olden time specimens. Like
many other things, they have had their
day and all the older ones that may
still exist have simply outlived their
usefulness. Small steamers and
launches have taken the place OF
plungers, but only in point of speed
do they exceed them. The real genu-
inc plunger was built much in the
style of what is known, or rather used
to be known, as a whitehall boat. Its
mast was set we'll forward, and with
gait topsail and center-board it could
come nearer sailing into the very eye
OF q gale than any other craft pro-
PEELED by the force OF the wind. In
stead OF q center-board it was some
times provided with a starboard and
port device answering similar pur-
pose. These were strong wide planks
hinged to the sides of the vessel and
carried horizontally when not in use,
as when whole sail breeze was pre-
vailing. But in sailing by the wind
or when it was nearly abeam, one or
the other Of these boards could be
deity dropped into the water and thus
utilized TO good effect until landing
was to be made. They were then
hauled up and triced out Of harms
way, as in the case of center-board.
All in all, the old-fashioned plunger
is long to be cherished in the memory
of pioneers of the Sound border.