The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-09-04
CAPTAIN Wilde's Detailed Report
of the Grounding of the
Big Baltleship.
SAYS OFFICERS WERE VIGILANT.
Men Took Soundincs Constantly
Crew Were on the Alert When
the Ship Went on the Rock
Story of the Salvage.

Washington. S-ut 3-Tle Navy Derart-
ment has Just received by mai 'he official
! report of Captain Wilie Of thr bat,les hip
| Oregon of the circumstances attending the
grounding Of that ship IN the .;rif OF i'e-
| Chilli last June and h-r successful eaiv@ Ee.
The report goes 80 confirm the d"raft-
ment-s previously expressed conviction that
the grounding was not in any respect at
tributabIe to fault on the part oi Captain
Wilde or any officer of the oregon. who. in
fact. appear t. have exercised extrTordi-
nary precautions 20 guard against the &C
cident The Oregon has been completely
repaired and arrived yesterday 1T Woo
Sung. where she is 10 form one OF the IN
ternationaI fleet to guard the transport
service during the existence OF The Chinese
troubles.
Chart Was deceptive
Cantaiu Wide, report is as follows,
al have the honor to report that the l.. :;
s. Oregon, under my cumnahG, Efou.uy,SS
upon am uncharted ledge IN Pi-CnI-hI ~, i,.
at sos D. m, June .S 1890 The leiee has
three and oue-haIf fathoms over its nighest
part. Its position - located by seAtSht III
angles upon an accompanying - mar. ne ie
chart shows AT this place seventeen W
3PTevious TO the grounding of the ship.
have to state that / received urgent ordefS
from Hong Kong. from the Commander-ln-
Chief To proceed 80 Tdhu as soon az READY
This order was dated June ~. ana was re-
ceived the same afternoon. Ihe Zanfo ~
rived at 4:i0 u. m. on June y, and the mo-
ment the men and stores We're taken iIoii
her the oregon went to sea, leaving iiJiis i5,
Kong nj e:,si u. m. Neathe- ine ana 'l'5.L
until the 25th. when fog set in very thlck.
Slowed to half speed At intervals 'iie lob
lifted and ship was sent aheaa tG., siah,.% - ~
STA o'clock on night of June q; y. Il Irol"1
ontory light was not sighted, as l"g naH "a;
again smut down. Neither was the log sig
hPinp '.eHGe1 ElSuN
along with patent sounding machine.
crew on the Alert Constantly.
"OT Wei-iIai-Wei the fog lifted for a few
noomen;s, lust long enough Tor me TO see
the rashing light That was the last abso-
lutte 'fS' / had. | Judged inyseh ~ Se on. os
Che-Foo by seeing some JuiAs winch 81 az
generally seen OF that port \ s.eainer -, IT,
Crossed or baw. evidently bound into Chs-
Foo from Port Arthur , ,,,o.
THE fog settled down denser ana uehset:
We sounded with patent lead every ,t nllt
hour When my distance from H9"h.
Light had been run down 10 "!tnln .sh
miles slowed 20 five knots ana h'tu tetus illus,
men in both chains. also extra l~ooAouas ~
listening for any whistle echo from any
island or to catch sound oI gun iEohi
Howki Light Station. ..uo.oraa
There were fully fifty men sretcheu
along forward on both sides on Lookout;
Owing To the density Of the fos reina.I1Sd
on the bridge night and day snot .he -SIm; M;
all hands in fact. were constantly on tiis
alert The whistle was being constantly
sounded. and there was very hsnt s.I1r, ~
there was reason why the HSHtheePNAS
should not have heard IT.
Anchored In shallow Water.
~T continued on, sounding constantly, until
las .. m. on the 18th, when began deepen
ing water from twelve TO thirteen IathoHS'
when / had been getting right alons TO
This Indicated something wrong. and.
getting no response 10 blasts OF Inc "hisue'
II anchored in seventeen faJhoms of water
The fog was very dense. Two whaieDuits
sounded around the snip. but found no o.
6tructions.
about forty-five minutes after anchorins
the fog suddenly lifted and the Howkt
Lighthouse was plainly seen. bearing NO
u W.. distance three and Une-thiTd miles
4 he chart showing clear water, got under
wav and sailed for Howki Light
''rhe fog shut down again very dense be-
sition. and the orders being urgent, and
suspecting no danger. started ahead win
the starboard helm. when the vessel
Light Keepers Guns Fired Too Late.
Not until then did the l.ghtkeepers fire |
guns; they then fired two guns according
40 the rule All wateT-tight doors were |
Instantly closed. Engines We're instantly /
stopped, but not reversed, as / feared she |
might sink IL backed into deep water The
sea was as smooth lake and decided |
to wait and see IL she made water, which |
she did rapidly, in compartments A3. Al. AS. |
As3. A?5 Aes, BSo. Is magazine, magazine |
and passing room
Il at once got out and prcvisioned all |,
boats. also armed and equipped same / |
got over the CoIlS.On mat Al once, ana at /.
slack water sent Il diver down and located |
the break. Another diver was procured. |
very fortunately. from wrecking expe- |
dltion some ten miles distant, who located |
one long break extending a distance of |
twenty-five feet on the port siGe forward. |
The current running at great velocity, div |
ers can only work for two hours at high |
and low water slack.
Il sent Lieutenant Leigh. navigator. to |
Chee-Foo. on passing French gunboat Sur !
prise. TO charter steamers to take ammu- |
nltlon, coal and stores. ~ the shin NOuln I
have TO be iightened TO get the rock out of |
the side of the ship. or out of bottom
Went Aground Second fine.
Two steamers arrived from Che-Foo on |
june 30 which had been chartered by Com |
Inander Rogers, L. 5. S. Nashville. ! got /
two ten centrifugal pumps from wrechers |
Without them water could not be con-
troLed, az the ships steam pumps could not |
90 SO because OF the damage to main drain |
pipe by rock coming through side
''On July 1. at II 81 p. m. the shin fioat.d 1
ana swung to anchor, which had been laid /
our Sttaa ss'ern nd y, with lo.inch hawser; hawser
tered a steamer, but could not avoid going
aground second time. The ship rests be-. 4
tween two large powders forward. The
divers can see under the keel She shows
30 signs of strain as far as .bIIts' or
streaks' starting. shall continue to tighten
ny taxing out more coal and. alnp1unition
Am confident can get the ship off. Eure
l2rydock, Inland Sea, is nearest and Japan
Yer si yesnectf1Ily sI1 mas onered It's IS use ~
Captain, T. S. N. Comma NJ lltRE: hdins: -
ffoated while Tightening.
subsequent report from Captain Wilde
lh the Following day, July ), dated on board
he snip In the Gulf of Peichili says that he |
has the pleasure 10 report that the shin
toated on at 1:2o that afternoon while light
ening
She was anchored In seventeen and ona-
half fathoms of water. two and one-ouarter |
niles south of the Howki light and the
pumps were controlling the water Wreck |
ng steamers were with her. but the can |
ain was able TO report that no additional |
loies na1 been found by the divers since
going ashore the first time /
The ship afterwards went. az ie already
known, to Kure dock, where she was tenn
Dorarily repaired. |
MRS. p. H. LESLIE. DEAD.
Her Husband Was Governor of