The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-01-25
NOT ALL rbAw


Towing SHIPS IN NtANN WAthW,
"Th,rr alV two sldcs to cvvry story,
r,ld Captain Randall Yesterday, ot the
magnificent tux Fcarl,v's, to a ivportcr
" tho A,,iorloM ~ h not an play, this
thing " towlng ships In or out nj a bar
harbor I have rcyrr known 20 long al
pcrpOd W continuous gl,lU and heavy
swcls as W. have h,d during the pasI
two months Tho storms wcro simply
something Nmarkanlc. and the steamers
NhicN haV' passed. In and cut during
tao, period hgyr hecn extremely tortun'
ate In meeting with No disasters, ana tho
iutgmcut Or tho pilots was simply pho.
uomcnAi
"lt takes sNmanshlp and peculiar cS-
pcrlcnco 20 handle vessels at the mouth
" the Columbia rlvvr \ thousand and
one coutinwc,N'ics ar to hc met with and
provided against Insurance companies
are very particular and raclr require.
meuIs must b. satisfied shpmas,em
cryyaiug In or out In tow ayc equally ~,
sponslblc with tho tugynhstcN, There
wcre but ak WORKING days In December
and four 81 Gar In January. but W. s,ic.
cyy,i.'i In handling a larsc tlcct You can
understand some of tho difficulties ot the
situation II YOU consider since Scptcm-
bcr sumo S ships have bccn brought lnto
tho Columbia river without 70 casualty
chagahlc to the ships within that time
six brand new hnwsrrs wcr' snapped IN
towing ,hc Province. Milton Park. Mac
milan. Easvuc and two others whose
names I forget Now thor hawscrs COS,
from sSoo TO $50 cacn to say nothing Of
steel p,.nan,s which cost so each. We
splice hawsorl whom they arr new but
they cannot be nsci who're thcr, IL any
daincv. as Insurance companies will no,
nay claims for the brNklng ot a haw-
,cr watch was spllccd For these rraSons
We canno, arorl to mkc chances Tow.
,ng siiip IN or out a harbor .s different
matter from running steamer Owe the
same course. A ship IN tow. In rough
weather win receive huge wave over
the bow. while ,hc ,ue towing her viii
take one about tho SAM time over the
stern. The two fosccs combined viii al
most invariably snap tho tins
After bow Of two or thrcc weeks We
always 80 down AMI sound the depth of
water and note the changes. This We
have just recently done. Tugs also 10
great many thankful lot~, for which
they never ~, crcli, We take shIp
down to the mouth when everything ap-
pears TO be- an r4gt,,. nnd taIe ~vuihcr
TO D. bad down thcr'. ana bring he-
htck again 70 safe an-horarc free OF
charge
TRUE the ships cOn sail In when they
cannot be towsd Take the casc Of tn
senator the other dav There was
strong southwes, al. blowing. the pllo,
kncw thN, he had rtralRh, course. and
,he tugs we're on the other side waiting
to nick him up Why shouldn't ne sail
IN bo'orc n favurnhl, wind, To tow un-
der such conditions would only mean the
breaking Of 70 hhwser aHd possible acci-
dent 20 both ships I, D. an easy matter
TO dump ship under such cIrvum
smncss. our tue weighing ~ tons and thc
av~ngo ship lSo struck hy a rr-rrse
swrlE' something must break In the
ca-r - big steamer. she would have
20 80 10 san Fruncis'o or the Sound Tor
repairs there being no drydocks or prs.
siblo m,pns IN the Columbia for taking
cnrc OF such case. We have boa,
down az the mouth Of tho river every
day, but YOU cannot blame us FOR being
extra cautious When there are dry
docks here ~ We hopc tlere win he IN
the near future. and the channel settles
down. there can even b. a more rapid
movement OF vessels although the record
OF the past year has been an exceptionally
good one, and will compare fnvonbly
with that OF any other port In the world
similarly situated ana under IKE condI.
tlons OF weather"