Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1915-04-09
IL,

were thrown nat on her decks In fifteen minutes
sne nad gone down. taking 81 humans and a cargo
worth 100000 with her. She had struck. right in
me customary steamship course, an uncharted
pinnacle Of rock
When word of the fate of the State of Call.
fornia reached Washington 1t added energy to
= movement which Secretary Redheld of the de-
p9Stment OF commerce and labor had been agitat-
ing ior some time. This movement was to prevail
upon congress to increase the appropriation for
tne work OF the department of geodetic and coast
survey. the department that has charge of blazing
the ocean trails.
At the present time there are three vessels en-
ployed in coast survey work in Alaska. One was
confederate gunboat during the war. She had
onecylinder engine She is capable of eight
knots IN stu weather, six knots against q breeze
and nothing at all in blow.
the other two we're not Confederate gunboats,
out IN other respects they are fully as antquated
- the nrst. Secretary Redneld has termed them
unseaworthy. dangerous. ineficient old tubs And
70 these craft alone Is allotted the Job of guard
ING the safety Of 1889 passengers who travelled
Aaskan waters last year. in addition to S3OOO0O0O
worth Of cargo and ships.
And the government records show that the State
OF California is but one Of many wrecks that occur
on uncharted rocks along the Alaskan coast
yearly. The peculiar formation of the region Is
responsible for narrow spires Of rock that rise out
OF the sea moor to within few feet Of the surface
In localities where all around them the water is
navigable. Soundings of the ordinary sort seldom
reveal these instruments of death in the way of
ships TO locate them properly the coast survey
mas designed an apparatus known as wire
drag" This is wire sunk below the surface
save 1t both ends. where 1t is buoyed with floats.
The coast survey ships drag this device along
ana cover great sweeps of sea at time. the rock
spurs being detected when the wire catches on
them. They are then either buoyed or destroyed
by dynamite.
ALASKA" the man in the East is apt to say.
"vhy, who ever goes up on the Alaska coast ex
cept gold hunters and explorers? What's the use
Of spending money up there?
There 10 but one answer to this The Alaskan
coast 10 equal In extent to the distance between
Charleston on the Atlantic, coast and San Diego
ON the Pacific coast And then. as mentioned be-
ships last year. Have those $4,000 citizens not
right to protection? asks the photographic Office
President Wilson realizes what ineficiency In
charting the Alaskan coast means. For on that
subject he wrote:
There is another matter Of which must make
special mention. II am to discharge my con-
science. lest 1t should escape your attention. 1t
may seem a very small thing. 1t affects only .
single item Of appropriation. But many human
lives and many great enterprises hang upon it.
1T is the matter Of making adequate provision
for the survey and charting Of our oceans 1t IL
Immediately pressing and exigent in connection
with the immense coast line of Alaska. . coast
line greater than that of the United States them.
selves, though 1t Is also very important, indeed.
with regard to the older coasts of the continent.
We cannot use our great Alaskan domain, ships
viii not ply thither II those coasts and their many
hidden dangers are not thoroughly surveyed and
charted
"The work is incomplete at almost every point.
Ships and lives have been lost in threading what
were supposed to be wellknown main channels.
We have not provided adequate vessels ade-
quate machinery for the survey and charting. We
have used old vessels that were not big enough
or strong enough and which we're nearly unsea-
worthy that our inspectors would not have allowed
private owners to send them to sea- This is q
matter which. as have said seems small but Is
in reality very great Its importance has only
to be looked into to be appreciated"
Perhaps those best qualified to know the perils
Of this great extent Of coast are the sailors who
ply It. Charles T. Moritz. mate of the steamship
Spokane, writes:
"Since l going to make the business of
plotting vessels through the waters of south
eastern Alaska my life's work take more than
an ordinary interest in locating hidden dangers.
"The men who have gone before me have
pointed out all the dangers on the surface and
many that are beneath; the cost of locating some
Of the latter has been many human lives and many
good ships.
Must lose the lives of a shipload of passen-
gers to discover some hidden danger? Others
have done so. and until We know just where all
the dangers are located more will do the same
That such dangers exist and that there is q
very easy means of locating them. hope to show
BY the Notice to Mariners, issued by the United