2
THE STJXBAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND. JULY 26, 1908.
ill A AFTER SERVICE OF A QUARTER OF A CENTURY J71E STEAMER
WW TACOMA TORE DRIVEN OFF THE CVimBIAgffs " V - llb
by TtfFWticrcttfrwrxrtfT rp. . - -v -v' lift
1 li fPPg 1 1 ' ":"';"V ''If ' ' ' i ;:
BT MRS. J. A. HYDE.
WITH the completion of the bridge
at Vancouver in June and the
one across the Willamette at an
early date will go the Northern Pacific's
transfer boat Tacoma at Kalama, Wash.,
at least as far as transferrins freight
and passengers across the Columbia is
concerned. 1
Time and modern . methods eliminate
many things but none hardly more im
posing, useful and majestic than' this
transfer boat, and yet the building of
these two great bridges at Vancouver and
Bt. John renders her a useless thing to
be cast aside as an Impediment to modern
progress.
Built and put Into commission more
than a quarter of a century ago she has
faithfully responded to the will of man
for all these years, never missing a trip
across the river unless hindered by some
outside aj?ency.
Day after day and night after night
has this faithful carrier of human freight
made her trips, the traffic ever increas
ing, till during the Lewis and Clark Fair
her capacity was tested to the utmost.
' Not waiting on either side of the river a
minute over the actual time it took to
unload the trains, her three crews were
kept busy taking one train over and
bringing another one back. The time con
sumed Irt makinx this trip of two miles
was cut down to the limit and where,
heretofore, 20 minutes had been consumed
to cross the Columbia, but ten' were now
used. A freight or passenger was always
waiting for a chance to cross and not
many minutes was the boat Idle from
the opening to ihe closing of the fair.
To the citizens of Kalama she is a
thing of life, a factor entering into the
daily routine of the town. The little city
has always known her and many of the
younger generation were born and reared
in hearing of Its whistle. They know no
more familiar sight than her smokestacks
looming up at the slip or her steaming
across the folumhla, and when the first
faint intimation was breathed that two
great bridges were to be built that would
carry traffic 40 miles to the south and
that the time had come when the Trans
fer wrnild be no more, there were none
to believe; it could not be. It was im
possible that a thing that had cost so
much, hart had pnent on it so much for
repairs, could ho ven over for the sake
of cutting down tiie time to Portland
some CO minutes.
'
Ftut time went on and rumors were
rife. Although but rumors they had an
ominous eouti'1 to those Interested in the
welfare ot Kalama. and it was put down
by every inhabitant of the city that it
was a dream never to be realized. The
river was too wide, too deep and too
swift. The Government, even, would not
allow it and no franchise could be had
for right of way across. The interest on
the money used to build the bridges would
keep the Transfer in repair and pay all
expenses for years to come. But all this
argument was useless. The cutting of
30 minutes from Seattle to Portland was
a great thing, and the hauling of wheat
over the North Bank, over these bridges
Into Portland was a greater, and while
traffic was increasing by leaps and
bounds and the freight handled from the
Inland Empire alone was so great the
Transfer would, In a few years, be wholly
inadequate.
Finally huge timbers were being shipped
through Kalama for Vancouver. Great
rocks, all of a uniform size, filled flat
cars, all speeding to the city to the south.
Then the first iron structural work of the
hridge passed by and Kalama began to
realize. Some, too, had been to Van
couver and came back saying that work
had actually begun on the bridge. No!
It could not be; and not till the third
pier wan well under way did the citizens
of the little town believe that It was so.
Then they woke to the realization that
the Transfer was doomed, a thing that
was a part of their daily life, of their
very sustenance was to be wrested from
them as a result of the onrushing tide
of improvement and advancement, and
this realization spurred the citizens of the
place to action, that something had to be
done to take the place of this great hulk
of machinery that supported half the peo
ple of the town. They rose to the occa
sion and how well they met this obllga
tion was a credit to the place; but that
Is another story. Be it said however,
that other Industries will spring up that
will more than compensate the Kss of the
ferry.
