Oregon Historic! Society
City Hall
THE BANDON RECORDER
: Bandon By-'the-Sea has the Prettiest Beach on the Coast
VOLUME XXXI BANDON, OREGON, APRIL 27, 1915 NUMBER 16
THREE UVES LOST IN WRECK
OF SCHOONER RANDOLPH
Vessel Capsizes While Attempting to Cross Bandon Bar at
Low Tide. Live Savers Rescue Two Men Imprisoned
in the Overturned Hull. Loss $6000. No Insurance
Three drowned and throi rescued ia
the record of the wreck of the gasoline
Hchooner Randolph off the Bandon bal
last Saturday afternoon. The dead:
C. E. McConnell, part owner of the
boat,
It. K. Knorr, druggist of Gold Beach
Milton Cox, member of the crew,
The rescued nre:
Chaa. Anderson, captain of tho
Randolph,
Henry Colvin, engineer,
Chaunccy Carpenter, member of
tho crew.
Imprisoned in the overturned hull
of tho boat, the ring of an ax in the
hands of u life savor, hacking over
head, was sweet music to two of the
rescued, the captain and engineer.
Chopped into daylight they came
forth from a tomb of the living, out
from the foul, gasoline smelling at
mosphere of the bull into the fresh
air of freedom, after an experience
that would try the stoutest nerves.
Yet ono of the rescued, who had per
sistently kept his pipe in his teeth,
when ho had been handed up into
safety, nonchalantly asked lor a
match to light it. Of course none
could accomodate him. All had wad
ed to his rescue in water up to their
necks and were as wet as he was.
There were no matches in working
(condition in that party. But the in
cident serves as an illustration of the
inanner in which severe tests are met
ly men whose vocation in tho life of
)i sailor.
The schooner Randolph, engaged in
jtho coast wise trade of Coos and Cur
ry counties met with wreck Saturday
afternoon in an effort to pass over
the Bandon bar of the Coquille river
at low tide tho boat was light, re
turning from her first trip of the sea
son from Rogue river and Port Ox
ford. According to eye witnesses she
did not come at the bar directly on
but angled from the south. She pas
sed ono line of breakers but with the
second, was caught nnd turped direct
ly over. Her mast wrenched out as
it hit the bottom of the bar and felt
tho force of tho waves. With her
engine still In motion for a short time
her propeller continued to spin in the
nir.
Her deck houso was torn away but
her hull continued intact.
The force of the waves swung her
around past the south jetty and final
ly worked her onto tho beach a short
distance from tho south jetty. There
tho hull laid bottom up, and as the
larger breakers reached her she was
lifted further upon tho beach.
At tho time of the accident nil the
crew and tho ono passenger of tho
boat were on deck. The engineer was
below in the engine room with the
hatch fastened to keep out tho water
All of the men of tho boat had mado
some protection against the inevit
able shock when she should enter the
breakers. Carpenter was in tho rig
King. Spectators who witnessed tho ac
cident say that when the boat went
over, they saw two men swimming in
tho water. One was Carpenter and
thoy can nut bo sure who tho other,
was. Tho latter was having a hr.rd
time of it and in a brief interval wuh
seen no more. Carpenter Is an expert
Hwimnier nnd a man of good judge
ment. Duo to theso farts ha wuh
enabled to get around the jetty h
where ho wan rescued by l.lfo Haver
Jtosoburg.
Hwiiiimliig him been one of Cm poli
te r' favorite punt I men, lit1 Iiun nimle
It li point to got all tho I'XiticlMt lie
rnuld hi thin inunner und luually Iiiim
IiiiiI a nwiiiiiiiing exeri'lfcu ovcry iluy
winter iiml milliner. Hiwhliw lie U
MhiiikI)' Iwill, bill wun culled on to
knne ull liU MII in Id buttle with
Dim woven Hulunluy u(Urmun. lift
mi in euMng of II Iiml boll) Itk
U'Ht mix) nn n'unitxJ imtUt In
iMiul'lli'K wuyy gJJlJ iu WutUl
on until ho got whom the life haver
could reach him. The rescue came
none to soon and he was throughly
exhausted when he hnd been pulled in
to safety.
Carpenter, by the way, does not use
tobacco nor intoxicants nnd gives tins
fact a part of the credit for his suc
cessful battle with the breakers.
