The Sunday Oregonian., January 26, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 2, Image 44

ML-
'N9 Doubt It Is Part of the Wreck of a Spanish Vessel,
V Probably En Route to Mexico
0. F. Stafford, Professor of Chemistry, University of
Oregon, Gives the Facts and Opinions .
fl wmmM- lit .Jwi' 1 i ' -
Mm ' V- JLLAR6B CANDLE Ul FV - r ; H,S - ' .
jfe. hKV 4 i H tarw.. .. y 1 H SPIT, WHERE EEESWXT
Mfe'4 ' - 1 ZARSZ CA20S OF XJEHCEIT "WA3T, SHOWING- ' .
f i ItH ! . y" EN&JUCteiy -CHARACTER. THIS CAKE WHEN 1 VW fl
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g 1 " -rtnV"1 I iw,,,., nnmm .a a ' ' S
HIRTV miles south of the mouth of
the Columbia the Oregon cnaM lino,
which for a greater part of the dis
tance has been composed of picturesquely
rugged headlands and most charming
stretches of ocean beach, swings around
tlie sacred mountain Nckahnie, of the In
dians, and spreads out within a distance
of two or three miles into a flat, sandy
.spit which serves to separate Nehalem
Bay from the Paoitlc. Here Js a spot not
only beautiful in Its surroundings", but
rich in mysterious legends of shipwreck
and buried treasure, as well as "vague tra
ditions regarding the first-coinings of
white men to the great Northwest. There
are now, to be sure, no certain relics of
the shipwrecks, and about all that re
mains to recall the traditions are ocea
siomrl pieces of wax rescued from the
sands of the spit, perchance, by a passer
by. J t Is of this wax part:eularly that the
present article will deal, for it has long
been a subject of interest, speculation, and
ew of warm controversy. In this sub--l
stance many have tried to fathom an an
cient mystery of the -sea; others have
hoped to find it a guiding index to a vault
In Nature's treasure-house. It has been
at once an enigma to the theorizing anti
quarian, the despair of the sordid pro
moter, and the solace of the newspaper
epace-writer. ' Yet "when all of the evi
dence bearing upon the matter is sum
nmiized the enigmatical aspects of. the
question are seen to disappear almost
completely.
First Historical Mention.
For our first historical mention of this
wax deposit we are indebted to that ad
mirable representative of the Northwest
Company. Alexander Henrys who in com
pany with David Thompson, official geo
grapher of the same company, made an
expedition down the Columbia to the pres
ent site of Astoria In the Winter of 1813
1XU. Henry's Journal reproduced and an
notated in Cdues' "New Light on the His
tory of the Ureatcn Northwest" (Vol. 11)
contain., unc'.er the date of December S,
ISIS, at which time Henry was at Astoria,
the following notation:
The old Clatsop chief arrived with some
excellent salmon and thu meat of a large
tlche tdeeri. There came with hira a man
about i!0 years of age. who has extraordi
narily dark red hair, and is the supposed
offspring ot a t;hil thai wan wrecked within
f-w. miles of the entrance of this river
. many ycai-a ago.
t.reat quantities of bees- ,
ak continue to he dug out of the sand near
this spot, and the Indians bring it to trade
vith us.
latter, in the entry for February 2$, 1S14,
there appears:
. . They bring lis frequently lumps
of beeswax fresh out of the sand which
they collect on thr coaal to the S. where
the 8panth ship was caM away some years
ago and the crew all murdered by the na
tives. It is seen that Henry speaks very posi-"
tlvely concerning the origin of the wax
dcpualt, and doubtless his utterances rep
resent accurately the beliefs of the peo
ple of the lime and place regarding the
matter. It is to be regretted that other
early explorers failed to take account of
tho oi"eurreuce of this wax. There Is no
mention of the matter, for example, in
the Journals of lewia and Clarke. As
' Couea remarks, this wax is about the only
product peculiar to the place that these
men seem to have missed.
Personal Corroboration.