But two captains have had charge of
the Transfer since it was put into com
mission. Captain Gore was its first mas
ter and served as such more than 20
years. He died Just before the Lewis and
Clark Fair, the new captain, Thomas
Popham, taking charge Just as the heavy
travel began to the fair in 1906. This
was the heaviest business done during
the lifetime of the boat.
As many as 40 trains were handled a
day. The passenger trains were run in
two sections consisting of 12 cars each,
running about one-half hour apart. This
gave the ferry time to cross with the
first seotion and return before the second
section arrived. This was so planned
that trains leaving Portland arrived at
Goble, about the time the Eastern trains
arrived at Kalama, so that the ferry af
ter landing the first section of the East
ern train, brought back the first section
of the Portland train, thus loading four
trains of 12 cars each in the space of one
hour, a total of 24 trains every 24 hours
and a total of some 15,000 passengers.
Besides the passenger trains there were
the freight trains and fruit express which
made up a total of 40 trains a day
amounting to 560 cars handled in a sin
gle day.
In all this time no accidents of any kind
occurred, and no train was delayed be
yond the actual time it took to cross the
river. During the flood of 1894,
when the track between Portland and
Goble was inundated, a train was put
temporarily on the transfer and trips
were made between Kelso, 12 miles north
of Kalama and Portland, the passengers
being transferred to the train on board
the ferry and then again to the trains
at either end of the route, the distance
being 52 miles between the two stations.
The advent of the Transfer dally at its
dock in Portland brought out the people,
by the hundreds to view the strange
sight. No accidents occurred during this
time, although on June 2, 1894, a cyclonic
wind hit Portland Just as the Transfer
was due to leave. The hundreds that
were watching the boat as it swung from
her moorings and headed -down stream
expected to see her driven against the
bridge, but Captain Gore took her safely
through, although the wind was blowing
a gale never before experienced In Port
land. These trips continued during all
the flooded period which lasted four
weeks, when the train was taken off and
the boat resumed her old course between
Kalama and Goble none the worse for
her daily trips' amounting to over 100
miles a day.
Although no accidents of a serious na
ture have ever happened to the boat it
self, there have occurred accidents of dif
ferent kinds to both freight and passen
ger trains while stationed on it. Several
years ago one engine of a freight train
was shoved off the ferry into the river,
but no one was hurt. Several monttis
later another engine was shoved off in
like manner, the fireman who was sup
posed to be feeding the fire at the time,
going off with it. A great scar on the
forehead showed he was probably killed
before falling Into the river. The en
gine were afterward recovered. Boxcars
have been pushed off on one or two oc
casions, but the death of the fireman
was the most serious accident ever oc
curring on the Transfer.
Captain Popham has three bright chil
dren and when he took command of the
ship be was obliged to spend all his
time aboard. He therefore moved his
family onto the vessel, giving up a neat
home on the hill for one on the waters
The children thus exchanged a play
ground of grass and gravel for one of
comparatively cramped quarters on the
ferry, where hard steel rails, three tracks
of them, drew down the hot sun in Sum
mer and the damp blasts of Winter.
There are not many children that live
in two different states continuously as
these three do. They attend school on
the Washington side, but when at home
their time is almost equally divided be
tween two great states. They may be
gin their dinner In Washington and fin
ish ip Oregon. They may go to bed in
Washington and cross over into Oregon
several times before they awaken. If
OOOOOOQOOOOOOOOCOO.OiX.O
oo3
CAPTAIN POPHAM, WIFE AND- THREE CHILDREN
the school bell rings In Washington and
the Ferry is in Oregon, 10 chances to 1,
they will be late, but provision is made
for this and they are not counted tardy.
To look at the vessel as it lies at the
slip she appears a dingy hulk of broad
dimensions and almost 400 feet in length.
One would not Imagine she held anything
but machinery, but there is a kitchen, a
dining-room where hundreds are fed
every week, several living rooms, and
quarters for the men employed, on the
boat.
