Tragedy at Sea
A squall off Cape Flattery claims the life of a captain's wife and child.
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 barkentine C. L. Taylor, Captain Bergman, left Port Townsend for San Francisco. On Sunday, about fifty miles outside Cape Flattery, the barkentine was running with a fair wind when it suddenly changed and a southeast squall threw her on her beam ends. The masts were cut away to right the ship. The Captain's son, a boy about six years old, was washed overboard. Captain Bergman jumped after him but failed to save him. After the vessel righted, Mrs. Bergman was found in the cabin dead, likely killed by a shifting stick of timber. The captain, first mate, and cook were later rescued by the bark Arcturus and brought to Port Townsend. Mrs. Bergman was buried at sea before help came. Captain Bergman is completely broken down by this terrible loss.
“The Captain's son, a boy about six years old, was washed overboard. Capt. Bergman jumped after him, but failed to save him.”
Maritime disasters were frequent in the rough waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the 19th century. While modern navigation and search-and-rescue have mitigated these risks, the sheer vulnerability of merchant sailors on the Pacific coast remains a haunting theme in Pacific Northwest history.
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