The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-08-06
IROQUO|S IS HERE AGAIN
ISLAND FOR CABLE
STATION.
Commandant Pond Talks of Work Done
At the Midway Islands for the PACT
hc Gable Station.

The United States tug Iroquois re-
turned Sunday from her special survey
trip to the Midway Islands. 1t lacked
only a day of being exactly two months
and half since she left Honolulu for
her 1160-mle trip to investigate the
practicability of locating one of the sta
tions of the proposed Philippine cable
on the Midway Islands After a most
careful survey, Lieutenant Commander
Charles F. Pond who was in charge of
the expedition, will report in favor of
the station being located at Sand ISL
and, the western and larger of the two
islands lying within the atoll. The
amount of work performed, which
was principally photographic, was
prodigious. During the sixty-four
days stop of the vessel at the Midway
Islands no less than 1911 1872 soundings,
making a total of $50 miles of sounding
line cast, were taken. In order to ac
complish this, both the tug and the
smaller boats were used, and, as an in
dication of the thoroughness of the
work, 6532 angles were taken, making
it necessary for the boats to change
their positions no less than 2955 times.
While it was work from the day the
boats reached the islands until within
fifteen minutes before she started for
home, the sailors had time to hunt
birds and fish and it was very fortu-
found, as the rations got very short be-
fore the work had been completed. A
number of relics were brought back,
but the most interesting of the lot was
1200-pound anchor from the wrecked
Wandering Minstrel, from which. Cap
tain Walker of this city was marooned
for fourteen months on Sand Island.
An experiences which has served as the
foundation for "The Wreckers," one Of
Robert Louis Stevenson's most famous
books.
The Midway Islands are two in num-
Der, Eastern and Sand. They are COM
pletely encircled by a well-defined wall
of coral about twenty miles in extent
| Although enclosed within this atoll and
within a mile or so of each other, they
are in marked contrast. Eastern ISL
and is covered with vegetation, while
Sand Island consists of naught but
| glaring white sand with only tritle
of growth on the northern and south
ernmost portions.
The Islands were discovered in 1895 by
! Captain Brooks of the Gambia, who
took possession of them for the United
| States OF the two, Sand is the larger,
being about a mile and a half in length,
from a half to three-quarters of mile
! in width and about fOrty-five feet in
height. The Pacific Mail Steamship
| Company established a coaling station
there some years later with the inten-
ton of not using Honolulu for such pur-
pose Commander Pond says that now
most of the coal left there has been
coked by the weather, and he found
huge chunks of it blown half a mile
! from the original station. AS matter
of fact, the harbor inside the atoll is
too shallow to permit vessels drawing
much water to enter. The bottom con-
sists principally of white sand, but II
shoals so frequently that anchorage is
| decidedly risky The water varies in
depth from two to seven fathoms II
was impossible for the Iroquois to GO
nearer than half a mile to Sand Island
but Commander Pond stated that yes
sels drawing twelve feet could readily
go nearer the islands. Off to the north
of Eastern Island is an extensive la
COON, but it was not practicable as ar
anchorage ground.
1--WE left Honolulu May 10 last" sait
Captain Pond this morning. our or
ders were to make survey of the ISL
ands and determine whether it would be
practical to establish cable station
there, and. Furthermore, if it was pos
sible to bring the cable out of the deeI
water over the reef to the station Boil
of these are possible, and in my repor
I shall recommend that the station b'
established on Sand Island The only
way in which the cable can be brough
to the station is through WALES harbor
which is the only entrance to the atoll
and lies on the western side.
con our trip down we experienced
! pleasant weather, and used only thirty
one tons of coal. / rugged up an impro
vised square sail out of our deck avn
ing, and as we had a good breeze /
carried us right along There are tW'
bars to the harbor. the inner being tn
dangerous one. The harbor has from
four to six fathoms of water and a
high tide the bar carries about twenty
four feet of water, We were able to ge
within only half a mile of Sand Island
> and with the exception of special de
tail of four men, who were kent ashor
1 to within half an hour of our departur
, studying the tides, everybody lived o.
1 the ship. The first thing we did Whe
we reached the harbor was to divide tn
/ day into routine, with breakfast at So
= a. m. half an hour for lunch, and sup
V per at 6 o'clock, making the workin
, day from ten to twelve hours. w
worked every day while there, with tn
exception of Sundays and the Fourt
q of July, when we went ashore and en-
e joyed a swim, For the first two day
we INDUCED in reconnaissance work an
then established a base line of 1902 Al
feet, running through Sand IslanC
From this base line the islands and rec
were surveyed by system of triangu
lation for one week, and from then o
we devoted our time to the hydro
graphic part of the expedition. Tn
work outside of the atoll was done b
the IrOquois, and lasted twelve days.
an these surveys oAtside of the alto
we found that there We're no outsid
dangers to navigation The water wa
generally deep enough to admit ve'
sci drawing eighteen feet to come witt
in a couple of ships length of the corr
reef. We surveyed very carefully in ol
der to trace to the 100-fathom curve.
some places we found it at distanC
:, of two milesfrom the atoll, while
g others we had to go out OF sight of II
y islands to strike desired depth. Thel
l. is only rise of two feet in the tide
there are strong variable currents, bl
around the atoll, generally runniT
a northward, but changing in such an e
ratio way as to make navigation rath
dangerous,
Inside the atoll the small boat WI
utilized All of the work was thoroug
Continued from page five)