The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 21, 1898, Page 21

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, UNDAY, AUGUST 21, 1898. 21 ot VICTORIA OF it command of the uld mean almost ESQUIMALT. ittempt to face it. ESQUIMALT, THE TOWN OF VANCOUVER I HE town of E to be razed and wiped So the British Govern- order ke Sib- en Gen- royed, t go up in upon its istence. nt has mm Te « ificently designed s t door to us in F right above the ol Some idea of sed strength mayj s known that the B already dubbed s hav jutting peninsula on which the juimalt is situated has been ct spot in all the Pa- of Britain shall the ssions able fc notic land ir po Of course the Gove fairly for the nment land, are them and obliged to give up. Some of the inhabi- tants have already moved out and their hous are being demolished to make room for the great arsenals, docks and fortifications the Governr-ent proposes to erect In their stead For some time past in a quiet way the Government has steadily been mak- ing improvements in Esquimalt, but not one of the residents suspected that the town was to be razed. Two or three weeks ago a couple of men of the engineers walked through the town, and wherever directed by an officer accompanying them, drove deep into the grou little iron post. Their stroll took the trio along the Victoria- quimalt road from the Canteen fleld, 1 a past the picturesque parish church of St. Paul and down ‘“the one street of the little town” to its termination at Esquimalt wharf. The posts ar 1 in position, with the letters “W. D.” (the sign of the 3 Department), and the significant broad arrow beneath, to tell the resi- dents of the place that the time is ap- and Queen Victoria's secure undisputed pos- on of the entire peninsula, of vhich during the past half century the naval hamlet has been the center. SLAND THAT IS BEING TORN aar/ny Down a C’l{y to Wake Room for the Sreatest Fortress on the Pacitic Coast SEVEN HUNDRED MILES NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO BRITISH ENGINEERS ARE CLEARING 1 AWAY THE HOUSES OF THE CONDEMNED TOWN OF ESQUIMALT IN ORDER TO BUILD FORTIFICATIONS WHICH THEY SAY WILL RIVAL DOWN BY the War Department is preparing to take possession of all private property contained within the town of Esquimalt, in order to com- plete ithe equipment of the naval sta- tion, and make here at the southern corner of Vancouver Island a sup- ply depot of the British Empire as im- pregnable as was Gibraltar fifty years ago. History has recorded many cases of possession-taking by the forces of Great Britain—and razing a town is not altogether a new thing with her Ma- soldiery. The present experi- i vever, in that the oc- quimalt comes in pro- and the only ambition who must pack their be- In a word, cupation foundest peace of the citizen: longings and depart is to make the best bargain with the jnvading Government. The people are taken by surprise. They cannot but admit the wisdom and necessity of Esquimalt town being ed out of existence. Their present siness is simply to press upon the representatives of the imperial Govern- ment the fuil extent of the actual sen- timental and prospective value of the several holdings. In the meantime the relentless War Department is showing no un-British haste, but piece by piece the private property upon which the Government has set its eye is being THOSE OF GIBRALTAR. quietly acquired, so that even now the purpose and result are apprehendable. Great Britain makes no flourish of trumpets in the perfection of her prep- arations for attack or defense. She is a silently moving foree, and while dur- ing many months past hundreds of men have been busily employed in the fortifications of Esquimalt, none save the most trusted officers of army and navy possess the details of what has been accomplished—or ever will unless the demands of actual war should pro- duce a demonstration. The plan contemplates the equip- ment of a store, repair and supply sta- tion second to none in the empire; the building and manning of forts capable of defending this depot against any force that could be brought against it by sea or land; the providing of docks large enough to receive the best and biggest examples of marine archi- tectural skill, and the establishment of barracks, a service prison and other necessary buildings for the use and benefit of the numerous soldiers and sailors who will be required to hold the forts and man the ships of the sta- tion. The naval history pf Esquimalt has been from first to last one of steady expansion and development. The sta- tion owes its existence to-day chiefly to geographical conditions, making it naturally a place of strategic value, yet, surprising as it may be to many, it was not a naval or a military officer who mounted the first gun in Victoria's ser- vice suburb. Here, as in not a few other places, the colors of the nation followed the house flag of the Hud- son Bay Company, and it was one of the outposts of this semi-national colonization corporation who first re- cognized the advantages of the mag- nificent harbor and commanding emi- nences overlooking, that are nature's contribution to the value of the new stronghold. This was in 1837, when Dr. Tolmie made his way north from Fort Van- couver, on the Columbia River, for the purpose of developing trade with