After the Clallam Went Down, a Seattle Man Asked Why No Puget Sound Steamer Had a Lifeboat That Floated
J. Walton wrote to the president and to Congress with a plain charge: not one passenger steamer on the Sound is properly equipped to save lives — and in two round trips to Nome he never once saw a fire drill.
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In the hope that a repetition of the Clallam disaster might be prevented, J. Walton, a Seattle man, has written the authorities at Washington, calling their attention to the necessity of more rigid enforcement of the present laws governing steamships on Puget Sound. He also appeals to the president and to the legislative bodies for more stringent laws relative to passenger steamships for the better protection of life in event of wrecks and fires at sea. Mr. Walton has traveled on nearly all the Puget Sound steamers, and the result of his observations leads him to the conclusion that not one of them is properly equipped with life-saving devices.
A part of the letter he has addressed to the president, the senate and the house of representatives is as follows:
"We have not today a steamer carrying passengers that has safe lifeboats. What we need is a lifeboat so arranged that when a wave washes over it the boat will bail itself the same as the boats the life-saving stations have. Strong airtight compartments made of materials that will not rust out, with portholes to drain any water that may enter the boat, and with sufficient lashing rigging to lash every passenger securely so that the waves cannot wash them overboard.
"I would also suggest that the fire drill rules be more stringently enforced and that one be held every day. This is seldom done. I have made two round trips to Nome and have never seen a fire drill. This would educate the people, prevent excitement and give the captain better command over those aboard the vessel in the event of fire or wreck."
“We have not today a steamer carrying passengers that has safe lifeboats.”
The steamer Clallam foundered off Victoria in January 1904 with dozens of passengers aboard, and within days the argument had moved from the weather to the equipment. Walton's list — self-bailing boats, daily drills, gear that is actually inspected — is the same grammar every ferry-safety hearing has used since, and Washington State Ferries, now the largest system in the country, still runs on drill logs and inspection records. The 1904 complaint that the laws existed but were not enforced is the part that rhymes loudest.
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