100 years ago in Seattle: Steamer missing in Puget Sound more than a day after ship sent call for help

Train traffic was slowly resuming as the harsh winter weather began to improve – at least slightly. The low temperature in Spokane was 10 degrees, an improvement over the below-zero temperatures from earlier in the week. No snow was forecast.

However, boat traffic on Lake Coeur d’Alene was curtailed because of ice. The only open areas were near the town of Coeur d’Alene.

Meanwhile, a Pacific storm system had tragic consequences in the waters off the Washington and British Columbia coast.

The British steamer Tuscan Prince was missing, more than 24 hours after the crew sent a faint wireless message that said, “Ship breaking up, we are going to drown.”

The ship had a crew of 42, and authorities feared the worst.

Three other ships went aground in the storm. One of them, a wooden ship, burned to the water’s edge, but the crew survived after being rescued by a Coast Guard cutter.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

600: Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying “God bless you” is the correct response to a sneeze.

1840: American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica.

1862: Fort Donelson is captured by General Ulysses S. Grant following the surrender of around 12,000 Confederate soldiers.

1913: U.S. President William Howard Taft agrees not to intervene in Mexico.

1959: Fidel Castro becomes the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista.

1968: First 911 phone system goes into service in Haleyville, Alabama.