In One Ear: Local brevities

Nuggets from The Daily Morning Astorian, Oct. 18, 1885:

• Capt. Sember, of the Perthshire, has been judged to blame by the British board of trade for the loss of his vessel, and his certificate has been suspended for six months; that of the mate was suspended for nine months.

Note: The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust explains that the ship, an iron bark that left Astoria, headed for England with valuable cargo. After rounding Cape Horn, South America, the ship encountered a "prevalence of heavy and hazy weather" in the South Atlantic Ocean in late April 1885, and ran aground on desolate, still-uninhabited Blind Island, in the Falkland Islands.

The 13-man crew tried to get the ship off the rocks, but finally gave up and rowed the two lifeboats ashore. After spending 36 freezing, snowy hours under their boats on the beach, a few of the men went looking for help. Luckily, after hiking through the snow for 7 miles, they found a hut occupied by two Scottish shepherds.

Before the ship broke up four days later, the shepherds helped the men save some of the cargo. Stuck on Blind Island for 14 days, the captain and crew were finally rescued and eventually made their way to other ports.

• ... Dr. Bosanko's Cough and Lung Syrup. Stops a cough instantly, relieves consumption (tuberculosis), cures croup and pain in the chest in one night. It is just the remedy for hard times. Price 50 cents ($16.25 now) ... Samples free. Sold by J. W. Conn.

Note: According to Worthpoint, the product started appearing in the 1880s. In the early 1900s, a federal crackdown on patent medicines revealed the syrup was actually a harmful concoction of honey, tar, chloroform, alcohol and morphine. (Painting: Ivan Aivazovsky)