Horace S. layman, in his "History of
Oregon," gives an interesting discussion
of tile first appearances of white men
upon the Oregon coast as preserved . in
Indiun traditions. His main authority is
Silas B. Smith, an intelligent half-breed.
whco mother was a daughter of the Clat
; sop chief Kobatway. Mr. Smith made a
special study of the traditions of his
mother's people, as a result of which he
assigns the earliest comings of white
uieu to three separate occasions, the fee
B the Columbia the Oregon coa-st line. Hi . - lVfc-, - ' ' IS 1,1!, 'VICLLXV iii II W-
I lj v , ; t j m IIHir ' iy i
LARG2? OJfTTEHALEKT TESZT
TQKXLAN2 CITY 13P5EV? '
8
ond of which was the wrecking of a ves
sel near Nehalem. To quote from Lyman:
The Indiana state that the shin of th
white men was driven ashore here and
wrecked. The crew, however, survived, and
reachtnsr land lived for some time with
the natives. A large part of the vessel's
cargo waa. beeawax. But in the coifse of
several months the white men became ob
noxious to the -Indfans because of violating
their" marital relations. The whites were
consequently killed, but fought to defend
themselves with slurutshot. As Mr. Smith
notes, this would indicate that they bad
lost their arms and ammunition.
This account, it is td be observed, agrees
essentially with the details given by
Henry.
References to the wax other thari those
just given are rather infrequent until re
cent times. Belcher, an early navigator,
obtained some specimens in 1837 It is
said that six tons of wax from the mouth
nf t lit. rnliirhhiA wpro received at a Ha-
i; rt nhont 1S4T Professor Georce
"""r," , h
Davidson, of the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey, while at Cape Disap
pointment in 1S51 obtained a specimen
which had- been picked up on Clatsop
beach. Later, in the Coast Pilot for Cal
ifornia, Oregon and Washington Territory.
18W. Professor Davidson describes the
wax deposit and evidences of the wreck
from which It supposedly came. Others
to refer to the subject are C. W. Brooks.
.In a paper before the California Academy
of Science. 1S75, and H. M. Davis In a com
munication to tle American Antiquarian
Society, April. 1S92.
When Scientists Tried to Vpet Facts
During his whole period of 80 years,
extending from ISIS to 1893. no one seems"
to have questioned that the deposit of
wax was due to any other cause than the
thing traditionally accepted as its origin
a wreckvd vessel. ' The only differenc
of opinion apparent in the matter was
regarding the nationality of the vessel,
some investigators having it of Spanish
ownership, others of Chinese or Japanese.
In 1S13. however, a new aspect woss in
troduced by two circumstances. . The
first was an opinion rendered regarding
the nature of the wax by the commis
sioner In charge of the Austrian exhibit
at the Columbian sTxpdsition. A part of
this exhibit consisted of ozokerite, a wax
of mineral ortgln which is of considerable
economic Importance, and the commis
sioner in charge did not hesitate to pose
TIIE SUNDAY- OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JANUARY
me
II
9 10 11
as an expert authority in judging sub-
stances of this kind. A sample of Neha-
lem wax was submitted to this official
by Colonel A. W. Miller, of Portland, j
with the result that it was pronounced
ozokerite. It should be noted, however,
that a chemist in the employ of the ex
position to whom the same sample was
submitted' insisted that it was beeswax,
pure and simple.
The second circumstance tending to
raise the question as to whether the sub
stance might be -beeswax or. ozokerite
was the publication of si series of three
articles in Science (New York) during the
Summer of IS33. The first of these, ap
pearing in the issue of June 36. was by
George P. Merrill, head curator in' the
department of geology. United States Na
tional Museum. Washington, and was de
scriptive of samples of Nehalem wax re
ceived from a correspondent at Port
land, Or. Quoting from this article:
The samples are of a material closely re
sembling, if not Identical with beeswax
Such it would unhesitatingly have been
pronounced but for certain stated conditions
relating to Its occurrence. . . . The ma
terial is a grayish color on the outer sur
face. Indicating oxidation, but interiorly it
has all the characteristics of (tenuine bees
wax, as regards physical conditions, color,
smell, fusing point and conduct toward
chemical reagents. . . . It is said to
ba found in masses of all sixes tu to 250
pounds weight: that It occurs In the sand,
being found while digging clams at low
tide and at a depth of 20 feet below the
surface when dialing wells The
material has been traced for a distance of
30 miles up the river Tradition
has ft that many hundred years ago a
foreign vessel laden with wax was wrecked
off this coast. This, af first thought, seems
plausible, but aside from the difficulty in
accounting for the presence in these waters
and at that date of a vessel loaded with
wk. it seems scarcely credible that the
mate'rial could be brought in a single cargo
in 'such quantities nor burled over so large
an area. . 1 . My correspondent states
that the material has been mined by the
whites for over 20 years.- but not to any
great extent excepting 'the last eight or
ten years, during whjch time many hundred
tons have been shipped to San Francisco
nd Portland. . . . . concerning the ac
curacy of the above . account the nresent
writer knows nothing. .It Is here given in
th hope ot gaining more -information on
the subject.
