SANDS THAT IMPRISON SHIPS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10598, 29 October 1910, Page 4 (Supplement)

SANDS THAT IMPRISON SHIPS.

The stretches of sand lung diiectly noi th and south of the mouth of the Columbia Ilnei while possessing but few of the topographical characteristics populaih associated with the regulation "maime cemeteiy," have nevertheless for j eaTS taken heavy toll from the commerce visiting this section North Beach to the north and'Clatsop Beach to the south are beautiful specimens of shore lines, free from hidden lecf and treacherous tides. JNo inhospitable shores lies in wait to crush the timbers of staunch ships, but on the contrary gentle eminences studded with summer cottages fiont the sea. The real danger to shipping, says James G. M'Curd\ in the Scientific Vmencan. lies in the frequent muffling fogs and the pecuhai cousisteucj of the sand, which holds with a tenacious grip and speeddy swallows every object tin own upon its surface Even the drift winch litters the ordinary beach for "\ ears here speedily become engulfed witlim the depths ot the sucking sand The masters of incoming vessels seeking the entrance to the Columbia River and pi evented from obtaining a reckoning by reason of long-continued fogs, are often kept in ignorance of the proximity of land until their ships have thrust their prows into the sandy shore. The mariner unacquainted with the locality generally feels no great alarm at the accident. His vessel, practically uninjured, is so near land that the crew can in 7 many crfses walk ashore dry-shod at low tide. He confidently expects by the use of a'kedge anchor or the services of a tugboat to get afloat at the next high water. He speedily realises his error. \\ lthin a few hours' his vessel has begun digging her grave in the yielding quicksands and the chances are one to a hundred that his ship has found her last lestmg-place. The inhabitants hereabouts have a sajing that no \essel e\er floats again after striking the North Beach and Clatsop sands, and while there have been some few exceptions to this broid statement fortunate indeed i- the ciatt that hguies in this lutei ci i-s Piobabh the first \c->] to s- n ke sands was the t minus beeswax ship " so called on lccouni of the beeswax candles and tapeis that have been found buried m the sind neai the mouth ol the Nehnlem Rn ei Ibis ship is believed to have been the I

Spanish ship San Jose, winch lett La Paz Lower California, in the slimmer of 1769 with a quantity of mission supplies for the Catholic mission at ban D Th°B vessel was piobably din en far north of hei l destination b> a storm and met hoi fate in the Oiegon sands, as she was never heaid of afteileaimg noit The fact that some of the beeswax lecoveied from the beach 's stamped with Latin inscriptions strengthens the belief that the jSehalem w reck and the ship San Jose weio one and the same. Accra ding to the Indian accounts the entire crew reached the shoie m safety but weie aftei w aids massacred b> the natives. The founding of-Astoria in 1811 oy John Jacob Astoi had a tendency to attract shipping to the est, and befoie inanj jears a large fleet of vessels was engaged in the earning trade ing and out of the Columbia uvei. I'lom this fleet the treacherous sands eaih began to levy tribute, which has continued to the present time without diminution, in spite of the installation of man> safeguards for the prevention of shipwieck. Seldom has a ">ear passed without a wreck occurring along this stretch ot | ocean beach. As manj as four ships | have met disastei within a single month. | Yet, owing to the peculiar conditions prevailing already noted, but few of these wrecks have resulted in loss of As may be surmised, the wreckers have made use of every device known to the profession, such as cofferdamb, | centrifugal pumps, winches, and tug- , boats, in their effoits to effect the re- , lease of the numerous vessels that have become imprisoned in these clinging; quicksands, but up to the present time much of their work has gone for nothing. _ The tides rush m far enough to wash back the sand as fast as it can be removed, but are not of sufficient rise to permit the use of pontoons 01 other devices for the floating of the great uuwieldly hulls. Frequently when success has been all but attained some unfoiescen contingency has arisen to rob the wreckers of their well earned reluid. In the majoiity of cases the best that can bo done is'to strip the stranded vessel of everything removable ?nd to tea i the hull in nieces for the sake of the metal. Often the wiecks aip battel ed to pieces by the surf or become so deeply buned that even this dismemberment is not possible ' - The latest additions to this ship s gia-\c>aid weio the Galena and Pctei Trcdalc. fifle four-masted baiqucs which came to grief witlni' the last year and which, although practicallj mummed at the time of taking the sands, were fated never to lctuin to their proper element. Both of these vessels aic being salved piecemeal by the wreckcis. The Pete- Iredale was bought as she stood for £IOO and" the Galene brought but a trifle more. Not more than half \a mile from Wieie the Peter liedalo occupies her last lestmg place is to be seen an object which at a distance appears to be a cioss. A closer inspection piovcs it to be a yard swung . hon/.ontall\ acioss the lion foremast of the \ship Caunsmore, which weiit ashoie in,1883 while endeavoring to enter'the Columbia Uivr, after havjng successfullj fought her -way aiouind Cape Horn, laden with a cargo 'of cpment "fiom Europe. The reality marks a grave, for 75ft beneath the (Surface-lies ,the hull of the doomed ship. The steadih sinking and ,in a few more v«ais will be obliterated, even, this memorial the ill-fated ,craft has -placed o\er her senulchro Oim of the verj few vessels to be *il\ed on the North Beach was the Columbia River Lightship No SO This \o<-spl after remaining in the sand ovei two j ears was with infinite labor loosed from iier spongy bed, enease'd in crib work and pulled with engines upon -ch'l ( nth She was. *hcr. taken ove: j rdp across a neck of land and launched m deep water in a bay in the l eai or the spot w here <she had come to