The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-08-30
SHIP STRUCK ICE
J. R. Mead Tells Story of
Islander Wreck.
HAD A PLEASANT TRIP
Saw All the Sights of Southern
Alaska.

this city last night after a trip Of seven
weeks through the west and Alaska
They report a very pleasant time, not an
accident or missing connection but the
whole trip was one continual round OF
pleasure. Mr.. and Mrs. Mead left this
city the second day of July and went
direct to Seattle, Washington. From that
point they went to Vancouver. British
Columbia, where they were met by their
son J. L. Mead and his wife, of Chicago.
After a pleasant visit with them at Van
couver and Seattle Mr.. and Mrs. Mead
departed for Northern California, where
they went into camp near Mount Shasta.
They are camping in the northern part
of that state at present Mr.. and Mrs.
J. r. Mead left Seattle, Washington, on
their Alskan trip on board the Queen.
The ship left Seattle on the eighth of
August Mr.. Mead gave the following
account Of the trip to a reporter for the
Eagle last night:
when the ship reached Wrangel we
went over the White Horse pass and
visited the huts that mark the line Of
the British and American possessions.
On top Of that high mountain is two huts
one the home of the United States Gus
toms inspector and the other the home
of the Canadian. over one house floats
the American fag-oVer the other the
English. These huts are about 30 feet
apart and between them is a large iron
post that marks the boundary Of the two
territories The trip up the mountain
was one of the features of our journey.
The narrow gauge railroad winds around
the mountain with a cliff on one side sew
eraI thousand feet high and on the other
side is a bluff Of the mountain reaching
thousands of feet higher. The road from
Wrangly to the top is about 80 miles.
The Muir glacier was one Of the oh.
jects visited. We could not get very
close to the head of the glacier. Last
year an earthquake struck that part of
the country and a large amount Of ice
was broken off and this is floating all
around in the bay. The ships cannot get
into the bay SO we had to view'i ten
miles away. but we could see it plain.
The Indians in that country are pretty
smart After the ice has been exposed
10 the sun for a few hours it turns white
and whenever a chunk turns over it Is
of a green color. There are a great
many seals there, so the Indians take a
white cloth and cover their boats and
man paddles it without q visible mo-
ton and the men can slip up on a seal
an spear him without much trouble.
At Wrangel there IS a great number Of
totom poles, more than at any other
point Some Of them are so feet high,
while others are not more than %. At
the top of each is the carved figure Of
some animal. the sign Of the tribe or
clan All down the pole is carved the fig
ures of fishes, animals. birds and rep
tiles This gives a complete history Of
the tribe. These poles are erected only
before the houses Of some important men.
The ship spent day at Sitka. the CAPT
tai Of the territory. 1t is about the
size of Wichita. but is far different in its
makeup. 1t is a very interesting place
70 visit. There are a good many Indians
and totom poles are scattered all over
the town
Juneau is a good town, and this is
where we picked up the survivors of
the wrecked Islander" on, Juneau is
Douglas island. There is the largest
stamp mill in the world here. It has one
Thousand stamps. It was Off the south
ern point of this island that the Islander
was wrecked. In that country there is
q perfect network of islands an along the
coast. Between these islands are the
ship channels. In some places there is
long arm OF the sea reaching up into the
land and terminating in a glacier. These
arms have a swift current and when the
ice melts under the glacier great chunks
,of or-7 r4oar dawn f,,+o fba eaa
IS what caused the wreck of the Islander
"A great many pieces of ice as large as a
house are floating about and in a darl.
night. especially if there is a fog. it is
very hard 20 see them. as they float al
most covered with water. The night Of
the wreck of that boat il was very dark
and the boat was going at full speed
through the channel. 1t is very un-
common for the ships TO run very fast
through these channels, as they cannot
ten what minute there viii ne collision
with an iceberg When the Islander was
of the southern point and but few
miles from land, il struck one of these
There was great shock and the pilot
asked the captain If he should run the
vessel ashore. but the chief officer did
not think anything serious had happened
50 the man at the wheel was ordered to
Eo on. 1t is claimed by some Of the
passengers that II the ship had been
run ashore all would have been saved.
Within 70 minutes after the ship had
struck the ice it went down. There seem
ed 10 Pc no order on The ship. If there
more of the people would have been
saved The first boat % set away was
the forward boat and this was only half
ancd with members OF the crew. Several
more could have got into the boat when
the crew LETT the passengers had 30
lower the boats themselves The ship
struck the ice lair and square lick
with her bow and o great hole il the
front of the boat was slowed in. This
raused the front Of the boat 10 nh first
and when il went down The stern WAS
high in the air. About 90 people were
drowned and $50 saved. They did not
know which direction was the nearest
land. and SO Goated around on the sea.
Some Of the boats struck the coast OF
Douglas island and someone came TO
the stamp min and save the alarm. The
mil people have a steamboat OF their
own ard this was sent ont after the
people in the boats and ON the island
The wreck happened about two O'Clock in
the morning We were below Juneau
and reached that town a lttle after
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