The Ferryman's Folly on Puget Sound

Antone Ekstrom, the Blakely ferryman, furnishes us the following account of the sinking of his sloop, the Maria, yesterday: 'I was not feeling very well, and when a man came and offered me a dollar to take him over to Milton, I did not know what to do. I met a man named Newman, who used to work along shore, and who I had reason to believe was broke. I asked him if he could sail a boat; he said he could. I told him he could take my boat and earn a dollar for himself. He seemed pleased. Fearing he did not know much about it, I took a reef in the sail before he started. He reached Milton all right with his passenger and started home; when about half a mile this side of the cannery a squall struck him. He hung to the sheet and sailed the boat under, bow first. When she filled she sank bow first, the ballast all being in that end of her; the only portion of the boat out of water was her stern, on which Newman hung for ten minutes, until a boat from the Germani picked him up. Soon after this the Maria disappeared altogether, and has not been seen since. I think she will drift up on the flats, in which case I can get her again. She was a good boat, and I would not have taken less than $100 for her.'