The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-11-25

The steamer State Of Washington looked
Ike a scaw loaded with wreckage as she
came INTO the bay yesterday morning and
iabortoasly made her way 10 the fesler
wharf. The auil was there. but the upper
works wera more or less absent.
Tbs was the result OF a peculiar acct
dent al | O'Clock yesterday morning. The
steamer ran into the Everett dock The
water was at such he;gnt that the
States Prov ran in under the dock. her
upper deck ran over the top OF the dock.
and the part of the steamer between stood
the consequences. Capt. Henry T.. Bailey.
standing by the wheel n tue pilot house.
found suddenly that the floor on which
he stood rested on the dock of the Everett
nail works. He could not see the steam
er's bow. but could guess from the noses
and general happenings that the bow must
be pushing along among the piles supports
ing the dock. 1T looked for short time
as 4 the entire upper deck was 10 be cut
away and left standing. while the huh
went of on an independent cruise beneath
the Everett water front The forty or
more passengers did not know what had
happened. but Their speculations were suf-
recently awful 10 create dire panE-
Since the blocking of railroad traffic the
passenger and freight business OF the
steamer State of Washington. running be-
tween here and Everett, has been ma
ter.aly benefited. The managers of the
boat were smiling TO themselves ard whis-
per.ng. It's an III wind that
blows nobody any good When the
State left here at 10 o'clock Monday
night her passenger accommodations were
well filled up with over forty passengers.
The night was clear. with slight ind.ca-
tons of storm. All was plan sailing as
far as Muckilteo. AT that po-nt fog was
encountered and snow began to fall. The
near Everett IL was Impossible for the
captain 10 see yard N front of the plot
house. The passengers iolled around.
read and talked until near midnight. and
then sought their staterooms. The cap
tain. in the pilot house above. was trying
to figure out the steamers location and
setting her course for the landing. 1t was
l o'clock and the vessels speed was about
nine niles an hour. The captain had
about finished his calculations and deter
mined his location 10 a n.cety when his
IDEAS We're upset in a most startling man.
ner.
There was a grinding crash--another
and another. hinged with these noises
were screams of frightened passengers
and the hiss of escaping steam.
They were all crazy said Purser
George Nuran afterward in telling the
story. land the men were crazier than
the women. You never saw such an ex-
cited lot of people in your life. They came
running out of their staterooms from all
sides and they were In all kinds of CO.'S
tunes. The noise of the crashing piles
and timbers and the successive shocks
as the steamer buried more deeply under
the dock seemed TO paralyze them with
fear. None was hurt In the least. only
frightened. One man named Wilcox. from
Ballard. was standing in the fore part of
the steamer and was struck across the
ts-A, ft- hi. -
by any means serious. He was the only
one who received a scratch. When the
excitement subsidized and we were able TO
take in the situation, We found ourselves
fairly stuck the dock of the Everett
nail works. The hull was under the
dock and the hurricane deck was resting
on top of 1t. If we had gone any further
the whole top works of the boat would
have been swept away. As II was. every
thing was wrecked as far aft the
smokestack
THE passengers were put of on the nail
dock. go feet away from where we had
intended 10 make a landing. Many OF
them were In such a hurry to get away
that they stepped off In their bare feet
and put their clothes on while standing
out In the snow. | had stepped from the
purser's office just minute before the
crash came. ] had $4,000 I'm the safe and
a number OF valuable papers, and when
! went In the room everything was turned
upside down. The safe lay over on its
side. papers were scattered about the
floor. and the room was total wreck.
1t took three hours TO get the steamer
away from the dock. She returned to Sc
attic, and after calling Mt Yesier wharf
was tied up at the City wharf. foot of
Seneca street, for inspection and repairs.
The boat looks worse than she feels. the
managers say. and VIII be on the run
again by Sunday night. This is owing TO
the fact that all damage was done TO the
upper works while the hull is hardly
scratched. The upper part can be closed
in temporarily and permanent repairs can
he made while the steamer Is on her reg
ular run. The ship carpenters are now
doing the smiling aud whispering about
"iil wind" and anybody any good" Re-
pairs will cost about si,ooo.
This is the third costly accident that has
befalien steamers OF the Pacific Navisa-
ton company within the last few months
The Fairhaven, which coIided recently
with the Island Belle off the shore OF
WILDLY island, was one OF the same COM
pany's boats. 4 short time ago the State
of Washington was laid up for n couple
of weeks repairing a broken cylinder Per-
haps there was something in the saving
Ing the wreck yesterday.
Why" he exclaimed pointing TO an ar
on the steamers deck ''it's no wonder that
boat had trouble: the AK heads on the
handle the wrong way" chorus of
voices Immediately echoed. wei. no
wonder