The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-09-23

The steamship Oceano ~ still agrouni
ON the south side Of the nortn channel
Of this harbor.
Her perdicament, as announced, ex.
clusively, In these columns yesterday
morning. has not changed materially for
the better or worse; and In the absence
Of violent weather and the pursuit Of
plans determined on for her relief, there
l. every hope OF her finding channel
water this evening.
At 4;30 o'clock yesterday morning tine
Calender Navigation company, had a
barge alongside the stranded vessel 10
receive such Of her coal and supplies as
IL might be necessary TO lighter her Of,
and a gang Of twenty stevedores was
TO be sent by 7 o'clock. This plan, how
ever, was abandoned, and one put In op.
ration, much simpler and far less ex.
pcnsiye, namely, that Of discharging 400
tons Of water ballast from her amid.
ships tanks. This plan was chosen when
II was known that DIR. Earle, the com
manding officer here In the u. 5. marine
,.ospital service, had received orders di.
rect from Acting Surgeon-General Ar
thur II. Glennan, OF that department at
Washington, TO so discharge her ballast
into barge, disinfect II by the applica.
ton Of bi-chloride Of lime, II the safety
Of the ship actually depended upon such
an experiment. DIR. Earle confirmed the
existing peril Of the ship and gave i'm
mediate sanction TO the project, as well
as orders for its execution.
II was promptly undertaken, with
every precaution necessary for pumping
the suspected water direct from the
oceano's bilge into the barge, without
leakage. and at o'clock p. m. II had
been duly trans.shipped, and the barge
hauled up channel and anchored. The
barge was subjected to constant and
rigid use OF the bi.chloride and Is, to all
practical purposes, thoroughly safe.
The oceano was not freed by this
work, and no more OF il will be done
until full arrangements are made to
have instant aid from tugs, with haws.
ers out, to steady her into the channel.
To remove more OF her ballast is TO court
the misehanee. of her keeling on her
beam and the risk viii not be taken un.
til fortified. by such assistance as re-
ferred 10.
At noon yesterday the bar.tug Ia
toosh ran line and anchor from the
Oceano to channel water in the hope ii
would hold against the strain of warp
ing her back into deep water, but it
dragged and the scheme was futile.
When the Tatoosh left her, IL was un-
derstood between the respective cap.
tains that the bar.tug was to return at
high water, last evening, and make an
attempt to haul the distressed vessel
into the stream, but she failed to come
back at the appointed hour, much to the
anger and chagrin Of Captain Davies, of
the 0ceano, who was unsparring of his
reproaches and resentment last night,
for the alleged bad faith of the Ia.
tooshs commander. The captain of the
0ceano claims he relied absolutely upon
such aid and as a seaman, counted upon
Il as the surest effort he could make
to release his unfortunate steamer; and
had not the agreement been made, he
would have called in the service Of other
tugs, in this behalf. As it was his big
days work was rendered entirely worth
less and increased his danger. II is un.
derstood, however, the Tatoosh was call.
ed to the bar to bring in four.masted
schooner, and this imperative duty left
her no time to fulfill her engagement
with the oceano. BE all this as il may,
the 0ceano Is still hard aground on the
spit.
The work of diseharging her water
ballast, or other tonnage, will be pro-
ceeded with today under such condi-
tions as will make II safe, but not other
wise. She may have to lay where she
is until the spring tide of Tuesday next,
and by that time she will probably have
worked herself into harbor.grave of
sand that even the s.3 feet Of tide due
on the evening Of that day win be insult
fcient TO float her.
The water tonnage displaced yester-
day raised her nearly one foot, but not
enough TO ease her OF. She Is draw.
ing, in ballast, 10 feet aft, and iii feet
at the stem. and last nights ebb tide
must have left her midslip run nearly