the natives of the then utterly unknown wilderness of Vancouver Island. His landing place was on the north side of the harbor, not far from the present station of the Island Railway, and, as many Indians had their homes in the vicinity, he concluded it would be an excellent plan to remain and initiate them in the mvsteries of the white man’s commerce. At the point of his debarkation he built his fort, calling it Camisen, and within the rude stockade did the first business of the new coun- try. As the weeks rolled by and he solved This dock of war that hav made the problem of intercourse with the natives, Dr. Tolmie learned from them that there was a large and more pros: perous village only a few miles away, to which attention might be given with promise of profit. He was guided across the little neck of land to what is now known as Deadman's River, through the Gorge, and down the Arm to where five thousand or more Siwashes wers camped on the site of the present city of Victoria. That set- tled it with Dr. Tolmie. His mission was with population and so he promptiy pulled stakes, literally as well as metaphorically, and trans- ferred his headquartars to the smaller harbor, leaving Esquimalt once again deserted by the whites. The present drydock at Esquimalt was commenced in 1880, and completed some few years later, under the joint control of the Imperial and Dominion Governments, both of which cont uted to its cost, about § 00. It massive stone work of great solidity, 450 feet in length and 65 feet Practically all the British w that during the last fifteen year: seen Pacific service have at some time or other during their comm « cupied it for cleaning or repair. Of these the largest have been the flagships Warspite and Royal Arthur, both of which tested its capacity for PRESENT DRY DOCK AT ESQUIMALT. to build one on a ble to handle the biggest English men- 1 it to date. Preparations are being astly larger scale. FOR ONE OFVTHE STRONGEST FORTIFICATICNS IN THE WORLD. breadth, and forced upon the British admiralty for consideration a fact that has an important bearing upon the present operations Up t6 the building of the existing dock and for some little time there- after it was not anticipated that any larger craft than the th: best of Eng- land’'s navy would ever require to be cared for on the Esquimalt blocks. ever yet has a ship been detailed for service on the North Pacific that is too laree for docking here. The day has gone by, however, when such a restric- ion can be allowed to stand, and the question now is whether the existing dock shall be enlarged or a new and much larger one be constructed wholly for the accommodation of England’'s giant dogs of war. To enlarge would, accord superintendent of the dock Captain vereux, mean nothing 1 than the construction primarilv of a cofferdam ting $45,000 or $50,000, and then the of one entire side of the 1d be practically s to build a new dock, and hence it is anticipated that the latter course will be pursued, the site chosen being the little cove on the Victoria side of the village, at the base of Signal Hill, and at present the rendezvous of the torpedo-boats and torpedo-boat chasers. ing to the SHIPW Grewsome Experience of a San Francisco Merchant Among Whalers on ‘ the Alaskan Coast. The following story of shipwrecked whalers, whom hunger and privation drove to actual cannibalism, is taken frnm the diary of Julien Liebes, a prominent merchant of San Franci journey of which he relates in the United States revenue cutter Bear. T member of the great mercantile house of the same also interested in two of the most extensive commer- Mr. am Liebes and cial corporations doing business in Alaska and Siberia. onths’ journey of inspection, visiting ation and every point of interes on both the American g and Arctic eas, B Asiatic continents, and keeping a faithful record of all he observed. whalers who them. HILE at anchor in the bay , we abandoned all repairs, put the ma- a | chinery together as fast as possible and whale boat was seen enter- | steamed out of the harbor within four of Unalaska, June 12, the harbor, and our launch was sent off to meet the new comer, which proved to be the captain and part of the wrecked crew of the whaler James Alle party told fering and implored us to go at once to .the rescue of the remainder of his crew, whom he had left in the great est distress on a small island. With Captain Huntley were six of his crew. Our machinery was being repaired, ing steam but Captain Huntley and his men |t begged so earnestly not to delay that|at the time, but we landed and on get- RECKED SAILORS SAVED FROM CANNIBALISM The most thrilling incident is the rescue of a had become cannibals Captain Huntley of the | s a harrowing tale of suf- | | ing to help in the search and rescue, | storm. 