The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1900-09-27

terrific. but the chances are that the
conclusion xiII noe be any greater tia.
OF either Of the former occasions
Arch rock has been = menace to nav
/ iEztion ever since the days OF ~. and
even though the people Of Szasalito OBJ
Jet 10 its destruction because II Is one
Of the sights OF the bay. still the pilots
call il dangerous spot and they
say IL should have been removed long
ago.
When they come TO survey that
spot, said Pilot Frank Boyd yester-
day. they viii find every inch o.
ground in the vicinity OF Arch rock
covered with anchor. and chains.
Coasters and desp-wzter ships By the
hundreds have come within an ace OF
going on the rock and had to slip their
anchors in order to get clear. The an
Choir. chain and hawse-pipe picked up
by the Sea King on Monday was not
that Of the Autocrat- Il belonged TO
the old American ship Highlander.
The Highlander vas making port early
in 1861 and drifted down on Arch rock
in fog. The anchor was let go and
it held too well. tearing the hzwse-
pipe out OF the ship and nearly all OF
the bow Of the ship with IL The High
lander was afterwsrd got of and her
cargo was saved.
The first vessel that / remember
being wrecked on Arch rock" eontin-
4 -
Sea Witch That was in 1856. All of
the pilots had boarded of and the
schooner was coming in in charge OF
the boatkeeper. There was a dense
fog and the boatkeeper mistook Arch
rock for a sioop under sail and getting
his course accordingly made the mis-
take Of his life. All hands were saved,
but the Sea Witch was total loss
The next wreck was that OF the clip
per ship Flying Dragon in the winter
of 1S6l-62. She made the fastest run
on record from Newcastle, n. S. W,
50 days, and anchored OF Meiggs
wharf Captain Watson, the well
known marine surveyor, was in COM
mand Of the vessel, but the pilot was
still in charge when the accident hap
pened. A sudden change Of wind and
d fierce squall drove the Flying ORA
gon down on the rock and she became
total loss.
The next vessel lost on the rock was
the bark Autocrat in 1869 She was
loaded with coal and drifted down to
her doom in dense fog. Since that
time numberless vessels have made the
acquaintance OF Arch rock and always
TO their disadvantage. The old ferry
boat Clinton went on one of its lodges
in a fog and the steamer Oregon, now
running between the Sound and Nome,
lost her bilges on it. The old bark
Columbia stuck on it for a day and q
night, and last of all, the bark Ceylon
drifted down on it Jew months ago
and was saved R the quarantine
steamer Sternberg. As il was, the
Ceylon lost all her aAeathing. 1t would
vessels that have just escaped going |
on Arch rock by slipping their cables,
and when the contractors come to bor- |
ing I'll guarantee they will find more |
chain and anchors than rock"
In the old days it was a favorlte |
for the young men of |
North Beach to wait for a very low /
tide and then pull boat through I'M /
der the arch. Captain Frank Murphy,
one of the best known of the pilots, |
pulled whitehall through the arch in
1857. Two of the crew of the pilot
boat Golden Gate pulled a yawl
through in 1859, and then a couple of
years later couple of men tried to
-epeat the trick, but a heavy swell
vas rolling in through the Golden
late and they were crushed against
he top of the arch. Since that time |
'owboats have kept away from Arch
ock.
Ii has often been suggested to have
lighted buoy on Blossom rock and
'residio shoal, Blossom rock having
My nineteen and half feet on it and
'residio shoal only fourteen and halr |
eet at low water. 1t might be said that
vhen lights on Alcartraz or Yerba
'uena or North Head and Fort Point
an be seen there is no reason for
citing close to these dangers, but
1hen the curtain Of fog falls sudden
y at night after passing inside the
leads there is not much time to choose
ositions, especially on flood tide.