The Captain's quarters are spacious,
well lighted and catch the fresh breeze
from the river. These cosy rooms are
in direct contrast to the rest of the boat
which is built for utility and usage of
the hardest kind, and only thin partitions
separate the cold outside from the cosy
interiors.
To most housekeepers the larder is the
most interesting of all on the boat. One
entire side from floor to celling is given
up to canned goods fruits canned on the
boat in big two quart glass jars, and
from fruits bought of the farmers living
near. Hams by the dozen. Sugar and
beans by the sack, crates of ggs and
lard by the barrel shows there i always
a plenty at hand as is also everything
else in the line of cooking and housekeep
ing. Thomas Popham, masUr of the Taco
ma, was born in Ireland. He came to
the Coast in 1873 and lived awhile at
Coos Bay. He has spent the past SO
years on the Columbia on various vessels,
being on the Tacoma 17 years.
He ia having built a substantial resi
dence at 'Thirteenth and Hanrock streets,
Portland Or., and will go there when his
services on the Transfer are no longer
needed. Ki-x
The crew of the Tacoma consists of 32
men. There are four engineers and five
firemen; master, mate, first and second
officers and 11 deck hands.
It is reported the Transfer will be sent
to some Sound port after the middle of
August.
KALAMA. Wash.. July 21.
Il
Willi
ITO Una
F lit.
vmri&N
A PLAIN working man, a boiler
maker, recently passed through so
terrible an experience down In Ar
kansas that the Imaginary scenes of hor
ror as portrayed by such a writer of
fiction as Victor Hugo pale before it.
This man, who survived betng locked
Inside a boiler while the water was
turned on and a fire built beneath him.
Is gray and wan and haggard while yet
In his youth.
Arthur McDonald, the man in the rase,
took a train at Baltimore last week
bound for Colorado. He has tried an
ocean voyage and will add to It a so
journ In the Rockies in an attempt to
recuperate from his. wrestle with death.
He told his own story as a plain unimag
inative man would tell it. and the telling
took but half the time of the railroad
journey between Baltimore and Wash
ington. "I am 24 years of age and fur the last
three years have been emp!oed as a
bollermaker, principally in railroad
shop. I learned my trade when quite
young, and. though fully aware of the
dangers of a boilermaker's life. I never
once dreamed of the awful experience I
would go through or I should never have
attempted to drive a rivet. The experi
ence to which I refer occurred four
months ago below Hope. Ark. A new set
of boilers had been put In and negro
firemen were relied upon to attend to
them. They soon got out of order and
the foreman 'sent all the way to Pine
Bluft to get a boilermaker. There were
none" available then except those in the
railway shops there. As a pretty good
sum was offered, I laid off from my reg
ular work and decided to make a few
extra dollars. This try came near being
the end of me.
Caused by Workmen's Mistake.
"When I reached the sawmill I found
the boilers In a bad fix. The flues were
choked and needed reaming badly. In
addition they were soaked on the in
side, and as there was not enough help
to be had I decided to go Into the boilers
myself and chisel off some ot the caked
matter while the negroes were reaming
out the flues.
'This worked all right on the first
boiler and 1 soon had it in good shape.
I then went to the second boiler and
told the workmen as soon as they had
finished reaming out that boiler to re
place the manhole on the first, fill it
with water and Are up for a test.
"I went down on the Inside and found
the second boiler's flues In an especially
bad condition. I must have worked for
an hour and was so busy I did not no
tice that the noise of the reaming had
ceased until I was nearly through. My
first Intimation that anything was wrong
came when the candle began to burn
dim and the boiler seemed full of candle
gas and smoke. I turned around to see
what the matterwas and to my horror
saw that the manhole cover had been
replaced.
'I crawled along the flues as fast as I
could until I had reached the spot and
tried to push the manhole cover up,
but I wa9 too late. The workmen had
screwed it down firmly. I struck the
side of the boiler with my hammer and
called repeatedly. The sound was almost
deafening to me. but I am sure it was
hardly heard outside. It then flashed
over me that the men had misunderstood
me and were preparing to make a fire
under the second boiler Instead of the
first.
