Telegraph (sternwheeler 1914)

''Telegraph'' was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the southern Oregon coast from 1914 to 1927. ''Telegraph'' is perhaps best known for having been in involved in collisions with rival steamboats, apparently as a result of fierce competition for business on the Coquille River.

Design, construction, and launch

''Telegraph'' was built at Prosper, Oregon in 1914 for the Myrtle Point Transportation Company.Newell, Gordon R., ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', Superior (1966), pp. 241–242. ''Telegraph'' cost $9,500 to build, and was launched at the Herman ranch. The designing naval architect was Dudley Collard.

''Telegraph'' was long, with a beam of and depth of hold of . At 96 gross tons, ''Telegraph'' was the largest vessel ever built for service on the Coquille River. Maximum passenger capacity was variously reported as 100, 150 to 200, or 200

''Telegraph'' sternwheel was driven by twin horizontally-mounted steam engines, generating a total of . Each engine comprised a single cylinder with a 9-inch bore and a 42-inch stroke. Steam was generated by burning slab wood as fuel, as it was in all other steamers on the river. Passengers would be accommodated with street car-type chairs, and the vessel would have "all the equipment of a modern passenger boat."

''Telegraph'' was launched on February 22, 1914 at the Herman Brothers yard near Prosper, Oregon. As launched, ''Telegraph'' was long, and had engines generating . It was expected to take about a month after the launch to complete the vessel. Once complete, ''Telegraph'' was intended to be placed into regular service between Bandon and Myrtle Point.

Owners

''Telegraph'' original owner was the Myrtle Point Transportation Company. However, on August 21, 1915, it was reported that ''Telegraph'' was owned by a competing concern, the Farmer's Transportation Company.

Entry into service

On May 5, 1914 it was announced that ''Telegraph'' was complete and would enter into service the following morning, May 6, 1914, on the run between Bandon and Myrtle Point.

On October 16, 1914, ''Telegraph'' was reported to be going off the water for a few days at the Prosper boatyard. ''Telegraph'' schedule would be taken over by ''Dora''.

Rivalry on the river

The initial owners of the company were the Myrtle Point Transportation Company, which mostly consisted of the large Panter family. When ''Telegraph'' was launched, there was a fierce and ongoing rivalry between the Panters, who owned other boats on the river, and the other operators, in particular (but not limited to) the Willards, who, doing business as the Coquille River Company, were operating the gasoline launch .

In January, 1915, there had been a collision between the Panter-owned sternwheeler and ''Charm''. This resulted in an investigation by the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. On February 3, 1915, following a two-day trial before inspectors Edwards and Fuller, the service suspended, for 20 months each, the licenses of Captains Walter Panter and Allen Panter, as well as that of engineer William Panter, all of the Myrtle Point Transportation Company, as well as the licenses of Capt. O. R. Willard and engineer Elmer Willard, both of the Coquille River Company. Both the Panters and the Willards were also barred from operating any vessel on the Coquille River or anywhere else. As a result, the Panters had to hire a new captain for ''Telegraph'', Harvey Dunham, and the Willards.

First collision with ''Charm''

Collisions between rival vessels continued. On March 13, 1915, another Panter-owned boat, ''Telegraph'' this time, again collided with ''Charm''. The March 11 collision occurred when ''Telegraph'' was ahead of ''Charm'', and then stopped at a dock to take on passengers."Rival River Boats Have a Collision", ''Bandon Recorder'', March 16, 1915, p. 1, col. 3 ''Charm'' caught up with ''Telegraph'' and had almost passed the sternwheeler when ''Telegraph'' pulled away from the dock, with the bow of ''Telegraph'' striking ''Charm'' just a bit forward of the stern, spinning ''Charm'' across ''Telegraph'' bow, and bow-first into the log boom at the landing.

''Charm'' then went bumping along the log boom to a piling, called a " dolphin", securing the end of the boom, where ''Charm'' came to a halt. Engines on ''Telegraph'' were reversed, but not in time to prevent ''Telegraph'' from striking ''Charm'' a second time, as the smaller motor vessel was jammed up against the dolphin.

