The Steamship Anderson Limps Home

Probably no steamer on Puget Sound, with perhaps one exception, has seen so many years of active service, and probably no steamer on Puget Sound has earned anything like as much money as the faithful old 'Anderson.' For more than twenty years she belonged to Victoria, but one year ago the Washington Steamboat Company purchased her for $10,000, and for several months she has been running on the route between Vancouver, terminal of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Seattle. She has enjoyed a lucrative trade, being fully loaded with freight. Last evening, while on her way to this city with all the freight that could be crammed into her, and when just off West Point, the main shaft broke, after which bad havoc was played with the machinery. Two large cast iron steam pipes connected with the engine fell short off, the walking beam was cracked in several places, and other damage done to the wheels and at the stern. The fireman escaped a herrible death almost miraculously. He had just finished throwing coal into the furnace before the accident, and at that moment the steam pipes burst, sending a cloud of steam to where he had been standing. Had he been in the fire room, he would have been scalded to death. As it turned out, however, no one was injured. The tug 'Cyrus Walker,' which was only about three miles off, was signaled, and ten minutes thereafter had the Anderson in tow for this city. It is said it would cost $6,000 to repair the Anderson and put her in first-class condition, and as she is old, I do not think the Steamboat Company will rebuild that steamer.