The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-01-11
U~NFoUNDED

-NGA1 -
The Seattle Post-Inienigencer. in its
issue OF Wednesday. says:
As ii now is. the headquarters with
officials and lighthouse tenders. are prac-
tically on inland waters. These tenders,
the Columbine and Manzanita. shoot out
from the Columbia river from ime TO
time TO supply lighthouses and look after
buoys. having done which. they seek a
retreat in fresh waters, remote from
some Of the most important parts Of the
district. II they are needed they come
out. provided the heather is such as to
ALLOW H. II not. they renal inland
until the barometer rises and the sea Is
sim. II is said. for example. thar one
OF the tenders was ordered 70 the Wash
ington coast early last month. This or
der was renewed three times up 10 tho
first Of January, and again issued this
year., but because Of stress OF weather
the vessel has remained at Astoria prac-
tically bar bound. This condition ~
affairs is no reflection on the seaworthi- I
ness OF the government vessels or the
officials under whose direction they are.
Il merely suggests the ~absurdity OF hav-
ing these coast vessels tied up in fresh
water. where it is impossible TO use them
al certain seasons OF the year. Captain
Farenholt. who is now In charge Of the
lighthouses in this district. is energetic
and attentive. and the service, under the
circumstances. has been as good as hu-
man ingenuity could make Il, but he can
not be expected 10 overcome obstacles
which must present themselves so long as
the district remains so large and COM
prehensive as it now is. Whenever the
lighthouse tenders have been asked for
in work Of search or rescue, they have
invariably been furnished. wind and
weather permitting. and the willingness
of the lighthouse service officials 10 do
all in their power within and without
their strict line OF duty. has never been
questioned. The difficulty lies. however.
in the fact that the necessities OF the
times have outgrown the Old district. II
has become too large to be directed from
inland waters. and should therefore be
divided. There should be a lighthouse
tender on Puget sound. Aside from the
ordinary lighthouse and buoy work,
which has increased very considerably,
there are occasions when a tender can
be Of invaluable service to the commerce
Of thse waters. When one OF these YES
sells is needed. 1t Is needed badly, and
the present demands Of Puget sound are
sufficiently important TO make it desira-
bile to have a tender at once without
trusting to the vagaries Of the Columbia
river bar for succOr, when in time OF
storm or stress the need Of II is very
urgent. The movement to have a new
district should not be allowed to lag and
a lighthouse tender should be demanded
for Puget sound and adjacent waters,
where It can always be relied upon FOR
service whatever the weather or time Of
the year"
This is a strange miXJur Of truth and
falsehood. Nobody will deny that q
lighthouse tender exclusively for the use
cf the Puget Sound district is a necessity,
and we would be glad to see the en-
deavors Of Washington people to secure
such a concession successful But when
the P.-I. makes the lain because OF the
practical uselessness OF depending on Pu-
get sound service from the Columbine or
Manzanita on account Of the vagaries
Of the Columbia river bar it is giving
publicity to a deliberate untruth. The
Columbine and Manzanita have regular
schedule times for visiting the Puget
sound buoys and lights. and they have
never failed to attend to the work thor
oughly and well. But the shipping inter-
ests Of the lower Columbia are a great
deal more important thar those Of Puget
sound. and naturally. under the circum-
stances, the tenders have at all possible
times been kept close to Astoria. their
home port. The weather Of the last few
weeks. as the P.-L correctly states, has
kept the Columbine in this harbor, not,
however, on account Of the danger" OF
coming out over the mouth of the river,
but because Of the condition Of the
ocean. The same Weather has been the
cause Of two vessels losing their Astoria
charters in the last ten days by being
cooped up in Puget sound unable to face
a sea through the Straits Of Fuca-a
passage twenty miles wide, but infinitely
more dangerous than the Columbia river
has ever been. even before it's bar was
removed.
We don't begrudge Puget sound The
Lighthouse terdcr it is trying so hard 10
get. But the people Of Seattle, Tacoma
and Port Townsend ought TO be able 70
find plenty Of good reasons for insisting
their demands without untruthful
statements concerning the surroundings
of a sister city which nature happens to
have made a superior port and deep
harbor. /