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i An Institution of
Beauty and Utility.
ASTORIA takes infinite pride in the beautiful hospital thai occupies
one of the most commanding of the downtown sites in thin city,
nnl which stands like a beacon of hope and promise to the afflicted, the
hurt, and those to whom ministration, gentle, considerate, and healing
ia lh chlefost thinir in life. St. Marv's Hospital, for nearly three de
cades has contributed the blowing of care arid comfort and renewed
health to over 15,000 people who have nought its shelter and its curri
culum of physical healiniri and will, it is hoped, help' and cure other
tons of thousands before it limitations have been approached.
Tbia splendid institution was founded here in 1M), on tno tnira any
of August, by the Sisters of Charity of Providence, an order founded in
Montreal, in 1843, by Bishop Dotirgct, and where the mother-house still
flourishes. The original buildings being upon, practically, the same site
now crowned by the irreat edifice that marks the devoted work and
progress of the gentle women in whoso capable hands its destiny lies. It
then had a capacity for 25 patients ; and in WJ2 an audition was made
that nearly doubled its capacity, and incorporated a surgery and a
chapel. Thus equipped, it went on its friendly and sustaining way until
1905, when the present magnificent hospice was planned, and perfected
to years later, at a cost of $05,000,
St. Mary's, as it now stands, has the most modern equipment that
money and a gracious ambition could buy; it 1ms accommodations lor
Jy n
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i-, .,.!.. nt fh litfttion. when the men are not otherwise engaged,
is as follows, and is observed with rigid fidelity, in order to keep the
crew at tho very top notch of perfection in every pnase oi we lroponam
work assigned them by the Government 5
Monday Overhaul all gear that is uscu ior uic-mtjhk
purposes;
TUKfiOAY Drill with the life-boats;
Wednesday Drill with tho international code of signals;
Thursday Drill with beach apparatus;
Fbiday Practice resuscitation ;
SATUitDAY-Ocneral house-cleaning, and fire drill.
This system has been carefully lived up to ever since the station
was established in 1889 and manned in the following July by a keeper
and eight surf men, and is never permitted to languish for a day.
Thfl wiuinitifint of the station is among the best on the Pacific Coast
and consists of the following modern and indispensable factors;
One 34-foot English life-boat, built at Port Huron, Micnigan, ai
a cost of $3000; .,'
- One Dobbins life-boat, built at San Francisco, at a cost of $1000;
Two Ilecbe-MeClellan self-bailing surf -boats, built at Grecnport,
V .T nt it mint if M00 each.
One Monomoy surf-boat, built at San Francisco, at a cost of $250,
and ,
Two sets of beach-apparatus, consisting of Lyle guns, projectiles,
During the 18 years it has been established and manned, this station
has sent its crew to the assistance of 147 vessels of all sizes and flags,
upon which there were, all told, 904 persons, only seven of whom were
lost, and these, fishermen in the Columbia river, who perished before
the swift and eager life-savers could get to them.
Among the notable wrecks in which the Point Adams crew has
figured in its term of service,, was that of the Italian bark Cavour,
which went ashore on Peacock Spit, at the mouth of the Columbia, on
the night of December 8, 1903, when her crew of 16 was taken off in
the midst of a tremendous gale, the vessel breaking to pieces within an
hour of their rescue. The life-lmat was towed w ine scene oi w u
aster by the fine bar tug Tatoosh, Captain Charles Bailey, command
ing; a service frequently rendered by these vessels, and most pro-f.-.n,ii
rmrp.iiiti! hv the men chanred with work of rescue. In this
vim v j ---- w
.! lmt Ttinv also hfl mentioned the clever piece of work performed by
this crew on the 10th of December, 1904, when a terrific sou'wester
swept away a great stretch of the Government jetty, one mile from tne
ith tin. railway trucks that serve that enterprise, leaving six
jetty-men marooned on the out-board end of the jetty, and helpless of
rcscuo from any other agency on shore save these trained ana naray
Again the services of a bar-tug (Wallula, commanded oy i,ap
Cud tain Davis was an old naval msfl. and beina of quite an ad
vanced age, was succeeded in 1880, by Captain Alfred T. Harris, the
well known and popular steamboat man, who served at the post for
seven more years, when he, in turn was followed by Captain John W.
Walker, who, however, only served for half a year, when Captain
Davis was sent back to the station and kept it for the following six
years, retiring then tipon his own request for relief.
The present able master of the station, Captain Charles D. Stuart,
who served under Captain Davis from 1886. was then put in charge,
and for 14 vears has kept faithful watch and ward over the destinies
of the service and those of the people whom mischance has cast across
his path.
