The west shore., June 01, 1876, Page 6, Image 6

THE: WEST SHORE.
June.
SHIP BUILDING IV OREGON.
BY T. I. MKHItV.
The North Bend ship-yard is the
olilcit on the Coast outside of San
Francisco, ami while it docs not turn
out us many vessels as lort Ludlow,
they are more costly and better fastened.
The site is the most picturesque and
beautiful of aliy place in Southern Ore
gon, hut it has never been allowed to
glow wilh the gluwlh of the country.
The owners have refused to sell lots to
any persons not in their employ, there
by constructing an imaginary Chinese
wall about the place. It is now too
late to think of throwing open the place
to settlement, even were they so dis
posed, for Marshfield is the town of the
bay, in spite of defective land titles. If
the Simpsons bad sold lots at North
Ilcnd, three years ago, they would now
have had n tow n of 1,200 people there
at least. lint it is u place of the great
est neatness and good order a perfect
hive of working bees. The houses, all
snowy white, contrast beautifully with
the dark maple tnes w hich form the
background for it, The vessels built
here up to date are as follows:
HATK , lllll. NAMK. TOXKAI1K.
iSs....'Bri(r Arago 1S0
1N58. . . . Brig. . . .Blanco 180
1N50.. . . .Schr. . . .Mendocino .... 150
iSfto Schr I', E, Walton. . 75
iSfii . . . .Brig. . . . Advance 250
iNfy. . . .Schr. . . .Enterprise 200
1S04., . .Schr Isabella 200
1S64 , . . .Schr. ... I lanliah Louise. 130
1 ST5 . . . .Schr. . . Juvenla 200
1S66. . . .Ilkln. . ..Occident 2S0
1 S07 . , . . Ilktn . . . .Melanclhnn . . . . 325
1X0N. . . ,Schr. . . . Ilunkalation ... Us;
1 Srj . . . . Bktn.. ..Wchfoot... . . . . 350
1S7 1 . . . . Schr. . . . Botama 109
1S71 . . . .Schr. . . .Oregonian ..... 260
1 S73 .... Bktn .. . .I'ortlimd 4S0
1X74 Ship. . . .Western Shore. ,SS
1S75. . . .Bktn.. . .Tarn O'Shanter. 600
Total Tonnage,. .4,042
Of the above, the Wcbfoot, Mclane
thon, Oregonian, I'ortlimd and Tain
O'Shanter, have been in the Columbia
river trade ever since they were fin
ished. The Portland beat the ttcaincr
Orillnnime from San Francisco to As
toria, last w inter, and the Oregonian is
accredited with the fastest nassai'c he.
1 - 1
tween (he two ports. The Florence1
Walton was wrecked off Rogue River
and the Oh Hay bar. The Uunkala
lion was discharging 11 cargo of lime at
Cape Blanco for the lighthouse, when '
11 sea washed down the hatchway and
set her on fire, destroying her entirely.
The Atngo and Enterprise are in the
Shoalwater Bay trade, w here (he Simp,
son Brothers have heavy milling inter
ests, . ;. .
The ship-building of Coos Bay Is not
eontlncd to North llcnd, how ever. At
Empire City there is 11 yard, owned by
II, II, l.use, where last year was built
the schooner Rebecca. She Is a cheaply
built all'aii , and very rough in her joiuer '
wuik, but a good sailer and a large ear
lier, I append 11 list of vessels built at
Empire City:
squall and capsized, being badly over
sparred. Her masts were not less than
ten feet too long for her, and the hoops
of her great fore-and-aft sails were too
small for the masts, thus rendering it a
difficult task to lower sail readily. The
Laura May was rated A 1 for seven
years at San Francisco, the highest rate
ever given any center-board schooner
on this coast. The Panonia Is in the
Southern trade, but the Frithiof and
Laura May are regular visitors at this
port. They are profitable vessels, car
rying large cargoes and sailing rapidly.
The Ivanhoe made the round trip to
San Francisco and back in nine days
and seven hours. The tug Escort is a
handsome and speedy vessel, finer and
better than anything you have on the
Columbia river, and yet she is 'inferior
to tbc North Bend tug Fearless in
economy and speed. The latter made
the run from Gardiner to North Bend,
A distance of thirty-one miles, in two
hours and twelve minutes, on a con
sumption of two and a half cords of
saw-mill slabs, worth say two dollars,
nt the most. She has compound en
gines, of the same pattern as the Colimn
and Grenada, but of smaller size, of
course. The Escort, however, is deeper,
and can make a better pull, perhaps,
with a large, heavy vessel. I append a
list of the total number of vessels built
at Marshfield :
hatw.