The crew of ''Charm'' claimed that they had blown four blasts on the motor vessel's whistle before overtaking ''Telegraph'', but this was denied by the crew of the sternwheeler. Damaged to ''Charm'' consisted of three boards near the bow torn away, including damage below the waterline. ''Charm'' was laid up on Saturday night on the beach in Coquille City, where the vessel was pumped out and repaired sufficiently to move down river the next day, where ''Charm'' was hauled out at a shipyard and repaired more thoroughly. By Tuesday, March 16, ''Charm'' was back on its normal run.

On March 16, 1915, formal reports of the collision had reached the office of the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service in Portland, Oregon.

According to the affidavit of George W. Leneve, master of ''Charm'', at 2:16 pm on March 13, while ''Charm'' was en route from Bandon for Coquille City, at a one-half mile downriver from Cedar Point, ''Charm'' was ahead of ''Telegraph'' when it appeared that ''Telegraph'' was about to collide with ''Charm''. Leneve swore that he gave four blasts on ''Charm'' whistle as a warning signal, but this was ignored by ''Telegraph'', which went ahead full speed and rammed ''Charm'', damaging ''Charm'' so much that the motor vessel had to be beached to prevent it from sinking. Leneve said the bulwarks on the left side of ''Charm'' were damaged, and the fender strake (which protected the hull from damage) had been ripped all along the length of the vessel.

On the Tuesday and Wednesday before March 26, 1915, a hearing was held on the collision before U.S. steamboat inspectors George F. Fuller and E.S. Edwards. The evidence was reported to have shown that the collision was "largely in the nature of an accident." An unlicensed deck hand had been at the wheel of ''Telegraph'' at the time of the collision. Although the deck hand was deemed competent to handle the wheel, this was still a violation of the regulations, for which Capt. Henry Dunham, of ''Telegraph'' was held responsible. As a result, Dunham's license was suspended for 60 days. Dunham was replaced in charge of ''Telegraph'' by T.W. McCloskey, an experienced river man who had mostly worked on the route between Coquille City and Myrtle Point.

Second collision with ''Charm''

On about September 1, 1915, ''Charm'' was backing up at a wharf and struck the bow of ''Telegraph''. There was no damage, and the deck hands on ''Telegraph'' did not notice when the boats struck. However, Captain Panter of ''Telegraph'' filed a complaint with the steamboat inspectors, and, following an investigation, the license of George Leneve, captain of the ''Charm'', was suspended for 60 days.

Collision with ''Dispatch''

On January 22, 1917, at 3:40 pm, near Prosper, ''Telegraph'', under the command of Capt. Allan R. Panter collided with the rival sternwheeler ''Dispatch''. Capt. Thomas O. White,This man's name is also seen reported as "Thomas D. White" of ''Dispatch'', attributed the collision to "pure cussedness" on the part of Captain Panter. Both captains filed reports with the steamboat inspection service. The points on which they agreed were that the steamers had been at Prosper, when ''Telegraph'' was backing away from the wharf, and then struck ''Dispatch'' on the left side near the rear of the vessel, where the engines were located. ''Dispatch'' was leaving the dock at the time. The collision caused the loss of about 20 feet of the rear portion of the cabin structure on ''Dispatch''.

As a result of this collision the license of Captain Panter was suspended for thirty days. About a year previously, Captain Panter's license had been suspended for 18 months, but the suspension time had been reduced following Panter's appeal. There had been a number of similar incidents on the river, and rivalry between the competing steamboat lines was thought to be the principal reason for the Coquille river cases then being investigated by the steamboat inspectors.

Disposition

Automobile roads were built in the Coquille Valley in the 1920s, which quickly eliminated most of the demand for riverine passenger and freight service. In 1924, the closing of the Nestil Milk Condensing Plant in Bandon took away a major remaining customer for the boat. ''Telegraph'' was abandoned, along with several other steamboats, along the banks of the Coquille River at Lampa Creek.

Plans in archive

In September 1992, five blackline plans on five sheets of ''Telegraph'' were donated to the Oregon Historical Society."Steamer Telegraph Plans", Mss 4074, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

See also

* Steamboats of the Coquille River

Notes

{{Oregon Coast Steamboats

1914 ships
Coos County, Oregon
Steamboats of Oregon
Steamboats of the Coquille River
Ships built in Oregon