The above communication is obviously
an admission of complete mystification
upon the part of Its writer. He has little
doubt about the substance being 'bees
wax; in fact,, in a later note to the
T2ECES OF CANDLES JNlOSSESSTar s7? jarrraTiD tztis itoa.
TNTATTKE LEFT OF THE PICTURE, 2TASA. cWcALHOLB
2Z T&21A&E JTOS TBEHECaPTXOTT QPJl PEG- OR. CANDLE
vriCE? TO STPEPORT IT mULE TN"U5B
o
IV
12
present writer he says he had no doubt
about It. Yet the facts regarding the
way the wax is found, as reported tu
him, are absolutely incompatible with
any credible occurrence of beeswax. It
was simply a matter of requiring more
information," and the article is virtually.
an appeal for such,
' Insufficient Proof..
Two articles were almost Immediately
published in Science in -response to this
appeal. The first was from Judge J.
Wickersham, 'of Tacoma, Wash., who
shows by reference to. the writings of
Brooks, Davidson and Davis-that many
shipwrecks of Oriental vessels 'actually
have occurred upon American shores,
and that therefore a wreck as the source
of the wax was at any rate within the
limits of possibility. He also calls at
tention to an error made in the informa
tion to Mr. Merrill regarding the- amount
of wax that had been recovered no suott
quantities as those mentioned were ever
found.
The second article wad from the pen of
C. D. Hiscox. of New York. It is a lit
tle peculiar in that it leaves the reader
with a strong doubt about Its writer ever
having even seen a sample of Nehalem
wax. There is given a description, to
le sure, which would apply equally well
to true beeswax. Nehalem wax, or ozoke
rite, but from the language of the article
it is impossible to say which was meant.
For the rest the aothor evidently simply
consulted a dictionary and reproduced a
lot of statistics, for ozokerite. Although
this article Is often cited as an authori
ty in discussions of Nehalem wax. such
citation Is not justified for the reason that
there is not to be found in it a single sig
nificant statement for which there is any
proof.
The situation, after these developments
of 1S33. was not altogether clear to thn
average citizen without scientific training
who might be interested in unusual nat
ural products of his country. The" old
belief that Nehalem wax was beeswax,
while not entirely discredited, was at
any rate ; suddenly In the doubtful list.
The doctors were unable to agree, ap
parently, which was further proof that
there were at least two sides to the ques
tion." And if this were so. why jiot the
possibility of great ledges of this mate
rialat 18 cents per pound? Or. better yet,
widespread strata of oil-bearing sands
26, 1005.
v7 I -iSsiSi-s
JZ&A6-HENT3 OF CAZtDZE
I down deep below, which should supply
this Northwestern country with sadly
needed heat units'? It is not difficult to
arouse public interest sometimes. The
interest created in this instance had at
least one good result, in that it brought
about an examination of the Nehalem
field . by a competent geologist.
- Dr.'-Dlller's Investigation.
Among other duties assigned during the
Summer of 1895 to Dr. J. S. Dlller, one
of the ablest field geologists of the United
States Geological Survey, was an investi
gation of this problem. Dr. Dlller made
his findings public through a letter to The
Morning Oregonian of March 27, 1896. This
letter la not only the' most authoritative
discussion ever published upon the subj
ject of Nehalem wax, pafticularly as re
gards its . geological aspects but also
deals- so tritely with a numUijr of other
points at issue that several paragraphs
are bodily reproduced .here. Dr. Dlller
says: . .
