EN12
Facsimile
Transcription
Journal of Light-House Station at Cape Foulweather
1892
May
23: [continued from preceding page] on the wreck of the St. Charles, they are not quite so well as they were here at the Station. The first mate of the St. Charles is paying the expenses of death of Capt and leaves for San Francisco tomorrow. 15 of the crew went down to San Francisco this morning on Willamett Valley.
24: Moderate and fresh breeze N.W. these 24 hours. First part of 24 hours high dry fog. Last part of 24 hours fair weather. Sea smooth. Keepers painting dome and parapet & scraping rust off iron railing preparatory to painting it black.
25: Moderate breeze N.W. to light S.E. wind first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours light variable winds with little cloudy weather. First part clear fine weather. Sea smooth. Keepers painting brackets fixing stage for painting tower & mixing paint. 1st ass't went to Newport.
26: Light wind to moderate & fresh breeze N.W. these 24 hours. First part of 24 hours little damp. Last part of 24 hours clear fine weather. Sea smooth. Keepers whitewashing and painting Oil House and working on the rhoad today.
27: Moderate to light N.W. wind and dry first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours light variable to S.W. and South wind with light rain. Sea smooth. Keepers painting the main part of the tower white from brackets to base today.
28: Light South to S.W. wind these 24 hours with light rain during these 24 hours. Sea smooth. General duties for the day. 1st ass't whitewashing in his quarters. Keeper went to Newport to order the lumber to do the needed repairs at the station.
29: Light S.West to N. West to moderate breeze these 24 hours. First part of 24 hours light rain and fog showers. Last part of 24 hours cloudy but dry weather. Sea quite smooth. General duties for day. 1st ass't weeding out his garden.
30: Light N.W. wind with light fog shower first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours light to moderate breeze N.W. clearing weather. Sea smooth. 1st ass't whitewashing fences and painting base of tower black. Keeper and 2nd ass't went to Newport. Had four visitors today.
31: Light N.W. wind and calm these 24 hours. First part little cloudy. Last part clear fine and warm weather. Sea smooth. Keeper and 1st ass't painting railing and parapet and painting roof of Oil House. Steamer Willamett arrived today. Had six visitors today.
June
1: Light South to N. West wind with rain showers these 24 hours. Sea smooth. Steamer Willamett Valley sailed at 4 P.M. for San Francisco and took the two men that were burned so bad that were from the St. Charles to the hospital at San Francisco. Keeper went to Newport on business. 1st ass't painting and whitewashing in his quarters today.
2: Light variable wind & calm with frequent light rain showers during first part of 24 hours. Sea smooth. The barometer is up to 30.50. Keepers whitewashing fences and painting the lattice work green on front porch of Keeper's dwelling.
3: Light N.W. wind with frequent rain showers first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours fair weather. Sea smooth. The barometer 30.40. Keepers cleaning paint work in lantern preparing to paint it also cleaning illuminating apparatus. 1st ass't working on road today.
4: Light variable winds and calm first part of 24 hours, cloudy but dry. Last part of 24 hours light to moderate and fresh breeze South with light rain showers. Sea smooth. Keeper painting the interior of lantern white, sash, & etc.
5: Light South to S. East wind with frequent rain showers first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours light variable winds and calm with fine & warm weather. sea smooth. General duties for the day. Had four visitors today. Keeper working in garden today.
6: Light S. East wind and dry fair weather first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours light to moderate and fresh breeze South with rain showers. Sea smooth. General duties for the day. Keepers went to Newport to vote today.
7: Moderate breeze to light South wind, rain & hail showers first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours fresh & moderate breeze South, rain & hail squalls. Sea quite smooth. Keepers cleaning lens plate glass of Lantern also brushing the interior of walls of tower preparing to whitewash them.
8: Light S. East wind light rain showers first part of 24 hours. Last part of 24 hours light variable winds & calm [continued on following page]
Notes and Questions
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June 1st, the two men who were injured when the St. Charles exploded on May 17th were transported via the steamer Willamett Valley to a hospital in San Francisco.
Look what I just found!
May 26, 1892
The Record-Union from Sacramento, California
ILL-FATED ST. CHARLES. Survivors Narrate the Story of the Explosion. San Francisco, May 2,5.—The crew of the ship St. Charles, blown up at sea off the Oregon coast on the 17th inst., arrived here to-day on the steamer Willamette Valley. The St. Charles loaded with a cargo of coal on May 13th, and experienced heavy seas for three days. On the morning of the 17th the second mate, Mike Flynn, and Charles Lenberg, a sailor, went to the forehatch to gather some potatoes, taking with them the ship's lantern. Louis Strandburg, a sailor, spoke to the men and saw the mate pass Lenberg the lantern. Lenberg was reaching through the hole into the forepart of the ship and was about to crawl through when the explosion occurred, and Flynn was lifted bodily in the air. He fell at Strandburg's feet with a great hole in the scalp and his legs burned to a crisp. Lenberg was thrown back against the ladder and was terribly cut and burned. Strandburg's board was singed by the flames, which shot from a hole following the roar of the explosion. Ned Kiley, a sailor, who was on dock at the time, states that when the explosion occurred ropes, hawsers and the main hatch were hurled from the deck by the force, and the deck opened wide from the after-part of the house to the stern. The spanker-boom was carried away, the wheel-house lipped over and the ship was generally demolished. The j rigging was on tire and the pumps would not work. Captain Chapman was found pinned to the floor in his cabin under an overturned sofa and bookcase. The Captain's spine - broken and lie was in great agony, the men extricated him with difficulty from among the shattered timbers and made haste to get into the boats, as the ' vessel was sinking. There were nineteen men divided among three small boats. When last seen the St. Charles' mainsail was on fire and the ship was foundering. The boats were 200 miles from land without a compass. They succeeded in making Cape Foulweather safely and there Captain Chapman died. Lenberg and the second mate, Flynn were taken to Newport. , towed by the survivors, who then came to this city. Flynn is expected to die. The sailors believed that coal gas, ignited by a lantern, caused the explosion. source: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/42197300/
On June 6th, Keepers went to Newport to vote. :-)
Head Keeper - Frank Plummer, First Assistant -Edward Rice, Second Assistant - Isaac L. Smith