The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1884-01-17
A QUEER HAsIFATION.
AN OLD SEA CAPTAINS HOUSE BUILT
OUT OF sHIPWREcKs.

There is queer little nook down
on the coast below Santa Barbara,
into which a reporter found his way
few days ago. It is the wreck of
a vessel, perched high among the
sandhills upon the Palos Verdes
rancho upon the shores of San Pc
dro bay. 1t is the home Of a viva
cious, eccentric individual. an old
salt named Captain j. F. James,
who boasts of having met and van
quished, single-handed, the repre-
sentatives of the most powerful mo-
nopoly on the Pacific coast. "Come
and see my museum" said James
to the reporter, who was weather
bound on San Pedro wharf, with the
mercury steady crawling up above
the one hundredth degree. at is
queer place, but I amt ashamed of
it, and its cooler down here; beside,
/ want to show you my lawsuits. |
have twenty-eight of them nailed
upon the wall, and each one repre-
sents money"
The ''queer place" was found in
dry arroyo, or sandy gulch, upon
the north side Of San Pedro harbor.
It is a handsome, square house, with
a piazza extending all around it and
a flagstaff surmounting the whole.
At distance it presents the ap-
pearance Of tasty little hotel, and
over the top can be seen painted
upon the stern Of some wrecked ship
the words Ocean Villa" It's only
when one enters the neat little en-
closure about the house that its true
character is observable. The house
and it whole surroundings are
made up Of portions of wrecks. The
garden fence, the plants, the orna-
ments all around bear the signs Of
the sea. The house is combina-
tion of bulwarks, bulkheads, lock-
ers and cabins. Theprincipal room
is the cabin of some frst-class ship;
the room above it is the cabin of a
bark. The Kitchens the galleys Of
a wrecked merchantmen, and each
and all Of the many apartments are
either cabins, warehouses or cook
ing galleys transferred from dis
mantled craft wrecked upon the bay.
No two rooms are alike, and all are
constructed so as to preserve their
original appearance on the ship they
were built upon. Some arc finished
in natural woods and some are
ceiled with wood of the most expen-
sive character.
It is, in fact, a house made up Of
| wrecks gathered together by Cap
tain James, as water man on the
south coast during ten years. The
principal portions Of the house are
from wreckyof the Adelaide Coop
er, which was cast ashore during a
| southeaster about three years ago.
The interior walls are covered with
marine curiositles gathered by sail
ors in all portions of the world.
The collections Of handwork made
| by sailors is perhaps the best on
this coast. The models Of ships
and quaint carvings are splendid.
The most remarkable curiosity of
all is large star formed out of
legal documents from the courts
and sherif's Office, and nailed upon
the wall. Those papers," said
Captain James, in explanation,
"are my lawsuits. I keep them on
exhibition like an Indian does his
scalps. Those are suits | have had
brought against me by the Southern
Pacific and by General Phineas
Banning to drive me away from
this spot. I have defed them all
and have whipped 'em. l am here
yet and here's my boats, those
three little sloops anchored in front
of nv house. / own this land and
the water front, and all | have about
me is paid for. Wien me and my
wife came here we had not a dollar,
and we lived in a tent made out OF
an old sail. Now am independent
and next month shall start a news
paper, the San Pedro Shipping Ga
zette. am no scholar, never went
to school; l am a sailor, but I have
made up my mind to grow rich with
San Pedro" o."-Saata Barbara Cat.)
Independent.