During a trip from Astoria southward
along the coast the only place where we
found fragments of the wax was near the
mouth of the Nehalem. At this point It
occurs burled In the deep sand lust above
tho present htgh-tlde limit. From the ac
cumulated sediments of the river the beach
is graduatlly growing seaward, and not
many generations ago the sea reached the
place now occupied by the wax. Mr. Bd
wards, who was my guide at the place,
showed me the stakes marking the ' areaa
already dug over by himself in obtaining
almost three tons of wax. It was found In
the deep sand within ten feet of the sur
face. He expected to continue working
later li the Summer, but regarded the lo
cality as almost "mined out." Vv'e picked
up a number of smaller fragments coated
with sand, and he showed me others previ
ously collected. Among the lat-tar were
several short, cylindrical, " holiow ieces.
like candles, fr.om which the wick has dis
appeared. A few larger pieces weighing
from ."V0 to 75 pounds were found some years
ago by Mr. Edwards, and also by Mr. Col
well. "They bore marks apparently of trade.
As the large pieces bad all been disposed
of I was unfortunately unable to study these
marks. The beeswax has been found some
miles up the Nehalem River, but always, so
far as I could learn, close to the high
tide limit, from the Nehalem beach It has
been spread along the coast southward by
the strong seabreezes of Summer and north
ward by the storms of Winter. ,
There ate two coal fields on the Nelialcm,
one in Columbia County, .and the other In
ClaU-op near the mouth of tbje Nehalem,
but nothing whatever occura in either field
which resembles . the wax. and It 1 evi
dent from the location of the body of the
wax that it wss flot derived from the ad
jacent land, but was transported In a body
by the sea and dumped not far from, its
present position.
Its mode of occurrence and the marks,
upon it clearly indicate that the material is
not a natural product, of Oregon, .but they
do not prove that It is wax and not ozoke
JPQKTLAND CXZ7J&C3EUZr
rite brdught from elsewhere. The two
substances, although very similar In their
general composition, are readily distinguish
able by chemical tests. H. N. Stokes, one
of the chemists of the Geological Survey,
to whom It was referred for 'examination,
says: "The substance in question Is sharp
ly distinguished from ozokerite and other
paraffins by Its easy decomposition by
warm, -strong, sulphuric acid, and by being
saponified by boiling with alcoholic potash,
giving soaps which dissolve in hot water,
and from' which acids throw down insolu
ble fatty acids. In view of this behavior
the - material is evidently wax and not
ozokerite."
Its melting point determined ' by Mr.
Stokes is 64 degrees, centrigrade, which cor
responds to that of beeswax and distin
guishes It from wax of other kinds known
to trade.
A summary of 'the evidence presented
by Dr.- Dlller shows conclusively that the
wax deposit is confined, so far as is
known, to a single locality, the Nehalem
spit, and that fragments found up the
Nehalem, or scattered along the coast,
might easily be. accounted for as inciden
tal drift; that a few generations ago
the sea reached the place now occupied
by the wax: that the wax Is not derived
from the adjacent land, and, finally, that
although these considerations show only
that the wax must have been deposited
upon the beach from the ocean, and
therefore give no light upon the question
as to its nature, chemical tests show de
cisively that it is not ozokerite, but bees
wax. The Ozokerite Hj-potlieais.
It is difficult to understand how any
one could deliberately summon the temer
ity requisite for calling into question the
'poflits established so thoroughly by Dr.
DJIler, and indeed, it must have been be
cause of an entire Ignorance of his work
that the subject was opened up again In
1903 by adherents of the ozokerite hy
pothesis. An analysis of the arguments
presented by these people at this time
show that they are founded upon two
main assertions, viz., that the amount of
wax taken out fend sold Is by far greater
than could have been carried- by a ship
of a Tiundred of two. hundred years ago,
and that "the substance actually proves
to be ozokerite by analysis. Now the
first of these assertions is unsustained
by any proof whatsoever, while the sec
ond Is fully met by the evidence of
Merrill and Stokes. -Yet it Is Interesting
to follow out the proofs offered, as they'
were, advanced honestly with the full be
lief that they established their case.
Naturally, It i's impossible to arrive af
any very accurate estimate upon the
total amount of-wax -contained in the
Nehalem deposit, or obtained from It.
The believers In the ozokerite Idea make
estimates running as high as hundreds
of tons, it being asserted that one man
recovered 17,000 pounds. The present
writer, however, after due Investigation.