For a time it seemed as if Carpen
ter v.ould be the one man of tho party
who would be saved. Not a leg or an
arm show to sight after the first few
seconds succeeding the accident. The
urr.uircd hull of tho bo.it came drift
ing t.lowly onto the beach. It came
on until receding waves occasionally
left a space of a foot beneath the
bottom rail and the water. Still there
was no sign of life to be seen.
But Citnin Johnson of the Life
Saving service determined to make an
effort to reach the hull and make
sure that no "one alive was still in the
boat. Calling for a, rope ho himself
took the lead and waded out towards
the boat. As fast as the crest of the
breakers came he leaped up to keep
thefn from dashing entirely over him.
Two or three times ho was swept back
toward the shore but persevering ho
finally reached the boat Once ho
was there with tjje rope tied to the
rudder jt was easy for others to fol
low. An ax was brought and they began
to chop away a board from the boats
bottom. They heard a call below and
stopped to listen. There was a man
beneath, still alive. The news was
passed to the throng that by this time
had gathered on tho beach. A cheer
went up from the crowd. The man
with the ax renewed his work with
vigor and in a short time had a hole
through the vessel's bottom. As soon
U3 they had a hole through it wan dis
covered there were two men beneath
and both nlive. The fact was com
municated in turn to the shore and
another cheer went up.
Finally under the ax tho hole in
creased in size until the two men were
lifted out. They stated that as far
as they knew they were the only
people aboard the boat. Willing
hands steadied the two men to shore
when they were brought up town and
properly cared for.
It developed that by lucky accident
the captain had joined the engineer in
tho engine room. He had made a mis
step and fallen through the trap
door connecting the pilot houso with
the engine room and thus in all
probability his life was saved.
When asked if there was no chance
to escape at times when the waves
left a space between tho rail of the
bout and the water beneath the en
gineer said::
"Self preservation is the first law
of nature. Yes, once in a while a lit
the light would flash up from below
and some fresh air come into us. But
we didn't know where wo wee. One
time I had u notion to take off my
clothes and try and get out under the
boat and swim for it. Then I thought
of the life savers. They could not be
far away and would make an effort
to help us. Wo did not know whero
wo were not how hard a hob it would
be to reach shore. So wo wuited.
"When wo turned over it seemed)
us If monkey wrenches und other
tools wo io raining for 10 mlnuteis. I
wuh nfrnld the engine would loosen
Itself and full on me. So I got as fur
from beneath it uh poHnlble. I heard
to captain mil und ho ennui groping
toward me. Ho wanted u hammer.
I NtriU'k n match to Mm! one. For n
wonder lhw win no explosion for tliej
dpiife wiu utiong with gunulliiu. Hut
no liainiiiHi'. Finally tint euptuln
found u irttMw uf wood end begun liul
IIhk It hknImiI the luuf wliluli wuh Hid
IhjUuIH itf lliu Iml Tlniil I lieunl
liw Umh f iW tu mi mM mil
Ky o kid 14 iliimiidu i lain mdJ mm
Council Will
Draw Up Plans
Water Extension Project lo be Thorough
ly Gone Over and Definite Estimates Made
Acting under the popular demand
as voiced in the colunuiB of the Re
colder, the council has taken definite
steps to prepare definite plans on the
proposed improvement of the city
water system. At a srecial meeting
of the council last Friday night, held
to consider the declaring of an official
newspaper, tentative water extension
.plans were discussed at some length
One event of importance fiat occur
red during the e 'eniug was the ac
ceptance of a name for the stream
which it is propo?ed to store for the
city. This stream is eotne'.imes known
as .Little creek and sonitimes known
ns Gciger creek. Tins latter is the
name by which tho stream is now
known in some oriicinl entries and
the council decided that it was a good
name to affirm thorforo Gciger
creek it is. Gciger creek ia a tributa
ry of Ferry creek, which in turn is
a tributary to tho Coquille river.
City Engineer Sawyer reported
that he had given the grounds a more
or less thorough personal nxamination
did not feel able to give accurate fig
ures on tho probable cost of the pra-
ject until a survey had been made.
When asked what ho thought tho
outside expense of a survey, for
helpers in tho work, the engineer
thought $100 would cover the cost.
Later in the session ho was authorized
by resolution to undertake the work.
In the course of his remarks the
engineer stated that a dam 35 feet
high at its deepest portion and 200 ft
wide on top, would impound thirty
million gallons of water or sufficient
to supply 10,000 people for thirty
days without any accession of fresh
water.