1S66.
1S66.
1S67.
1S68.
1X69.
1S69.
1S70.
's73
1S74. S75-S-5-.S75.
RIO. NAHR. TONKAOB.
.Steam Tug 97
.Schooner 1S0
.Schooner. . 100
.Schooner , .... 125
.Schooner : .120
.Schooner. 160
. Harkentine 375
.Steamer 135
.Schooner 220
.Schooner 3S0
.Schooner . , 360
. Schooner . , ,f. , . 200
iutk.
iSoii.
iSoc,..
S7,..
--
1S7,..
...Tug.,
...Schr..
. .Stmr Sah'llte..
. . .Sinir. . . . Coos. , . ,
Schr Rebecca
HANS. TMMIIIL
Alpha 35 I
k,n.. l;.u.r ,X I
1 1
85 I
...1S0'
Total Tonnage, jg I
At Murshlicld, E. 11. Dean & Co.
h.ive a ship-yard in connection with
their uivv-niill, which is the moot eMcii
ive on the Bay. Here were built three '
schooner, last season, the Panonia,'
Lama May and Suiuliiue, the latter of
w Inch w as recked oil' Cae Disap.
Hiiutinent in November lust. Mv idea 1
is that she was shuck bv a sudden'
Total Tonnage 2,452
Now then, gentlemen of Portland,
you who have your heavy rent-rolls
and plethoric bank accounts, if you
want to maintain the commercial su
premacy of the . Northvvest coast, you
must go into some kind of a ship-yard,
or other places will outstrip you. You
can build wooden ships as cheap at
'Albino, Rainier or Oak Point, as they
can be built of iron on the Clyde, and
they will be a great deal safer after they
are built. Tbc number of iron ships
that disappear at sea and arc never
heard from, is a frightful proportion to
the total number built. They will be
out of fashion ten years hence, on ac
count of the high rates of underwriting,
and the forests of Oregon and Washing
ton Territory will be properly appreci
ated by sbip-buildcrs. But is it not a
snd commentary upon the enterprise of
Oregon s metropolis, that in two Sears.
while she was building four or five river
steamers like the Ilonita and Champion,
a little "cow county," with less than
two millions of taxable property and
eight hundred voters, should build
seven sailing vessels with a total ton
nage of 3,153 tons? You capitalists.
who want to receive a dollar and a half
for even- dollar you put out, and want
the dollar and a half before you put out
the dollar, will have to adopt a new
course of financial tactics. The diver
sion of your hoarded millions into some
new channel besides mortgages on town
lots and grain lands, will become an
imperative necessity. You control the
local grain trade of the Willamette
Valley, but you do not export that
grain to England in your own vessels;
and until you do, your control of the
Columbia river's trade is liable at any
time to slip from your grasp. The olil
adage that " GikI helps those who help
themselves," applies to you aliout as
strongly as any people I can name.
During the past year, some twenty
sailing vessels and three steamships
were wrecked on the Pacific coast,
aggregating not far from 900 tons, and
their place must be supplied by new
vessels. Do your Portland capitalists
intend to let Coos Bay, Humboldt Bay
and Port Ludlow, build them nil?
Must your tall firs that tower like saintly
spires above tbc lordly Columbia, be
cut down for no better purpose;, than
fire-wood? These are questions that
affect not only your merchant in his
counting-room and yourcapitalist poring
over his rent-roll, but they also affect
the logger in the woods and your far
mers away up in the clussic regions of
the Long Tom. The commercial pros
perity of the entire State is involved in
the question of ship-building at home,
that the profits of her grain trade may
be realized in Oregon rather than in
New York and Liverpool. You have
abundance of good fir, which by the
comparative tests of Superintendent
Murch, at Mare Island, is superior to
the best Eastern oak. You can sec
how the Pacific Mail Company took
Oregon fir to repair the Nevada and
Dakota, when they were ten years old,
in consequence of their Eastern oak
timbers having rotted into powder.
You can see the old Arago at Shoal
water Bay -occasionally, twenty years
old and sound as a trade dollar. If that
don't satisfy you, try another test.
Take a straight-grained piece of Oregon
fir and another of Eastern oak, each
six feet long and three inches square.
Place them between two saw-horses
set four feet apart, and then pile your
weights on chains and hooks se
cured to each, and I will bet you the
best hat Meussdorffer can make (better
than the one Bob McGinn burster!)
that the oak stick breaks first.
It may be possible that my enthusi
asm over the certain success of Oregon
ship-building, has led me to become
somewhat long-winded upon a subject
in which I confess a deep interest.
