The Ill-Fated Theft of the La Paloma
A steam launch stolen in a confidence scheme is found wrecked in a remote bay near Victoria, British Columbia, with no survivors reported.
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.
The little steamer La Paloma, owned by Ole Johnson of Chico, Kitsap County, was stolen by two swindlers, one posing as Capt. S. Seymour. The thieves claimed they wanted to charter the boat to carry mail between Everett and island ports, but instead took the vessel to Seattle and then Victoria. James Davidson, who had been placed on board by the owner to protect his interests, was abandoned in Victoria when the men slipped away with the craft. Information from Gordon Head suggests the pair met their end when the steamer was lost in a storm on Sunday night. Local poultry farmers discovered the beach strewn with wreckage, including the boat’s nameboard, and concluded the hull filled and sank during the gale.
“The inevitable conclusion reached is that the deckhouse was washed away during the stormy night and the hull, quickly filling, took with it to the bottom Seymour and his companion.”
This story highlights the vulnerability of the maritime mail and transport trade in the 1890s, where small steamers were the lifeblood of regional travel. While the specific boat and thieves are long gone, the perils of the Salish Sea and the era's reliance on small, independent operators remain a part of Pacific Northwest maritime lore.
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