There would be a distance of nearly
three miles to convey tho water and
the engineer thought wooden pipes
would answer this purpose. Sever
al inverted siphons would occur in
the course of the right of way which
would cause some trouble with ac
cumulation of dirt and air but the
engineer thought wooden pipes
could be laid that would minimize
these troubles.
However ho thought that iron
pipes should be used for city distrib
ution as being more servicable and
cheaper in the long run than wood.
He thought the city system could he
improved nnd handled more efficiently
by the substitution of a circulating
system instead of tho dead end sys
tem at present in use.
He thought the best method would
bo-to put ten inch pipes on 1st street
and 11th street and to connect them
by means of smaller pipes along the
cross streets.
Councilman Dipple did not think
Gciger creek would fill a thirty mil
lion gallon reservoir in much less
than a thousand years. He thought
the dam should be less ambitious with
a smaller reservoir made of sufficient
capacity to supply the city at present
to bo increased in dimensions as tho
need for it nroso.
There was some discussion ns to
tho acquisition of title to the reser
voir site and adjacent watershed but
tho mayor said there was a simple
method to ncquiro ownership by con
demnation nnd thought there would
be no troublo in acquiring title. It
wns told that there was considera
ble timber on the sito of tho proposed
reservoir nnd clearing tho land
would cost about two hundred dol
lars an acre. The timber was vulu
alile however, some of tho cednr
giants being three feet In diameter.
There nre ono or two other slteH
Hint liuvo been proposed, ono of them
being Two Mile creek. Ml will bo
examined und It is the Intention of tho
council to look Into the feiiHlhility of
them till iiml Imvt) u definite plan In
detail with enllmuteit of rout to nub
mil lo tho voter when the munition
I'oniex up for ilenUlon In (hit June
iilnnt ion.
Tim nilionner Jtllxuhnlli I tlll in the
fiver HWitillfiK it fuynruliln bur uw
HUHJUK HJ !LUfJir Wttlllj.iK 10 Mil
m liw tiie A ItehLwly, A. MmNuir ml ;
CIRCUIT COURT
IS IN SESSION
April Term Starts Monday at Coquille.
McGinnis Domestic Troubles Aired.
Tho regular April term of the
circuit cfiurt convened Monday morn
ing, Judge John S. Coke presiding.
After rendering n decision in minor
matters a new grand jury was called
as follows:
B. F. Barklow, W. H. Meyers, Geo.
Ross, Garfield Simpson, C. A. Good
man, Frank XJ. Spencer, and Fred Bar
ker, and after examination by the
judge, each qualified and were duly
sworn, excepting Mr. Barkelow who
affirmed. Mr. Barkelow was appointed
foreman by the court. They were in
structed by the court that it would bo
necesary for five of them to concur in
order to indict. They were further
advised by the court that even con
vinced that a crime had been commit
ted, not to return a verdict when in
their opinion the evidence was so
slight that there could be no convic-j
tion before a trial jury, and thereby
save the county the needless expense
of a trial without reasonable prospect
of securing conviction.
After the selection of the new
grand jury the following held under
bond or otherwise were arraigned be
fore tho court.
Roy James, the colored man who
made an assault with a razor. He en
tered a plea of guilty and will be sen
tenced Thursday.
Fred Nelson and Fred Henderson
each in, turn were arraigned for for
gery and entered a plea of guilty and
will be sentenced Thursday.
Mrs. Ohma Green and John Littler
were arraigned for lewn co-habitation
and ciaeliToiitered a plea of guilty.
Then followed seven Austrians, ac
cused of forgeries and some of them
for two or three' offences. All were il
literate, not a promising looking lot.
One appeared scarcely 21 years of ago
and another required an interpreter.
None had an attorney and were
not exactly sure that one was wanted.
The court, however, appointed James
T. Brand of Marshfiold and A. D. War
ren of North Bend, both of them re
cent additions to the Coos county le
gal fraternity. One of the seven was
indicted three times and when nuked
by the court if he wanted an attorney
for tho additional indictments said:
Yah, I cashed three checks."
Sixteen jury cases were set by the
court for trial, the first one being
Barrow vs Strang, involving Coquille
school district matters and as the case
was being called, one grade of the
Coquille school filed into the court
oom to observe court prcccdings nnd
take notes. Other cases will be made
up ready for trial before tho 10 are
disposed of.
