Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-21
her down. and not soul knows where
she lies to-day.

| her down. and not a soul knows where
| she lies to-day.
The Wyanoke. the Old Dominion
| Lire, from Richmond to New York. ran
! into the United States cruiser Columbia
| off the Old Point pier several years ago
| and sank in an incredibly short space OF
/ time. The crew and passengers escaped
almost miraculousy. The wreck resisted
! ali efforts at raising 1t, and was finally
! blown up by dynamite. The confusion Of
| the H1ln-of-war's lights and the electric
lights on the pier was responsible for
J this accident.
| tried to find a story of a ship burning
/ at night, with passengers and crew jump
| ins from the flames into the river. and
| with the final explosion of the boiler
| throwing ssywcrd a cloud of sparks and
| enlbers. Captain Thomas Cunningham,
| Jr., had to go back something like thirty
| years to recall a case OF ship afire on
| the james. Ard it was almost 4 farce
| comedy.
| The tug Wasp, belonging to Captain
! Charles Loetfler. laid uD at billiards.
| Wharf sixty-three miles down the river.
| while the crew went ashore after black
| berries.
| The berry-i1unters were hard at work
! when one of them, looking over the woods.
saw a great clord OF smoke rising heaven
ward. Ore Of them cried: - -
- the boats afirc,' And it was. She
burned to the waters edge and sank. the
cock, who was the only man aboard
had d terribly narrow escape. No one
knows how narrow it was
The hulk was raised and brought up
to Richmond. It lay for I long time at
the lower end of Justs's Island. and its
decaving tin7bers have been knocked to
pieces by the men who have built the
rri:sg ship plant over the grave of the
Wasp.
If any other vessel has burned on the
james since the war, no one seems to
be able 10 remember It.
Many narrow escapes have marked the
careers of the men on the city tugs.
The Frank Scmers, then commanded by
CAPTAIN Frank W. Cunningham. one of
the most fearless men who ever turned d
wheel missed the New York steamer by
less thar fifteen feet in Dutch Gap one
day Only the fastest kind Of work kept
the two boats apart. Had they come
together. the Somers would have been
knocked into splinters.
Cn one occasion Captain Thomas Cum
ninsham. ST.. the greatest pilot "hc
ever sailed the James. while coming UP
on the tug Craighisl. met the Philadelphia
steamer in The Gap. The CraiShill blew
one whistle and kept on her course Inc
big, boat cut across. gra1ed the tug boat
and Knocked eff the small boat which
hurg at the CraghilIs stern
The Virginia. of the Baltimore Fay
Lire ran onto WooCson's Rocks. below
Dutch Gap q few years ago. ard tore
her bow all TO pieces. And there she
staid until Captain Tom Cunningham
came down with his tug and pulled her
off thereby winning = handsome gold
medal
Sailing vessels sometimes find the james
q tad river to travel. During a iresnet
Il schooner runs great risk n n;tHlSa'nS
the river, especially at night. Nllh 'he
channel transformed into 9 confusion of
cross currents and whicipools. the least
false move would land The vessels keel
on the rocks OF a government jetty- Ihen,
if she smashed to pieces. none but the
strongest swimmer could get to shore.
Thu. sailing vessel moves very slowly
and very quietly. In the lower feachss.
sails. she must take the chances of the
channel. At night or in q fog, even
with all lights burning and with the fos-
bell ringing she steals up on So,ae dav5
on her Then Il great dark shape looms
out of the fog and there follows either
the sickening crash of ship tearing into
ship or an escape so narrow tHat tlle
pilots hair stands OH end.
Further up after the tugboat taxes
her in tow, the schooner has the little
steamer to stand between her and dan
ger. Even then. a vessel, doaSihS tue
tug, cuts into the tow
More than one man has been lost on
Il sailing vessel in the river AS rule,
these men come from the ports in jer-
sey or elsewhere along the northern
coast and are not known here. But
death is just as hard to them as though |
the whole OF Virginia rose up to mourn
them.
Sometimes a tow line knocks a man
overheard or he may fall from the rig
gins, or even roll off q roughly laid deck
one man short a month later some one |
finds the body the mud flats down the |
river.
Who can tell the stories Of the death |
them fall or hears them cry for help. !
But. back there, falling futheI- and !
further astern. Il little black spot bohs
up and down in the moonlight Once /
wife and children far up the New Eng
land coast wait for the man VINO never
comes.
The worl. which has in it more. OF |
danger than anything else along the river {
is that of the city's tug IN breaking up !
ice. |
The ice gorge of four winters ago gave
a hard fight before it left the channel ana
made navigation free. /
The tug Cunningham left here one sat
urday for q run down the river Cap |
tain Tom Cunningham and his crew ex-
pected to be back for Sunday dinner.
They got houT. eleven days later.
The river was full of floating Ice that |
Saturday. and, when the boat came up |
the next day her captain saw that TO |
tie up in the harbor would mean to stay ,
there until after the freeze. So he drop /
ped down again. Ice must be fought /
from the downstream end. Then. if the
boat breaks into q foe. the pieces float (
down and away. Ramnl.ng an ice-pack
from the upper end simply keeps your
piled up in front Of you.
The gorge came down the river The
Cunningham ran down ahead of 1t, at /
lacking at every vulnerable point The
ice pack was q tremendous thing. 1t |
filed the river from bank to bank and |
stood from twenty-five to forty feet |
high The tugboat looked ridicuouS!y |
small beside the great floating dam OF /
ice; but. like David and Goliath, It won
the fight.
once the ice nearly caught the boat. t
She was attacking the pack at q point I
scarcely more than twenty feet from |
shore. The ice lowered higher than the I
boat. and the water about its base was
tossing in a hundred deep and angry
The gorge made a turn, and |
flank /