The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1912-07-30
THETIS MISSES
BIG ERUPTION
Former Advertiser Man Tells OF
Trip Of Revenue Cutter
to Alaska.

Because the wireless operator of the
United states revenue cutter Thctis
got lost in the iungcs of Honolulu just
before tho Thetis sailed for the North,
leaving the revenue cutter to sail with
out an operator the officers and crow
of the stauuch little vessel failed to
sec the~oNtraordinory volcanic orup.
tion which occurred ut Kodiak about
Juno Z. This appears from letter
received from II. n. Walker formerly
of The Advertisers stan, who accom-.
panied the Thctis TO the North as tho
guest of Captain Cochran.
"JWo thcre was some pilikia ut
Kodiak, which YOU have probably had
in the cable" says Mr.. Walker. "a
volcano on the peninsula orupted and
scattered couple of feet OF volcanic
nsh all over the island, 100 miles away.
1hc cutters In the north went down,
called by the Manning which was in
port there. That was our first bit of
bad luck, Having no operator on
board we didn I got the message they
were trying to get through to us, or
we would hive been the first in, in,
stoad of coming along to Unalaska.
''Thc Bear arrived in here few
hours after us Saturday and the officers
told us of conditions there after they
arrived, which was when the eruption
was all over. Besides the Manning and
the bcnr, the Tahoma and McCulloch
were also on hand TO render assistance.
/" For three days ashes fell, covering
everything and killing NIL vegetation.
Five hundred people sought refuge on
the Manning, md one watch with two
streams Of fire hose was kept busy the
entire time in keeping the decks clear
of the falling ashes. On II coal scow
alongside the dock next the Manning
200 tons Of ashes wero taken of. The
ash clouds were 10 thick that IL was
dark practically for three days, from
the morning Of the seventh until late
on the ninth, and so heavy was the
fall on the waters of the harbor that
officers on the Manning could not sec
the waters with the aid of their scarcn
light.
Concerning the trip itself of the The.
tis from Honolulu to the North, Mr.
Walker says that they arrived at I'm
! nlnska june Is, fourteen days after
leaving Honolulu. The entire trip was
, one of smooth seas and summer skies
with the exception Of two days rain
and some heavy swclls. zone week
, out, says the letter, "things began tt
! take on n chilly appearance and ducki
l were discarded for blues and heavy
! wooion shirts, which have been worn al
D the time since and will be for the re
maindcr Of our stay In the North"
/ AT Unalaska they received orders II
9 20 TO Kodiak. They started and were
& half way there, when they met TIN
o Sheridan bound for Nome with troop
O and she had orders for the Thctis Il
. turn back, and do some pntroi worl
along the bnnks and up in the Bchrini
u sea, after which they were instructed
TO return 10 Unalaska
well" continues the letter, "bacl
y we turned and inside of twenty fOu
, hours IL was blowing some, and thcr
! was n sea running that was peach.
thought | had seen some rolling, bu
= this old packet went over 30 far tina
;, the boats in the davits hit the waite
U and that is going some. This sort o
y weather kept up for twenty-fOur hour
together with some fog on the last en-
after the wind went down, but th
" sea kept up until we struck Unima
! Pass into the sea, when II became cain
I. II was rolling 80 stiff at noon the da
~ we struck the pass that the skipper an
~ couldn Y eat on the cabin table eve
- with the racks on, 30 WE took the cho'
in our hnnds and braccd ourselves i
y, the hunks made up in the transoms o
- the sides of the cabin.
'Well we got out of that withol
"a any more piIil,ia, cruised along III
n banks and boarded two fishing schooI
r. cTs aud then arrived back in port hcJ
ID Saturday nfterDOon-seyc days nftt
leaving. Wen be here about wee
md then probably go TO valdez TO pie
up the court. VIII hold sessions
but one place this year, Nusbigak o
Bristol Bay, as all prisoners are TO b
taken there, and IL is the Oniy plnc
[ where there are enough men TO for
[ a grand jury,
y "After the court Is over VIC wi
take the judge up TO Nome aud the
" the court 10 Valdez, probably arriynp
~ back nt Valdez mrly in scptembI
y sometime, according 10 present plan
y. ns near rs we can Gnd them out.
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