The Unlucky Menomonie
A top-heavy ship bound for the coal mines meets an unfortunate fate at the wharf.
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 ship Menomonie, after putting out her ballast at Seattle, was towed over here to load coal. She was anchored at the dock, preparatory to going under the chutes, and was so light and top-heavy that she danced around like a cork. Finally a little gust of wind struck her, and over she went on her beam ends. An effort was made to right her, but without success; she was towed over to Stetson & Post's wharf, where it is thought a purchase can be easily rigged to get her on her keel again.
“She was so light and top-heavy that she danced around like a cork.”
Stetson & Post's wharf was a major industrial hub in 1885; today, this area is part of the extensively redeveloped Seattle waterfront. This story captures the precarious nature of maritime shipping in early Seattle, where vessels often struggled with the physics of light loads and wind.
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