When the station was established, Colonel Taylor, of Astoria, was
inspector of the life-saving service on the Pacific Coast, and it was
largely through his instrumentality that the tape Disappointment
station was founded ; Major T. J. Blankeny, being his district super
intendent. The Cape Disappointment crew has many a fine record to its
ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL
men.
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LIFE BOAT AT CAP E DISAPPOINTMENT.
?100 patients, and under stress could take care of the second hundred.
it i. filliul with ffreat airv rooms, wards and corridors, substantially and
iandsomely finished, and is conducted upon as perfect system as can be
fwim.il tar uch an establishment Including Sister Superior Tancrcda,
?thcre is a staff of nine Sisters in charge of the building and its work,
..nninmnntni!. ftf Minn, bv the trained nurses and the internes, insep
,nilfjMVH.VUVVM, V- " " . . Ill
arable from such an agency. All appointments are perieci ana uie nouw
is always in the very pink of exquisite cleanliness from its towers to its
foundation stones and what is more, it never lacks an appreciative clien-
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telle. The physicians of the city commend it ana use u, giauiy ana win
deep appreciation of its extraordinary excellence of service and general
convenience. This feeling is reciprocated fully by the good Sisters who
rcalizo the value of this professional estimate and strive in all ways to
.!. it Ti. n W dnen v sensih e Of tne spirit oi generousuj
ff that has characterized the people of Astoria in their great task of auncli-
Jing this noble house of refuge and count n among me
1 of the work that has resulted. ' '
The hospital was taken over by the Sisters on the 6th of April, uvi,
and 23 days later it was solemnly dedicated to the glory of God and the
good of humanity, in tho presence of a distinguished company, by His
Grace, Archbishop Alexander Christy, of the Roman Catholic arch
diocese of Oregon City.
tain William Reed), was given, the steamer towing the surf-boat to a
point near the imperilled men, who, jumping into the raging sea, were
nmmnilv niMced tin bv the life-savers, and quickly taken to the beach,
where safety and comfort were quickly found. The latest wreck in
which this crew took conspicuous part, was that of the British ship
Peter Ircdale, which went ashore on Clatsop Beach three miles below
the jetty on the morning of October 26, 1906, about dawn. She was
sighted by the surfman patrolling the beach near Fort Stevens, and
the aurf-boat was token overland on a wagon to a point near the wreck
hieh was, by that time, dismasted), and her men and officers, 27 in
number, were safely landed on the sands without a single loss of life.
In this case the crew was nobly assisted by the soldiers from Fort
Stevens.
With the Trained and
Ready Life-Savers.
I-w-IIERE is nothing in all the wide scope of the national services
I I that warrants, and engages, a deeper and more universal public
interest than the Life-Saving Department of the Government, to which
this, and all other nations owe a vast debt of gratitude, even though the
men engaged are paid for tho work they do; and every station on the
thousands of miles of American coast is always a ready and compen
sating centre for the expression of that interest. The very name and
....i t,0 han ivim tho denartment would naturally ensure that
definite public concern and charm that has made the system famous
everywhere, let alone the hardy, hearty and spienuiu ram m
by the gallant crews throughout the land; but name, and game, and
fame, are fixed attributes of the men, ana sianaara puuwwi u.0
w in a surf-boat and men to handle it.
Astoria is fortunate in having within easy touch two fine stations
!,! -nmri0 t nllv onninnod and snlendidly manned, and operated to
fthe very limit of cause, and experience, and with unfailing gallantry
and success. The two shores of the Columbia, close to its mergance
W the mighty Pacific, have, each, a ready crew of nine stalwart young
Imen, to answer the hail of marine distress from whatsoever point of
fcomposs it may come; one nestling on tho southerly bank, on the water-
line of the town oi iiammonu, bix niu w wo " "
anA i-nnm tha Point Adams live-saving station ; the other, on the
north shore of the river, beneath the beetling front of Fort Canny, is
the Cape Disappointment station ; and both are attractively arrangea
and equipped and make comfortable, roomy quarters for the men
tfiA nprilmis duties of the profession.
TliA Point. Adams Btation is commanded by Captain 0. S. Wickland,
n .Ma ond onnsftientious officer who takes infinite pride in the trust
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omfifaA t.n him and strives always and jealousy for the best results
tthat can be wrought by himself and his eight stalwart companions,
fwhose names and positions in the fine crafts they handle, are as follows :
No. 1, Robert Farley; No. 2, Charles rearson; jno. d, uerman donn
son; No. 4, G. F. Peterson; No. 5, Bernard Anderson; No. 6, William
Potter ; No. 7, Carl Petterson ; No. 8, Robert Nagle.
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LIFE BOAT AT FOINT ADAMS.
