The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-11-06
BOOK OF DOOM
 BY DAvY JONES
 RIVALS CONRAD
San Francisco Opens New Volume for Recording
 Sea Tragedies
By JOHN U. TERRELL lIJnntAd presa Staff Cnrreanond

LUnmEc0 FFeSS stan COTfeSpOn0eMtJ
 San Francisco, Nov. 6. (UP)-The storms which rage and roar, the togs which creep silently, the rest- less surf pounding rocky Pacific headlands, have played parts in the tragedies Of 6 sea that IS ever seek" ing to thwart the efforts of the men who sail 1t.
 But the sea keeps no legible rec ord. Only an occasional twisted and battered hull, hard driven against the land, stands as a mute reminder of men and ships who lost the fight.
 However, there is book, an old leather-covered sos, page volume, which tells in its brief accounts the fate of ships bound for Pacific Coast ports they never reached.
 It is the Book of Sea Tragedies of the Marine Department of the San Francisco Chamber of Com merce," and recently the last entry was made on its last page. The book was filled.
 Pages Blank Now
 A new Book of Sea Tragedies has been opened. It awaits the first notation shipping men hope will not be made, but whic hthey know must be written any day.
 Frank E. Janov, statistician for the Chamber of Commerce, closed the old book with this entry:
 " Charles Christensen, stmr. bound from San Francisco to Port land and Seattle, went aground at 2 a. m. during dense fog at Mag nolia Bluff near Seattle. Tugs stand- ing by."
 The sea claimed no lives in this last emery, but back through the sos pages are inscribed stories which rival fictional tales. Old sea dogs would find in this 30 years rec ord, stories which would equal those of Joseph Conrad, William McF'ee and Jack London. And if there's any one likes good tale of the sea, 1t is an old salt who has seen his day, or even a young sailor still eager for adventure and romance
 Adventure and romance here are marked with stark tragedy, and the latter appears almost invariably as the conclusion to what may have been 0 colorful and adventurous career.
 First Entry on Christmas Day
 The first entry in the book was made Christmas Day, 1906. Then the schooner Lizzie Prein was tossed on the rocks near Eureka, Cal, by an enraged Pacific.
 They come in rapid succession after that-ships which sailed and disappeared, collisions, fires, sink ings, disasters of all types.
 sione of the old books notations may be noted chronologically.
 "July 21, 1907: Steam Columbia, first vessel ever to use electric lights, with a full passenger list, pushing through pea soup fog OH Shelter Cove, Cal, passengers asleep. Suddenly out of the swirling mist came the Steam Schooner San Pedro, moving at high speed. Colunl- bia almost cut in two. Sinking. SS
 "sept. 20, 1908. Bark Star of Bengal, riding out a storm off Coro- nation Island, 137 passengers. An- chur chains, snapped. Berk drifted on reefs, broke in three parts, 1l2 lost"
 'NOt . Soul Saved"
 "Oct. 24, 1918: Liner Princess Sophia sank of Skagway, 343 lost Two days before Princess Sophia had gone on Q reef. A blinding snow storf kept rescue boats from reaching her. Heavy seas prevented launching of life boats, Ship broke in two and went down.. Not soul saved" ..
 In this year the German raider commanded by the famous Count von Luckner sank seven ships in the South Pacific.
 "Oct. 12, 1922: City of Honolulu burned $50 miles of San Francisco. All 261 persons aboard picked up by burned to waters edge" rescue ships. The $2,000,000 vessel
 Sept. 8, 1923: Seven destroyers, moving close to each other through wet night, piled onto rocks on Point Arguello."
 Hundreds of marine catastrophes, with only here and there one ending without loss of life, but always dis astrous for the ships.
 The new book will tell the story of the coming years, for as long as ships sail, marine men know there will be tragedies of the sea.