Lost His Only Light.
"The horror ot mx situation caused me
to feel sick for a moment, but I realized
that if there was anything to be done
It must be done at once, so X crawled
along the rust-covered flues to the end
of the boiler. In doing this I accident
ally knocked over my candle and put it
out. With a cry of anguish I reached
for it, but it had fallen, down among the
flues and was out of my reach for good.
"Following close upon thia I heard the
rush of water through the injector and
knew the boiler was being filled. Xow
was the time to act, I thought, if I in
tended to get out alive, but my candle
was gone and never before have I seen
such darkness as surrounded me.
"I had not calculated correctly on the
time, for the water had been coming in
several minutes before I noticed it. I
could feel it creeping up among the flues.
For a moment I stopped and, I am not
ashamed to admit it, prayed earnestly
for deliverance from the awful fate that
confronted me.
"After an agony of suspense I heard
the water shut off with a gurgle that
sounded to me like the voice of some
demon bent upon devouring me. I at
tempted to Jump up, but struck my head
a severe blow upon the casing of the
boiler, and cut a gash In my -scalp, but
I hardly felt it, so alarmed was I at
the thought of the next step that the
men would take. The Are!
"Had I been fortunate enough to pos-
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sess a revolver or even a pocket-knife
I would have ended it all there, but I
was unable to do a thing but yell and
beat the sides of the boiler with all my
might and main. I was forced to sit
and know that under me the negroes
were building a Are that would slowly
roast me to death.
Terrible Mental Torture.
"I cannot describe my feelings of. agony
during the following moments. I imag
ined I could feel the heat already. The
atmosphere was suffocating, yet cold
beads of perspiration stood out on my
forehead and trickled down my spine. To
me every minute was an hour.
"It was through sheer exhaustion that
I ceased beating and, pantingly, leaned
back against the side of my iron tomb. I
was not long spared this rest, for now I
couM 'distinctly feel the air growing
warmer. The flues upon which I was
seated were above the water, and as I
reached down and touched one I started
with a gasp. It was warm ever so
slightly but warm nevertheless. Again
I began pounding and calling frantically
until my lungs felt as though they were
being torn to pieces.
"The close atmosphere and heat had
started a mging headache, and my tem
ples throbbed as if they would burst. I
bad torn my hands until, they were bleed
ing freely, and my eyes seemed to bulge
in their sockets. The thing that stood
out grim and gaunt in front of me was
the fire in the furnace that would slowly
roast me to death.
"I thought of my old mother, of home,
end of thousands of things. It seemed to
mo. The flues were now becoming warm
er. I could feel their ' heat through my
clothing, and once more I pounded and
yelled. Back and forth I crawled, pant
ing, praying, moaning. The flues were
now so hot that they burned my bare
hands, and my head swam from the heat.
Tried to End Misery.
"In a moment of desperation 1 seized
my hammer and dealt myself a severe
blow in order to stun myself, so that
the last pangs might not be so terrible.
The blow only burst the skin and caused
ine additional pain. Hotter and hotter
grew the flues, until I felt that I could
no longer stand the agony. Strange and
weird figures appeared before my vision.
At laBt, more dead than alive, with every
nerve racking with agony, I threw myself
down upon the burning pipes to hasten
the end. My teeth ground together like
a vise as the heated iron burned my
flesh. I could not have remained there
over three seconds, th6ugh it seemed to
me a lifetime, before I seemed to hear,
as plain as I ever did In my life, the
voice of a-brother who died years ago.'
I will never understand the connection
of my older brother with my deliverance,
but it will always stick in my memory
that it w-as his voice that told me the
way to It. The voice sounded, as it al
ways had in the days of our boyhood. I
recognised it In an instant, and felt not
the slightest surprise. It said quickly:
" 'Cut the pipe, Arthur."
"In a second I was on my hands and
knees. . The last ray of hope had dawned
before me now. and with -more strength
than I ever before commanded or ever
shall again I placed the point of my
chisel on the pipe just under the water
ail dealt it a terrific blow. I missed and
struck off my little linger."