The court also denied the third ap
plication of Mrs. Tom McGinnis of
Marshfiold for a divorce from her oth
er half. The court reviewing the. tes
timony said there was evidence of
many fights, knock down and drag
outs and that the levity of the situa
tion was surpassed by the serious re
quirements of the children of the pair.
McGinnis was nccuscd of gross habit
ual drunkness and in evidence thereof
the major portion of the Mnrshfield
police so testified. Some of them
saying he was drunk as often as once
a week, while on the other hand, J.
W. Bennett und his son Tom, together
with the family Jap cook, ex-Mayor
Straw und reputnble physiciuns testi
fied that ho wns never intoxicnted.
Under tho circumstances the court
was unable to say whether or not Mc
Ginnis ever became intoxicated, but
tho record nbounded with such evi
dences of cruelty to wit: Unit ono of
tho loving pair habitually took mi ux
to each meal to enforce pence In the
family: that ono day the liUHhiiud
Hung u glims of wutor nt tho wife, tho
glims striking tho lady onthu cheek
while hIiu retaliated by hitting lillil ov
er tho head with u platter! that one
lay ii fight enmied oil the front porni
und lontlnued lo the front walk where '
tliu wife knocked liur liimbund down
und lie hud to be iiwuml by frluiulu ,
und milglihom . niul llmt Muiflwll
(-liriel JlltulffMHl III one fluid (Ulilllg
M Ki) ( I Oil) tle Iliml'MWj,
timly U liw mimt earn wme
contradicted by many. But in conclus
ion the court found that some time
during last July tho wife had con
doned and forgiven all previous of
fences since which time they had lived
together as husband and wife and sub
sequent to which time no specific nets
had occurred which would justify a
divorce.
C. R. Phillips of Coquille is report
ed by a telephone message received
by A. J. Sherwood to be dead. Mr.
Phillips was in Kansas on a visit to
his people whom ho had not seen for
many years. He was slightly past
middle age, and had never married.
He was some years ago engaged in
cattle buying, but at the time of his
death had retired. He was known in
Bandon as the owner of the old Bnnk
building, sometimes known us tho
Bank hall. He has a sister living at
Coquille.
THE ROTARIANS
ARE COMING
Talented Quartet the Attraction at the
Grand Wednesday Night
Bandon has had some good enter
tainmcnt in the singing line during
the past few weeks but on Wednesday
night there will appear at the grand
a quartet which is the peer of any
in the west. The Rotarian Quartette
which will appear at the Grand to
morrow, Wednesday evening, is ono of
unusual merit, Manager Sellmcr is
exacting in the quality of the attrac
tions he books and the Rotarinns can
be depended upon to give satisfac
tion.
Their singing of some of the old
favorites, such as Dudley Buck's "An
nie Laurie" and "When the Corn is
Wnving, Annie Dear", Nevin's "The
Rosary," along with some of the latest
popular songs, make up a program
liiat every one can enjoy. There is
also enough of the humorous inject
ed throughout the program to keep
all interested, whether musically in
clined or not., nnd at the same time
there is plenty of good music to sat
isfy the most discriminating.
M. L. Bowman is known in almost
every city in the United States and
Canada, having sung the bass roles in
"Fnust," Aida," "Lohengrin," "Tnn
hauser" "Riggoletto" nnd many other
well known operas with the Henry W.
Savage Grand Opera Co., is the bass
of tho Rotarian Quartet. This alone is
sufficient to guarantee the quality of
the organization.
Harry M. Whetzel, first tenor of the
quartet, has a lyric voice of exception
al beauty. He comes highly recom
mended as a soloist of merit. For a
number of years he was tenor soloist
at the First Methodist church in Du
luth, Minn, where he was in great de
mand as a concert artist.
Albert Brown, second tenor and
pianist of the quartet, lias for several
seasons been entertaining the public
from tho lyceum platform where he is
a great favorite. Mr. Brown is es
pecially pleasing in his recitations, ac
companing himself on the piano.
Dr. Grovcr, baritone, is versatile in
the extreme. Beside singing baritone
with the quartet ho is an artist of the
first quality on the banjo. His banjo
solo playing is of n high .standard so
much so that where ho is better known
he has been called the "King of the
Baujo" and this is not the only thing
in which the doctor excels. His dia-
lect impersonations arc a scream from
beginning to end.
