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A rare and original issue of The Oakland Daily News for Monday, November 6, 1871
This Republican newspaper was founded in 1866 and was published daily, except on Sunday, until at least 1877 - delivered by carrier for 15 cents per week. At this time the Republican Governor of California was Henry Haight (for a few more days) and The President of the United States was Ulysees S. Grant.
The paper covers national headlines and local political news and activities. An interesting article describes the whaling disaster in Alaska in which 33 American ships were lost - see scan and below. An editorial entitled \"San Francisco Malady\" claims San Francisco to be \"a drunkard, a spend-thrift and a debauchee\" - see scan. Local baseball news reports the Oakland \"Wide Awakes\" beat the San Francisco\"Grizzlies\" by a score of 38 to 10
This issue of 2 pages, 4 sides features afascinating variety of advertisements including real estate issues and medicinal cures.
California newspapers of this early date are rarely seen. Great reading for the historian.Good condition for its age with minor tears to the fold and damp yellowing - see scans. Page size 17.5 x 23.5 inches .
Whaling Disaster of 1871Add languagesToolsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe Whaling Disaster of 1871.
TheWhaling Disaster of 1871was an incident off the northernAlaskancoast in which a fleet of 33 Americanwhaling shipswere trapped in theArcticice in late 1871 and subsequently abandoned. It dealt a serious blow to theAmerican whaling industry, already in decline.
The 1871 whaling seasonAbandonment of the WhalersShips receiving the Captains, Officers, and Crews of Abandoned Ships
In late June 1871, forty whaleships passed north throughBering Strait, huntingbowhead whales.[1]In mid-June the surviving crew of the whaleshipJapanout ofMelbourne,Victoria, which had been wrecked the previous year, were rescued and distributed among the fleet.[2]Lewis Kennedy, seaman, of theJapandied on board theHenry Taber.[3]
By August the vessels had passed as far as Point Belcher, nearWainwright, Alaska, before a stationaryhigh, parked over northeastSiberia, reversed the normal wind pattern and pushed the pack ice toward the Alaskan coast. Seven ships were able to escape to the south, but 33 others were trapped. Within two weeks the pack had tightened around the vessels, crushing three ships -Cometon September 2,Romanon September 7, andAwashonkson September 8.[4]The crews were divided among the rest of the vessels. Some ships were jammed so close together that they could not swing clear of each other.[5]
The remaining vessels were spread out in a long line, some 60 miles (97km) south ofPoint Franklin.[6]On September 12 the masters met aboardChampionand agreed that, weather permitting, they would evacuate within the next few days.[7]Each master was to return to their ship and prepare whaleboats lightened of gear so that they could be slid across the ice between the open-water. The ships were strung-out over some 50 miles at this time, in open water in groups of three to five, separated by ice, but within sight of other ships. The signal of abandonment was to strike the American flag. On the morning of September 14 scout boats from theJohn WellsandEugeniareturned with the news of the rescue ships waiting to the south . After each of the ships struck their flag, the 1,219 people aboard the ships evacuated in smallwhaleboatswith a three-month supply of provisions, crossed 70 miles (110km) of ocean and ice, and were eventually brought to safety by the seven ships which had escaped the ice to the south.[4][8]Amazingly, there were no casualties. It was widely reported and accepted that a single crew member stayed on theMassachusettsthrough that winter, but his identify has been lost to history.[9]
The seven whalers that escaped took the following number of rescued whale men: theEuropa(280), theArctic(250), theProgress(221), theLagoda(195), theDaniel Webster(113), theMidas(100), and theChance(96).[1][10]They were forced to dump their catch and most of their equipment overboard to make room for passengers on the return trip toHonolulu.[4]The BritishbarqueChance and the Hawaiian barqueArctic(Captain Tripp) presented the government of the USA with a claim for service rendered for $9520.[11][5]
The total loss was valued at over $1,600,000 ($39.08 million in today\'s dollars). Twenty-two of the wrecked vessels were from thePort of New BedfordinMassachusetts.[12]In 1872 thebarkMinervawas discovered intact and subsequently salvaged,[13]but the rest were crushed in the ice, sank, or were stripped of wood by the localInupiat.[8][14]It is reported that theConcordia,George Howland, and theThomas Dickason, owned by George (Jr.) and Matthew Howland brothers, were not insured and represented 1/3 of their fleet.[9]There were about 200 American whaling ships and 20 British whaling ships in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans prior to this disaster.[15]
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