0, who made the He went on during that period t along the coast of the as well as on the of famished reached crew before the rescuers hours after we heard the news of the wrecked crew. We encountered very | strong head winds, blowing almost a gale, and we made very little progress. Instead of reaching Unnak Island in the morning, as we had expected, we did not reach there until the follow- | ing day The United States steamer Albatross started out with us, intend- but she was compelled to put back into | the harbor on account of the severe On June 14, toward noon, we reached he place and made a landing to rescue ting to the place of the famished whal- the crew. A heavy sea was running ers the most appalling sight met us human eyes ever beheld. There were the survivors of that ill-fated whaler, huddled together in an abandoned hut, wan, hollow-cheeked, with sunken eyes, emaciated and reduced to mere shadows, and too feeble to stand erect. They attempted to utter a cheer on perceiving the rescuers, but the cheer was so feeble that it almost died within their throats. When they real- ized that they had reached the end of their almost superhuman suffering they | smiled between tears. But an ominous silence pervaded the entire party, casting a deeper gloom over the surroundings than *the cer- tainty of immediate rescue warranted. At last they could conceal -he cause of their embarrassment no longer and made a clean breast of what some of aur party had dreaded on entering the hut and finding the crew engaged in ccoking some substance, which ap- peared to be meat. They admitted tnat they had become cannibals and were cooking part of the remains of one of their deceased comrades. They told us that they had been on the point of starvation, and so fecble thay they could neither move nor speak above a whisper. They had eaten Gideon after his death. When his remains had been disposed of they dug up Pena, who had been buried two weeks. They made the excuse that unless they had done that our party would have found them all dead. The survivors we took on board were Daniel Logan, Frank King, John Dist- rich, Willlam Andrews, Joseph Allen, John Ricker, D. Peterson, Joseph Mi- lain and Frank Burton. They were so enfeebled that they had to be carried on board the ship and assisted to reach the forecastle. They were stripped of their filthy, tattered garments, swarm- ing with vermin, and given clean clothes after their bodies were thor- oughly cleaned. They were a pitiable sight when stripped. On the following day we sent a party out to explore the little island, and found an Aleutian village within six miles of the hut where we had found the wrecked crew. They had no idea of the existence of any human beings on the island, though they had gone from their camp several miles in search of some habitation, hut or trace of life. The following day we started back for Unalaska and made Dutch Harbor early Friday, June 15. When the res- cued crew had sufficiently recovered from the terrible experience it had un- dergone the captain wrote the follow- | ing report of the wreck and the sub- sequent events on the little island, his report being supplemented by the nar- ratives of the sailors. The whaling bark James Allen was wrecked off the coast of Amlia Island at | 1:38 a. m., May 11, having struck a sunken rock, causing her to fill rapidly. A fresh breeze was blowing at the time from the southeast, and the weather was hazy. At p. m. the previous night the vessel w Judged to be fifteen miles west of | Amlia Island. At 11:40 p. m. land was e- ported three points off port bow, which the captain supposed to be Seguam Isl- and. One hour later a reef was seen right ahead. The vessel's course was immedi- ately changed to avold the reef, when she struck three times in_ rapid succession upon a sunken rock, and then passed over it into deep water. The pump was | manned at once, but it soon became ap- | parent that the vessel was filling very | fast, and orders were given to clear the | boats. While the boats were lowered the captain secured a chart and chronometer,| from the cabin ana passed them into the | starboard boat, the captain following. The boat had been badly stove in the | haste of lowering it. The first mate and several of the crew jumped into the boat of the second *mate, passing the dam- aged boat, containing the captain and | three of the crew. Just as the boats | pulled away from the ship her fore and main masts fell, and raising her head high out of the water she was seen to go down stern first. The captain and his men kept bailing their damaged boat with the one bucket they had and tneir hate all night, and so managed to keep her from sinking, bail- | ing and drifting until daylight, when they drifted near the east end of Amlia Island and made a landing in the lea of the island. Two other boats came along some hours later and also landed, thus muklnfi 22 men and the captain saved from the wreck. The other boats they did | not see, though it was learned later that | one was sighted_bv natives and rescued by the steamer Dora and taken to Una- ]‘afka by the United States steamer Pe- rie. Hauling the boats up against a fissure in the rocks, .nd with the remnants of | what had once been a sail, they man- aged to make some sort of shelter. The gale continued for two days, and they were unable to get a boat off the beach, so they were obuged to subsist on mus- sels and seaweeds. On the third day the storm somewhat abated and a boat was ot off, and with hooks made of the han- dle of 'an old tin pail they caught some codfish, On_the morning of the following day the wind came from the southe and all three boats started for Unalaska, 240 miles distant. They had but one sail be- tween them, which was made out of two sheets. The boat carrying the sail took the other two In tow. passing