The Forgotten Wreck of the St. Stephen
For six weeks, the federal revenue cutter Wolcott sat idle while the public clamored for a search for survivors of a shipwreck off the Washington coast.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It is announced that the revenue cutter Wolcott will leave today in search of the wreck of the St. Stephen. This is, to say the least, a tardy performance of plain duty. It is now six weeks since the announcement of the loss of the St. Stephen was made. In all that time, not the slightest effort has been made by the proper officials to ascertain the facts in regard to the wreck, to find such relics of the ship and her crew as might be washed ashore near the scene of the disaster, or to ascertain whether there were not any survivors who were in need of the assistance which they had a right to expect from the Government under whose flag they sailed. The principal duty of the cutter Wolcott in these waters is to render such assistance as is needed to rescue those in distress. It is shameful that vessel after vessel should go down within sight of the American coast and that no effort should be made to assist their crews in their extremity. The wrecks of the past winter have apparently been regarded in official quarters with an indifference which cannot be too severely denounced. The responsibility for this culpable inactivity rests between Collector Brooks and Captain Glover, the commander of the Wolcott.
“The wrecks of the past winter have apparently been regarded in official quarters with an indifference which cannot be too severely denounced.”
The maritime community’s frustration with federal negligence in 1887 echoes today's debates regarding public accountability and the slow deployment of state resources during regional crises. The expectation that federal vessels should guard the safety of those navigating our treacherous coastline remains as vital now as it was when the Wolcott finally weighed anchor.
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