Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-01-10

I'LL PILOT YOU TO PLENTY OF COAL"
rected her and put her again in commits
sion. Captain Tom, as he was known
among seafaring men on the sound, had
been for several years the chief owner of
the Anderson. He was MS good and true
a man as ever lived in the opinion of
those who knew him, and his life was al
most wrapped up in the Anderson.
Aug. 10, 1897, the Anderson sailed
from Seattle with 100 men and women
aboard, says The Post-Intelligencer hav-
ing in tow the schooner w. j. Bryant and
the old Politofsky, once a gunbont owned
by Russia, but which was included in the
sale of Alaska and which subsequently
fell into the hands of firm of shipping
men on the sound.
The Anderson was old and feeble. She
had been rehablitated, however, and was
pronounced stanch when she left here.
She was sidewheeler, one of the few re-
naming vessels of this type on the Pa
cific coast.
The. Anderson's master on her last trip
was Captain Thomas Powers, now gone
to ''the bourne from which no traveller re-
turns" Captain Powers was a part own
er in the venture. Big money was charg-
ed to passengers who sought to reach the
Klondibe by the water route.
Two weeks after the ship left port she
ran into one Of the worst storms recorded
off the gulf OF Alaska. The wind came
with velocity of 40 miles per hour from
the south. The Anderson lay in the
trough Of the sea at the mercy Of the ele-
ments. Her passengers were in extreme
wrctchedness. Many of them had never
been ut sea before. Each successive
wave pounded the old sides of the steam
er with terrible force and effectiveness.
Still she rode the waves
1t rained in torrents, and the barome-
ter fell rapidly. The storm grew in vio-
lence. The Bryant and the old Politofsky
were lost In the blackness that lay astern,
and tae Anderson, free of her tows, scud-
ded before the wind.
The leaking ship lay $50 miles from
Dutch Harbor, the nearest port. and 40
miles from shore. Her master, with rare
presence Of mind, had hugged the shore
line of Alaska all through the voyage.
The chief engineer was Bob Turner.
His men worked like heroes at their
places in the freroom. The coal ran short.
The chief, after surveying the coal bins,
determined that by scraping every piece
from the bins and floors, even to the
seams, enough could be obtained to last
the schooner 40 miles,
He sent word to Captain Powers to
this effect. A consultation of the officers
was called in the captains office. BY
this time the Anderson had moved away
from the storm center and was headed to
shore, where there was, as far as any one
knew, no habitation Of man.
As the consultation was in progress a
seaman on the deck below sighted black
spot far off to the starboard. 1t looked
like pile adrift, or perhaps like a small
boat. Some unexplained impulse led the
man at the wheel to head the steamer to
that black speck, which doomed up in
spite Of the darkness of the storm.
A moment later all on board could see
that II was man in small skin canoe.
What was he doing In that storm, 80
miles from lapd2 How could his frail
craft live In such weather?
Those were the questions in the minds
of the passengers who hung over tho
starboard rail of the Eliza Anderson as
she neared the dark object. Presently the
canoe was alongside, and weather
beaten figure clad IN oilskins climbed
aboard.
Sharp questioning brought out the fact
tuHt tHe man WuS Ol oWeulSu eAtThCtiOH.
An air of mysteyy hung around him. He
did not give his came. Told of the plight
of the steamer, he pointed toward the
shore and said:
"There Is I'm old abandoned cannery
over there, with coal in plenty under one
of its sheds. You can have that fuel. III
pilot you there"
Then the mans lips closed. No more
was got out OF him. Blindly the cap
tain OF the Anderson followed his lead.
The stranger stood on the forward deck
of the steamer and pointed the way.
Shore was sighted, Two miles from
where the waves broke In white line
the stranger said he would leave and go
his own way through small pass to
Bering SEQ. He was allowed to de-
part and the Anderson made land.
Beneath the wrecked roof OF an aban-
doned cannery the officers Of the An
.. NJ ra't.i ~ iii'4 ~ i-,r' cot per