The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-06-03

The afst intimation received In Astoria
ysa,rrday that another tragedy had bean
added to the long list Of cntas,rophies
among the lower Columbia river hshcr'
men was q report brought In at "'clock
Yesterday by one OF kinney's plungcrs'
that four boats had cApslzcd In tho
brrakcrr beyond Peacock Spit. and that
one man was certainly drowned. ore c;
tho cupslEci boats was In klnncy's ser-
vice. AMI another is known TO belong TO
s.aborg The drowned man belonged to
this latter boat His name is John Mar
janIml. What became OF the other two
missing mon Is as yet mystery. Fhs-
sengcra from New Astoria reported that
there were six boats capsixed and several
mon drowned They could give no par
tlcuiars. however. as the life-saivng crew
had not yet returned to Fort Stevens
when the train left New Astoria at
o'clock During the day there were ave
raj different rumors and reports from
fishermen returning from the mouth OF
the river.
From all that could be learned. and
from the fact that flvc men were rescued
by the Fort Stevens crew. II is evid 1t
that quite u number OF boats met
similar fate, and were overturned In ihe
breakers at about the change In the tide
The government telegraph line 10 Fort
Cnnhy. as well as the line to Fort Ste
vcns were out OF use last night, the
intter line being down, so that no details
could be obtained direct from those
points a special messenger from the
Astorian visited Fort stevens last night.
and wired what was known there from
Wnrrcnton II Is more than probable
that the Fort Canby life crew also went
to the assistance Of the fishermen. and
can throw further light upon the subject
as soon as they can be reached by wire.
The boat belonging to Kinney, the gear
and both men were saved and safely
conveyed to Fort Stevens by the life
crew Who the other men were. and what
boats were capslzed may never be
known. II Is said that the fishermen
are more venturesome than ever this sea-
son. the comparatively light run OF nsh'
and large numbers OF boats on the river
making the men doubly anxious to secure
salmon. Every year there are some cas-
ualties. but Il would seem that this wear
unless the men learn to keep out OF the
dangerous places. the list Of eatastrophtNs
will be largely increased Another expla-
nation OF the accidents yesterday Is that
the mon who calculate in advance the
hour and minute OF the turning OF the
tlde were thrown out of their calcula-
tions by the lrregulartiy OF the tides
during the June freshet, and were thus
caught outside when they should have
been headed back for the bay.
Late last night several fishermen were
seen who were in the breakers yesterday
at the time OF the accident and they
stated that Just before the boats were
capsized. and shortly after the tide turn
ed. the water was as smooth as glass.
All OF Il sudden, without moments
notice. a heavy swell came In and the
waters became rough and the sea chop
py. driving the boats towards the spit
Each man, who had all his capital In
vested in his gear to the danger OF his
life, made an effort to save his net. That
many we're not only not successful, but
that some lost their lives, is the sad tale
Of the sea now recorded.