Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/262

 250 REVEREND EZRA FISHER Cbloma has arrived at last, having been out somewhat over eight months. Our goods all arrived in good order except such as were damaged by the action of the salsoda as it con- tracted moisture, dissolved and ran promiscuously through the goods. Of the eight pounds of the salsoda put up, we found about one-fourth of a pound in the paper. The rest had been converted into a fluid and stood in crystalization on the old books, my hat, frock coat, flannel and both the bolts of cotton sheeting. About half the hat was as rotten as brown paper. The back and part of one sleeve of the coat were saturated with salsoda, the colour changed to a pale snuff and the texture destroyed ; also a place about the size of the palm of my hand in each fold of the coat. The coat was literally ruined. The soda saturated through the folds of about half of the red flan- nel, so as to entirely ruin about one-third of the bolt, or six yards. We shall lose about one-third of both bolts of sheeting, one bleached and one unbleached. I have estimated the dam- age as follows: 1 hat, dead loss, $2.00 $ 2.00 1 frock coat, damaged, $12.00 12.00 1 bolt of bleached cotton, damaged, $1.29 1.29 1 do unbleached do, do, $1.23 1.23 8 pounds of salsoda, dead loss, $0.33 33 6 yards flannel, @ $0.25 per yard, $1.50 1.50 Total $18.35 I am ignorant of the rules regulating insurance offices. But this one thing I will say, that I should never have thought of packing old books with leather covers around a bundle of salsoda and another of saleratus, wrapped in paper, and then packed on the top of or underneath a good coat, a hat, a piece of flannel and cotton goods, for a voyage of twenty thousand miles. It seems that the box was stowed away in the ship bottom side up. so that all the liquid salsoda as it contracted moisture settled into the above named goods. I have no doubt the vessel was loaded too deep for so long a voyage, but I have