These men are frequently in receipt of gracious and grateful letters
from men who have had to rely solely on the intrepidity and skill of
the crew from Point Adams for the life that was left them. And in
passing, it may be said that the whole country is in hearty sympathy
with the recent movement to advance the compensation of these
brave and resolute life-savers, and its success will be hailed with general
satisfaction and not alone by the beneficiaries.
It is conceded that the rule of action hereabout in this particular
service is that the crews of Point Adams and Cape Disappointment act
together insofar as they may, and this line of procedure always main
tains when it is possible. The two are on the most equitable footing of
equipment and numbers, as well as of genuine comradry and work
together with abundant good will and assured skill. One rarely hears
of the one without the other and it is in the rarest instances that their
operations are separate, and then only when the scene and object are
nraoticallv at their own doors, otherwise they are inseparable, and
fnrm an flna an element of manlv and courageous service as can be
found anywhere on the continent. They are individually and collective
ly popular in the City of Astoria and in all the country round about,
and are, invariably, one of the most indispensable features of the great
Rpcrntta. tnr whifih this citv and port are famous.
The oldfist of the two famous life-saving stations on the Columbia,
tha nnn nt Cane DisnDnointment. trim and snug under the southerly
front of big North Head and its beacon, was placed there by the Govern
ment on December 8.1877 with Cap'tain Stephen Davis as its keeper,
md tnr an vfiars it has been resnondinc to the calls of those in troubled
waters, almost invariably with the happiest issue. The plant is cozily
housed and kept in the same prideful condition of cleanliness and per
fect order of appointment for which the service is renownea.
credit for work well done and hundreds of lives saved among the
fishers and mariners of the nearby harbor and coast, and has always
done its share in the arduous task set for it by the play of the winds
and tides and fierce storms that hold almost unbroken sway along these
coasts in winter. Notable among these was the wreck of the steamship
Great Republic on the 19th of April, 1879 (when only a call crew was
at the service of the keeper, and before a regular crew was domiciled
there). There were 970 people on board and the last soul of them was
saved in the ship's boats under the clever assistance of the life-savers,
only the 14 in the last boat to leave the ship being sacrificed to the ever
vnraciona sea. Other adventurous work in which this crew served with
success to all concerned, were those of the British bark Dilharree; the
British ships Fernglen and Edith Lome, m the early bus; and tne
ships Strathblane, Point Loma, and Frank W. Howe, of later years.
On two occasions, the crew of the lightship No. 50, which lies at anchor
in the offing of the Columbia, were saved from death by the men oi
this station, by the use of the breeches-buoy; and scores on scores of
times they have gone to the relief of the over-venturesome fishermen
that have needed quick and skilfull aid when the bar seas overwhelmed
them.
It is not possible, in the scope of an article of this kind to unfold
the strong detail of the lives of these men; to tell of the bold, individual
work they do, and describe the numberless perils they face constantly
and courageously for a stipend the Governmenment should be ashamed
to offer for such duty to such men. The scale of compensation fixed
in this service is the only small thing about it, and it is the hope of all
men that the present agitation for its advance will be altogether suc
cessful. One rarely hears anything of this kind from the men them
selves; all brave men are patient, and true in one thing as well as
another. But the world at large knows this thing to be incongruous
and undeserved.
The drills at the station on the northshore are identical with those
et forth in this account for the Point Adams post, and the force is
also the same as to numbers, the men serving under Captain Stuart
being :
Nn. 1. Laurence Elleson : No. 2, 0. P. Britt ; No. 3, Henry C. Averill ;
Xo. 4. William Brumbach; No. 5, Walter II. Fry; No. 6, Edward Erick-
son ; No. 7, Harry Anderson ; No. 8, Steve Oman.
The equipment at Cape Disappointment is as follows:
Two large surf -boats.
One Beebe-McLellan self-bailing surf-hoat. !
One open' Monomoy surf -boat.
One 12 h. p. gasoline motor .life-boat
Two Lyle guns, for line-throwing, with all incidental gear.
One complete outfit for beach operations, including breeches-buoy.
flnntain Stuart, commanding at this place, has served steadily in
this great department, with only one vacation of six months, since 1886,
and during that time has commanded at the Fort foint Liiie-toaving
-tntinn in San Francisco harbor, as well as at this port. He is one of
the veterans of the service and is thoroughly esteemed by all who know
him, in Government circles and out of them.
TIipsa two stations of the thirteenm district of the united states
Life-Saving Service, are considered as among the best models in it, for
11 tho nntflntial Dualities required by the Government, and the people
hereabout are entirely willing to subscribe to this estimate and to count
it one of the strongest claims this community has upon the considera
tion of the outlying world.
nr. anriu,.-,
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SADDLE MOUNTAIN.