If you uro looking for an evening's
entertninment that you are sure to
enjoy, don't miss hearing tho Rotar
ian Quartet
Ilandon people uro inclined to get
hot under the rollur when thoy read
the exaggeration) and barefaced falne
IiooiIh descriptive of tho Randolph und
Hm unhappy end iu given by the
Mundifleld paper, eager to mlHrepre
vent local rondltloim. I'erliupn u Id
iutic ii statement im any won the u
Kortlon (hut llio trouble rmno when
the Randolph grounded on Hie bur.
Tho Kiiiuloljili mit I'iiiw over Hie
liuwIoH bur ut II vlmllownkt imliit ul
Die UwJ Ikly wUliMUt KmwiiijlllK'
juti Omiil If tew ui wmh lnym
jijejlf ait ihv mdt fl HiUm He 9
ODD FELLOWS
ANNIVERSARY
Ninetysixth Birthday of the Order Cele
brated Saturday Night
Ninety-six years ago the first lodge
of the Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows was organized and the anniver
sary of the founding is celebrated
annually where ever lodges of this
order flourish. The birthday of the
order for 1915 was duly celebrated by
Bandon Odd Fellows nt their hall last
Saturday night The local lodge and
the local Rebekah lodge kept open
house that evening, entertaining their
fjimilioR nnd nlsn viaitimr lirnflinra
and sisters from Coquille and Myrtle
Point. The latter came down on the
steamer Dispatch, arriving in Bandon
at eight o'clock in the evening.
The Coimille Band accompanied tho
party and brought their instruments
into tho hall sufficiently long enough
to play a tune or two for the benefit
of those assembled. Dinner was the
first thing on the program and local
Odd Fellows and Rebecahs served it
up without overlooking any frills.
Seventy three were fed at a time nnd
the tables were filled and emptied
four or five times in succession. In
meantime those not busy with eats S
whiled the time away at social games
that weie enjoyable not only to the
participant liut also to the onlooker.
Tho fun was fast and notable especial- ,v
ly when in playing drop the handker
chief T. J. Thrift developed a propen
sity to play leap frog and cut across
the circle instead of going around.
It was a late hour when tho regular
program was begun. A. J. Ilartnian
greeted the visitors with an address
of welcome, recounting some of his
own experiences and bringing in some
information relative to the work and
standing of the order.
C. R. Barrow responded with some
wittily placed phrases expressing tho
pleasure of the visitors in the recep
tion and an apprecation of the sterling
qualities of the fraternity which bond
ed the audience together.
Mrs. W. J. Sweet then favored tho
audience witli a vocal solo which wus
so excellent that the crowd persuad
ed her to sing again.
The address of the evening was
given by G. T. Treadgold. He told
a good story on A. J. Hartman. Said
while he wns listening to Hurtman a
strange brother from Coquille came
in at the door and listening a while,
inquired how long the address had
been in progress. Trendgold replied
that Hartman began his talk about
tweive years ago. "In that ea-je" said
the stran.cer, "1 guess I'll stay. He
must bo about done." In his remarks
Mr. Treadgold dealt very strongly
on the difference between profession
and performance and insisted that '
the latter must be emphasised to get
the best out of the fraternity.
Miss Moore gave a reading, a line
rendering of Lowell's "Vision of Sir
Launfal", Miss Fox presented a fine
solo and J. S. Lawrence closed the
program with some interesting remi
niscences. The institution of Odd Fellowship
in America was founded April 20th,
1819 when a few pioneers met in
Bnltimeorc and organized a lodge. The
rudiments of the order had existed
in Europe since the early part of tho
eighteenth century. There arc now
in the United States 18,089 lodges
with a membership of l,(M5,:t09.
There are 9,725 lodges of Rebekahs
with a membership of 711,87:1 or a
total in both orders of two and u third
inillionH in both orders. Tho Odd Fel
lows have 50 "homes" in tho U. S.
with 9025 inmates. Tho homes aio
vulued ut five million dollars and thoy
uro an cxemplificuton of tho fiijuuo
tion "To visit tho sick, to relievo tho
diHlrcHHcd, Ui bury tho deud und to
educate the orphan."
Di uth of Klderl) l.udy
Mm. Kurn h K. Hell, who hut been u
resident of Bandon for only it nhoit
while whn burled Hundwy, Mho wiib
77 yeum of ngu und died n( mimtr In
thu lowiilln. llvr funuml mrtfmm
vmiu held from her lulu homo n'hl
weitf oi)duM by the udyijjiiihj
ftlujivli. UuiM m in Lijtf 0, hj H
MUMiliU'. Hi m ilMylMr Mtfg