Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-15
WRECK OF VALENCIA
Report of Commission That In
vestigated Disaster.
DUE TO FAULTY NAVIGATION
Coast is Unusually inaccessible and
Uninhabited.
MANAGEMENT OF THE VESSEL
Conduct Of Passengers and Crew
Was All That Could Have
Been Desired.
MANAGEMENT OF THE VESSEL

| Inc oflcial report or the federal COM
mission sent to inquire into the wreck of
the Valencia on the shore of Vancouver
Island last January. was made public last
! night. The report Is a long one. After
| placing the blame for the disaster prima-
| rily the faulty navigation Of the cap
tain of the vessel, a number of recommen-
dations are made in the report as to the
| establishment OF additional lights on the
| coast the installation of wireless tele-
| graph system to supplement the land wire
| service, which is frequently interrupted.
| and the maintenance of ocean-going tug
| as relief vessel.
| The wreck of the Valencia was of such
| recent occurrence that most of the details
| are fresh in the minds of the public Inc
| Valencia was steam vessel, plying be-
| tween San Francisco and Alaska, and at
| the time of the disaster carried pas
| senger list of les. nearly as can De aSeeI-
| talned. while the crew numbered slxty-hve.
| OF the crew, forty were lost, ana OF the
passengers nnety-six were iost. seven
| teen women and some children were aiioIs
| the pa ssengers, but not one or theh was
saved
| The commission appointed consisted OF
| Lawrence Murray. assistant secretary VI
| the Department of Commerce ana LABOR
| Herbert Knox deputy commissioner of cor
| porations, and Capt. w. T. Burweii, u >.
| N, especially detailed for the duty.
| Traces Course of Vessel.
| The report traces the sailing of the Falen-
| ella from San Francisco Saturday, January
| 90 to her breakup on the coast of VAN
! couyer Island the following Wednesday. She
| struck the shore at 1850 O'Clock Monday
| night because Of the miscalculation of the
| captain and 1t appears that, though his
conduct from that time until the sinking OF
| the vessel. when he was drowned, was
| fla ha n
| other error of Judgment in attempting to
| lower the boats soon as the steamer was
| bea ched which resulted in the drowning of
| many Of the passengers and crew and the
cutting Off of the rest from the only road
| of escape that might easily have been open
| to them the next day
1t seems that when the vessel started
north there was rain and fog. and she had
| to rely largely on the log and compass to
| determine her position. The captain
thought that his log was registering
| more than the distance travelled though,
| as matter of fact, with the current.
| of which the captain ought to have
been aware, and the following wind.
| the vessel was making all and a little more
| than the log indicated. Thus, when he
| thought he was about forty miles short of
| the Umatilla light ship. going up the coast.
| he was really almost abreast of 1t. Owing
| to that mistake, which was characterized
| In the report very crude navigation"
| the vessel first struck some distance off the
| rock where she hung, was ached within
| less than hundred yards of the shore.
Unfortunately the coast Is lined with a
| long cliff, and the inland country where one
must travel at high water Is almost impass-
able In fact the report points out, the
coast is as inaccessible and uninhabited as
It would be possible to find SO compare
lively close to civilization.
Another Fault Pointed Out.
Another fault that is found in the re-
| port with the management of the vessel
| Is that the lookout forward. who should
have reported the approach of land had
| been on duty six hours when the vessel
| struck and made no report of the land
ahead. This was first seen by the captain
ana one of the deck officers from the
I bridge.
| The conduct of the passengers and crew
! after the vessel struck was all that could
| have been desired. There was natural
panic at first. but after that the whole
SHIPS company settled down and made
| the best of a very bad situation There
! had been n lamentable lack of boat drill
| prior to the disaster, which was respons-
| ibi~ for the mashing and capsizing of a
| number of the boats when the first at
| tempt was made to launch them after the
| vessel struck
| When the disaster was reported to the
| steamship company at Puget sound all rea-
| sonable efforts were made TO send help to
| the wreck. The steamers Queen, Gar, To-
| peka and Salvador all sighted the wreck,
| but the conduct OF none OF these was par
| ticularly heroic. and none OF them as
| matter OF fact did much toward rescuing
| the survivors except the Topeka, which
| picked up one of the life RATS of the VAL
| eEcia.
Distributes the Blame.
| In conclusion the report distributes the
! blame for the disaster about as set forth
! in the foregoing. and then makes the fol-
| lowing recommendations;
Such changes should be made In the
| present equipment II any such are needed.
| at Cape F1attery light as will insure the
| existence there of a light of the first order
| and Of the highest possible efficiency ard
fog signal also of the highest possible
| efficiency.
Such changes should be made I'm the
/ present equipment of UmatiIla reef light
| ship will insure the existence there of n
| light of the first order and of the highest
| highest possible efficiency.
| There should be established a light ship
| to be anchored on the so-called "Fortx-
fathom Bank off the entrance to the
| from Cape Flattery, north 90 degrees west,
magnetic The light should be of the irst
order. with corresponding fog signal.
! Most Importance Entrance.
This entrance to Puget sound through the
| Straits of Juan de Fuca is probably tho
| most important single entrance on the Pa
| cific coast The commission believes. from
| various estimates, that from 5OOoOoo 10
100000 tons of traffic year pass through
| this entrance, and the Importance thereof
| Is rapidly increasing. A number of i'm
portant steamship lines. both passenger and
| freight. to the orient and a vast amount
| OF coastwfse shipping between the more
southern ports on the Pacific coast and
| Seattle. Tacoma, Everett BelIingham. Vic
| toria and other important Puget sound
cities pass over this course
The dangers of this entrance are out OF
| all proportion to the present lighthouse and
| fog signal equipment.
Evidence covering a period from 1858 to
1880, exhibited to the commission showed
| wrecks of thirty-fye vessels in as many
| years on the west shore of Vancouver In
| this vicinity, all of which vessels had been
trying to make this entrance to the straits:
| and since 1890 at least as large an at}di-
tlonai proportion of vessels has gone ashore
| there. so 1t is safe to say that at least
! an average OF one wreck year occurs in
this locality. and probably during the time
| these records have been kept in the last
fifty years between 500 and 700 lives have
been lost there, TO say nothing of millions
| of dollars worth of property. Cape Fiat
terry, therefore. and its immediate vicinity
| is the key or turning point of the entrance
| to the straits and is of the utmost i'm
| por al IN ms