Hence, if I have wearied my readers
with a recital of plain and solid facts,
unhampered with chimerical fancies,. I
ask their pardon. Hut as Oregon has
been my home for nearly seven years, I
naturally feel a pride in her grow th and
an interest in the development of her
industries. And for the day when the
wharves of Portland are lined with a
fleet of home-built, home-owned and
home-laden grain ships, your petitioner,
as 111 duty bound, will ever pray.
HEROISM IN HUMBLE LIFE.
A singular story is told of a female
servant in England, w hose name and
history save this brief sketch are alike
unknown. She was employed by a
family w ho had a store in the same
building. Employed about the place
was a certain almost half-witted lad.
The benevolent master had been
prompted by a kindly heart to give the
poor lad something to do. Though
weak in intellect, he was strong in
thews and muscle; willing to work, he
showed his gratitude by doing with all
readiness such labor as a oorter should do
or running on such errands as he could
cieariy uiulcrstaiul. .
One day he was sent (not verv wiselvv.
to the dark store-room to fill, for the
retail business, an empty powder canis
ter. He procured a candle, without a
candlestick, and having lighted it, went
on nis errand. hen he wished to fill
the canister from the stock in the barrel
he was at some loss what to do with hi.
candle. Utterly forgetful at the mo
ment 01 me Hanger or his task, and
seemingly unconscious of the need of
caution, at once to relieve his hand and
to get the most convenient light for his
work, he extemporized a candlestick in
rather hazardous material. Having re
moved the cover, he stuck into the.
loose gunpowder in the open barrel the
lower end of his long thin candle. Who
ever heard of such a candlestick before?
By the light so conveniently close to
his work, he scooped up theblack grains
with his palm and poured them into the
canister, as if they had been so much
harmless sand. : 1
Had Jack at this point taken up the
candle and returned from his errand, it
is probable that nothing more would
have been known about his dangerous
feat, and the peril the place and its in.
mates had escaped. The deliverance
which was wrought was rendered the
more remarkable by the discovery of
what he had done.
Having, without accident, obtained
the requisite supply, Jack departed
from the chamber with his well filled,
canister, without having thought of re.
moving the candle. , .
For a long whilf he did not remem
ber his neglect. At last the remem
brance came, and with it a frightened
and convulsive agitation of the half-silly
lad. t . : . . . , ,
"What can be the matter ?" said the
foreman '
"What is all this about?" said the'
master.
The more he was asked, the less Jack
seemed able to tell. His limbs trem
bled ; his face was deadly pate ; his eyes
was starting with terror. He was sud-!
denly awake to sense of impending dan
ger, whilst fear seemed to destroy the
power of speech. '
A maid servant, who was very kind
to Jack, and had great influence over::
him, was called to see if she could solve
the mystery, or get the dreadful secret
disclosed. At length, as she sought to
soothe and persuade him, the lad point
ed in the direction of the Btorc-roora,
and faintly, chokingly uttered the words
"Candlc-in-powder " ...... .
The afternoon' errand was at once
called to mind. The threatening dan-,
ger was in a moment pretty well appre
ciated, though its precise character was
not thoroughly understood. Every
moment was precious; but of alt the
men standing, not one dare volunteer to
attempt a rescue.
The gentle, quiet woman is some,
times found to be most determined when
her energies are forcibly culled into
play. Whilst the men where stunned
or hesitating, Susan, without saying a
word volunteered, as "the forlorn hope."
She ran to the store-room, quite aware .
that there was great risk, though she I
did not thoroughly understand its char
acter till she entered the door of the
chamber. She then 6nw that the light
ed dandle was standislg literally ini the
powder, revealing by its light thecircu- j
lur mouth of the barrel which contain-i
edit, More tlun this, she law, as she
drew near, that the candle, though hapi-
ty whole and long when Jack took it,
had burned awny since isiiud been plac
ed there, till the blazing wick was a dull
red cap on the top of it, and it had al
most reached the very surface of the
powder. ': . . ' 1 1 '. : i- .'
Susan looked on for a. moment.' As
she looked, the candle burned, casting
its sheen upon the . dull black grains
around it, silently declaring the full ex
tent of imminent danger. In a few
minutes an explosion must have follow
ed. Not a moment was to be lost; yet
a hasty snatch might have ruined all.
Providentially Susan's' presence of mind'
did not forsake her, nor was tlierc any
failure of the. oourage and self-control
on tt hich so much depended. 1
With prompt Ingenuity she laid tli
back of thefingcrsof one hand inpalmof
the otheMnd opening the fingers of both
hands in the centre they formed a sort
of dish with a hole in the middle. Su
san looked down as the threatening