The Opelousas courier., 1884-02-09
A QUEER
An Old Sea Cabtaiu's House Built Gu
OF Shipyvrecks.

An OLD Sea cabtaiu's House Built Out
OF Shipwrecks.
There is a queer little nook down On
the coast below santa Barbara, into
which a reporter found his way a few
days ago. 1t is the wreck of a vessel,
perched high among the sandhills upon
the Palos Verdes rancho upon the
shores of San Pedro bay. It is the
home of a yivacious, eccentric individ-
ual, an old salt named Captain J. F.
James, who boasts of having met and
yanquished, single-handed, the repre-
sentatives of the most powerful
monopoly 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
steadily crawling up above the n
hundredth degree. 1T is a queer
place, but / amt ashamed of it, and its
cooler down here; beside, I want to
show you my lawsuits. ! have
tW~enty-eight of them, all of them nail
ed upon the wall, and each n repre-
sents money"
The queer place. vas found in a
dry arroyo, or sandy gulch, upon the
north side Of San Pedro harbor. 1t is
a handsome, square house, with a
piazza extending all around it and a
flagstaff surmounting the whole. AT
a distance it presents the appearance
of a tasty little hotel. and over the top
can be seen painted upon the stern OF
some wrecked ship the words ocean
Villa It is only when n enters
the neat little enclosure about the
house that its true character is observ-
able. The house and its whole sur
r~oundings are made up of portions OF
wrecks. The garden fence, the plants,
the ornaments all around bear the
signs of the sea. The house is a COM
bination Of bulwarks, b~ulkheads, lock-
ers and cabins. The principal room
is the cabin of some first-class ship;
the room above it is the cabin of a
bark. The kitchen is the galley of
wrecked merchantmen, and each and
all of the many apartments are either
cabins, warehouses or cooking galleys
transferred from some dismantied
craft wrecked upon the bay. No two
rooms are alike, and all are construct
ed SO as.to preserve their original ap-
pearance on the ship they were built
upon. Some are finished in natural
woods and some are ceiled with wood
Of the most expensive character.
It is, in fact, a house made up Of
wrecks gathered together by Captain
james, as a waterman on the sou.h
coast during ten years. The principal
portions of the house are from a wreck
of the Adelaide Cooper, which was cast
ashore during a southeaster about
three years ago. The interior walls
are covered with marine curiositles
gathered by sailors In all portions Of
the world. The collection Of hand
work made by sailors is perhaps the
best on this coast. The models of
ships and quaintcaryingsa are splendid.
The most remarkable curiosity of all is
a large star formed out of legal docu-
ments from the courts and sheriff's
Office, and nailed upon the wall.
'.Those papers, Z said Captain James, in
explanation, ssare my lawsuits. keep
them on exhibition like an Indian does
his scalps. Those are suits Ihaye had
brought against me by the Southern
Pacific and by General Phineas Ban
ming to drive me away from this spot.
I have defied them all and have
whipped 'em. I am here yet and
there's my boats, those three little
sloops anchored in front Of my house.
I own this land and the water front,
and all / have about me is paid for.
When me and my wife came here we
had not a dollar, and we lived in a tent
made out of an old sail. Now I am
Independent and next month shall
start newspaper, the San Pedro Ship
ping Gazette. ! am no scholar, never
went to school; ] am a sailor, but Y
have made up my mind to grow rich
with San Pedro."-SGntG Barbara
Goal Independent.
--
Ho.U a Pig Made q President.