The Sad End of the Bark Maria
A historic, weather-beaten vessel from Ecuador meets its final demise on the Seattle waterfront after a lifetime at sea.
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.
About a week ago, the bark Maria arrived at Hanson's dock in the first ward from Ecuador to load lumber. Yesterday, she was beached for repairs just below the mill, but with the high tide, she settled over on her bilge, and bent and warped until she took water at every pore. Like the deacon's one-horse shay, she seems to have gone to pieces all at once. It is stated that the Maria was built in the seventeen-hundreds, and that she once entered the English Channel, the first American merchantman to those waters. Her captain, who is part-owner, arrived here intending to buy a cargo of lumber. As a mariner, he is something of a wonder to local skippers; he had on board neither chronometer, barometer, nor almanac—only a battered compass and a ragged chart, claiming he timed his log by feeling his own pulse. Inspector Price oversaw the landing of her cargo, including five tons of coffee and 5,000 boxes of cigars. She is being dismantled as she fills and empties with every tide, and there is no possibility of saving her.
“Like the deacon's one-horse shay, she seems to have gone to pieces all at once.”
The 'first ward' mentioned was the heart of Seattle's early maritime industry, an area near what is now Pioneer Square and the industrial waterfront. Today, the deep-water history of the city is hidden beneath modern piers and seawalls, though the maritime spirit of the harbor remains a core part of the city's identity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.