He held up the stump.
Did Not Feel the Pain. .
"I pledge my word that I did not feel
the pain. A second blow fell true, and a
third and fourth, and with the fifth I felt
the chisel give. I caught sight of a flery
spark of flame In the flue, and the next
Instant heard the water hissing and pop
ping as it rushed through the leak into
the furnace below.
"The men heard the water when it
struck the Are and knew there was a
leak somewhere. They, of course, then
opened the water plug and raked out thft
fire.
"Realizing that I was fast losing con
sciousness, I dragged myself under the
manhole, where I might be found as soon
as the boiler was opened. I have a faint
recollection of seeing a round patch of
daylight darkened by the head of a man,
and for the tollowing Ave days I knew
nothing.
"I was in the hospital in Pine Bluft for
three months, and am still afraid I am
about all in. However, the doctors say
that the mountains and rest will do won
ders for me, so I am going to try it out
in Colorado for a while."
The old young man ran .his Angers
wearily through the white hair and rested
his head on his hand. There seemed a
question In his mind if there is enough of
the vital spark in his body to be fanned
back into robust life, but he is young, and
the young die hard. About him will al
ways hang the baJge of his horrible near
tragedy, and his true story will remain
a challenge to the inventive genius of the
thrill-makers.'
WHERE MOSQUITOES ARE PLAGUE
BRAZII. is handicapped In the settle
ment of her richest river bottom and
forest districts by the presence of in
sect pests, which exceed in number, if
not In variety and viciousness, those of
any other part of the globe. There are
mosquitoes of all sizes and stages of
virulence. .
In years gone by these insects were
regarded as a mere intolerable annoy
ance, but modern biological research And
studies in parasitism have taught that
certain insects are not content with sub
sisting themselves off the blood of men
and lower species, but that they are
actually mean enough to leave behind
the spores of blood parasites, which, if
they were all able to accomplish their
deadly wok, might exterminate the
mammals from the earth.
We have learned that several species
of mosquito deposit germs that cause
malaria in the blood of their victims,
that the anopheles species deposit the
eerms of yellow fever, and that the
sleeping sickness that is devastating sec
tions of Africa, is due to the bite of a
parasite-infested fly. We also know that
the cattle disease known as Texas fever
is due to the bite of certain files and
ticks, and that the deadly anthrax Is
often communicated to men and beasts
by insect bites. Thus It is gradually de
veloping that the most dangerous ene
mies of men are not the beasts of prey,
but creatures which were once thought
Insignificant.
Brazil, with an eye to the future, has
made overtures to this country for the
transfer of dragon, flies, because these
are the most voracious consumers of
mosquitoes and gnats. It develops that
the "devil's darning needle," which as
children . we feared would sew our ears
up end make us deaf, is one of the best
friend3 of man, and that the savage
beauty which ' makes the observer in
stinctively draw back from too close ac
quaintance has given this good friend
a. bad name.
A number of Columbia University stu
dents are going to try to earn some
vacation , money by capturing dragon
flies for shipment to Brazil, where they
command a fancy price. ,
About the only chance for a capture
is when the creatures first emerge from
the water to transform from the pupa
to the imago state. For about an hour
after they emerge from their last shell
they are as flabby and helpless as a
June fly, their color is pale, their wings
are bedraggled and they appear dead,
but the sun soon dries their surface
end it takes on brilliant coloring and
luster. The limp wings expand into four
propellers of an efficiency that makes
the highest developed gasoline engine
seem a clumsy top. The hungry jaws
begin to work, and the huge lower lip,
that covers all the face except the two
immense eyes that look in all directions
at once, is gradually lowered, disclosing
its armament of seizing hooks, and the
creature Is off like a bullet to snap up
Its dinner. From this time nothing
slower than a stream of lightning has
any business chasing a dragon fly, until
the lady fly begins depositing her eggs
in the submerged stalks of grass and
weeds In some lake or pool.