Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-12-01

the varied mass of Wreckage from thu
Portland which has been washeG
ashore during the last three days
Several pieces of white painted oar,
We're picked up at various points. One
theory is that the boats and life RATS
We're carried far out to sea and wer,
not blown any where near this coast
The place and exact manner in which
the Portland was swept to destruction
has furnished an unusually interesting
topic of discussion here in marine cir
cles. Old mariners say they cannot un-
derstand why the steamer, which was
sighted about o'clock, Saturday night
just before the gale set in, in its full
force, between Thatcher's Island and
Eastern point. Cape Ann, by tht
schooner Maude s., did not put int
Gloucester harbor wheA it was appa-
rent from the fall of the barometer
that a violent northeaster was ap-
sighted off Cape Ann. she was making
good progress towards Portland, but
the weather was fast becoming rough
and. as the captain of the Maude ,
says, it was plain To see that Sc
rous storm was impending. Why tbs
Portland left Boston. Saturday night
is what puzzles mariners on Cape Coz
1t was off Thatcher's island that the
Portland was last reported before she
went to her doom. There are many
theories offered in explanation of how
the vessel reached point near the til
end of Cape Cod Although the eXac,
location of where she went to pieces
will in all probability be never known
it is generally believed here that the
wreck occurred at a point about 10 OF
possibly Is miles north of Peaked Hill
bars. which would be from As to sc
miles from where she was sighted by
the Maude S. The tremendous seas
which she must have encountered off
Cape Ann undoubtedly damaged hel
and when Capt. Blanchard saw that he
could proceed no further eastward, i,
is thought by some that he resolved to
make for the open sea to avoid the
dangers along the coast.
The time that the Portland was lost
is placed at from to 10 O'Clock Sun
day forenoon. The watches found on
the bodies washed ashore had nearly
all stopped between those hours. The
wreck could not have occurred between
those hours Saturday night. in the
judgment of all competent authorities.
as in that case the wreckage would
have washed ashore at points in Massa-
chusetts bay. Further more the force
of the storm at 10 o'clock, Saturday
night, was not sufficiently heavy to
cause the vessel to founder.
When the wreck was at first reported
it was thought the boat had possibly
struck on the terrible Peaked Hill bars,
which are known among mariners
everywhere as the graveyard of the
New England coast. This theory was
quickly put to flight, however, by a
careful investigation. In the first place
the patrol at the Peaked Hill Head life
saving station We're on the alert
throughout the great storm and the
men on duty there saw or heard moth
ing to indicate that steamer had been
dashed to pieces on the famous shoals.
The fierce gale caused such a ire
mendous tide that a vessel of the Port
lands draught would have passed over
the bars in safety and run ashore on
the beach. In fact a large
schooner in distress, drawing
more water than the Portland passed
over the most shallow part of the bars
and did not ground on them, but
brought up on the beach.
Another incident that tends to place
the time of the wreck on Sunday morn
ing, was reported by the crew of the
Race Point life saving station. Race
Point forms the tip of Cape Cod. The
life saving crew there during the
height of the driving snow storm heard
four sharp whistles from steamer,
which We're recognized as danger sig
nal. The signal was heard at about
1.45 o'clock. and the crew hastily man.
ned the boats to give assistance if pos
sible. A terrible tempest was raging
and it was SO thick that it was i'm
possible to see any distance off shore.
The crew could locate no steamer and
the blasts of a whistle We're only once
heard
The men are positive that they heard
a steamer whistle. and are now of the
opinion that it came from the Portland
sometime before she foundered, for it
is generally believed she went to the
bottom and was not wrecked by going
on shore. The opinion is also general
here. that the boat was gradually bat
tered to pieces by the mountainous
seas. the upper fittings being carried
away until the water began to pour in
to her. The fact that her wheel was
found with ropes attached on the Or
leans shore is taken to indicate that the
pilots were powerless to control the
vessels course in the bay and that they
were Obliged to lash the wheel. When
the hull went under, the upper deck
and fittings. gingerbread work. ETC.,
probably became loosened by the action
of the seas.
These parts of the ship not including
the furnishings, were practically the