Amukta sland at about midnighit. The wind be- gan to increase in fury, until it had grown to a furious gale on the morning of the following day, June 17. The for- ward boat began to leak badly and was compelled to cast the others off, though they Kept together as much as possible, driving before the gale. On tune 1Sth they ran toward the Four Mountainy Island and tried to make a landing, but were prevented by the heavy surf. They tied their boats to some rocky shelf off shore, and numb and stiff from the cold spent the night without food or water. The wind veering around again in the morn- ing from the southwest, -they concluded to abandon one boat, stow the 26 men in the remaining two, and make one more effort to reach port. On that day Patrick Conbolly, one of the crew. died, having succumbed to hunger, privation ana ex- posure. Leaving the Four Mountains group they went northeast toward Unnak Island. About 3 p. m., In jibing a_sail, the cap- tain's boat capsized _ and before aid could be rendered. William Fitzgerald, John White, E. Elvey and Frank Mur- phy were swept away by the sea and drowned. To attempt righting the cap- sized boat appeared to be too hazardous an_undertaking, so she had to be aban- doned, and the nine remaining men were taken into the last boat, which became ng | dangerously overcrowded with twenty- two men. That night a landing was effected on Unnak Island and a frugal meal made of mussels and seaweed. During the night Samuel Masterson died, having succumbed to the unnatural strain and over exertion. The captain realized that the crew could be saved only by reaching Una- laska within the shortest possible time, and he picked six of the strongest men of the party, leaving the rest behind, and started for Unalaska. They had been out but a short distance, when a strong gale sprang up, driving them back into camp before nldgm, During that day Harry Taylor and Willlam Day had died. Some of the men hunting around for food found an abandoned hut, which had probably been used by sea-otter hunters. The party moved into the old hut that same night for shelter. They found tn the hut two rusty tin palls, from the wire bails of which they made fish hooks. From May 23 until June 5 the captain had made four unsuccessful attempts to reach Unalaska, being driven back each time by stormy weather. to Sue HY not use the phonograph | in our courts of law? | The idea is simply to use | the phonograph for taking down evidence instead of a stenographer. The plan was first suggested by Attornev General Fitzgerald the other day, when he ex- pressed himself warmly in favor of the | instrument. I called upon the Judge | to get further particulars. | “Yes,” he said, “it is quite true. I| bélieve that in the course of a few | years we will have the phonograph generally in the California courts.” “Are they used anywhere else for this purpose?” | “I don’t know, but I don’t see wh we shouldn’t, have them here. But I have not had time to work out the de- tails of the scheme.” “But how could you be sure of the phonograph's veracity? Would you swear in the machine? “Well, T don’t see how we could in- duce a machine to take an oath, but we could put the man who turned the crank under bonds.” That was all the Judge would say about the phonograph. But there can ! be no doubt that his idea is destined to bear fruit in the future, and that the reform will vastly facilitate the | working of justice. Not only will the courts be able to | get through more work than under the present system, but abselute, unim- peachable, mechanical accuracy wiil be secured. There can be no possible dis-- 'WHY NOT USE PHONOGRAPHS TO TAKE COURT TESTIMONY? Attorney General Fitzgerald Thinks That a Few Years May See Them Put h Use, pute as to the actual words used by a witness; the element of human error will be entirely eliminated. The method, in short, would be as far ahead of our present plan as we are ahead of the practice followed in most European courts. In the English police courts, for in- stance, it is still the custom to take down the testimony of each witness in longhand, a painfully slow method. Then, when the evidence is finished, the whole manuseript has to be read over and the witness is required to sign his name. It takes a long time to get through a case, and it is not uncom- mon for the examinations in an im- portant trial to last two or three days. { In the upper courts things move some- what more rapidly, for there, as a rule, no official record is kept of the evidence. This often leads to much confusion, and disputes as to the exact nature of the evidence given are fre- quent between the contending lawyers on either side. The employment of a stenographer is certainly a great advance on this. But | the most skillful shorthand writer is, after all, only a human being, and lia- ble to err. Besides, there must neces- sarily be some delay in transcribing the evidence before it can be made available for use. The phonograph would present its record at once all ready for reference. The machine, of | course in charge of an expert, wwuld be placed on a stand close to the wit- | ness, who would be required to speak clearly and distinctly, so as to produce a good record. Instead of signing the evidence, as at present, the witness would make a verbal declaration as to its accuracy.