Is unable to account for so much. It Is
hardly probable that the early Indian
traffic, such as Henry mentions, could
have been very extensive. The' Indians
themselves, it Is likely, had but little
use for the wax, and there is no. known
record of any considerable trade In this
subBtance by the early whites. The first
hint of any extensive traffic is contained
In the unsubstantiated report referred to
above that six tons were shipped to Ha
waii about 1847. From this time untit
about the 80s, the only record concerning
the recovery of wax Is a notation, by
J. J. Gilbert, of the United States coast
and geodetic survey, who made the sur
vey of this part of the coast. He learned
that early settlers had plowed ' the . site
of the old wreck and obtained i!p pounds
of the wax which was sold as. beeswax.
Tit: Dillcr's. guide and informant. Mr. .
Edwards, is said' to be no longer living,
so that further testimony from hlin Is
not available. He is accredited, however,
by all old residents of the Nehalem coun
.iy. from whom it has been possible to
get an opinion.' with having taken out
by far a .greater amount of wax than any
other person. Mr. Kdward's own esti
mate of the amount of wax obtained by
him. as lie gave It to Dr. Diller, was "al
most three tons." Mr. P. S. Boyakin, at
present and for many years past a resi
dent of Nehalem, -and who, as a merchant.-
has kept In close touch with traf
fic affairs -of all sorts In that locality,
estimates that Kdwards and other active
wax gatherers known to him have se
cured in all not much over four tonn.
This, added to the six tons that may have
been shipped to Hawaii In 1847. gives ten
tons.' Another ton or two for Indian traf- .
fio, etc., probably places a liberal esti
mate upon the whole amount recovered.
It is almost impossible to find a piece ot
the wax upon the beach at the prese:
time, and the consensus of opinion among
those most expert in finding it is that
the deposit is practically exhausted. The
available facts, then, are not Incompat
ible with the wreck hypothesis as far as
the amount of wax to be considered is
concerned.
What Analyses Show.
Now as to the analyses reported to
prove the substance ozokerite. A pre
liminary word of explanationj-should be
given beret perhaps, in order that there
may be in the 'minds of everyone a
clear Idea of the difficulties to be met
in considering questions of this kind.
Nature has curiously made a great many
things in such a way that whereas they
ara fundamentally entirely different, they
may. possess certain resemblances which
are calculated to deceive even experienc
ed observers unless they exercise srreat
caution. Rock crystal and diamond, for
'example may resemble each . other so
as to make it difficult for even an expert
to ' tell which is from a visual or tactile
examination. Chemical analyses or
more exact physical examinations, how
ever, at once reveal the difference. In
the present case It is a matter of dis
tinguishing between the well-known sub
stance, beeswax and ozokerite, the latter,
in its natural state being a waxy ma
terial varying in color . from creamy
white . through many shades of. yellow,
brown, gTeen-brown. to black. .The ex
ternal resemblances between the two
substances may be very close although'
the chemical characteristics are distinct
ly different, as are also those physical
distinctions which .can be numerically
gauged.' such, for example, as the tem
perature of melting. This matter in well
illustrated in the table given below
showing such characteristics for a num
ber of different waxes. From this It may
be readily understood, it is hoped, how
one who might depend upon mere' ex
ternal appearances to decide this matter
might be mistaken.- It is a case where
the chemical properties of the substance
must be depended upon, the determin
ation of which can be made, only with
expensive appliances and with a consid
erable expenditure of time. A hasty ex
amination not accompanied by chemical
tests is certain to be unreliable, and yel
the reports of analyses offered in support
of the ozokerite Idea have every ap
pearance of being that very sort. It
will take but a .moment to pass them In
review in order that they may be fairly
compared with the painstaking work of
the Government scientists already given,
and with the results of sonc other work
done right here in Oregon which- will
follow Immediately.
Facts Discussed.
X. review of the statements of author
ity under consideration should begin
with mention of the opinion rendered by
the Austrian commissioner at Chicago
and the paper by Hiscox. both of which
have been discussed above. The Dear.
! born Drug tt Chemical Company, of Chi
cago, matte a report to Dr. August C.
Kinney, ot Astoria, indicating that the
(.Concluded on Pag- 11-
i