The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-05-03
A MARITIME PICNIC.
A PaOTRACTED OCEAN SPREE THAT
LASTED THREE YEARS.
Thirty Barrels of New England Rum SwaI-
lowed and $4,000 Lost-Every-
thing for the Crew and Moth
ing for the Owners.
[San Francisco Call


In the spring OF 1851 H. o. Roberts,
wealthy shipowner of Boston, Mass, having
before his eyes the vision of the profits to be
gained in the whaling fields of the North Pa
cific, QUILTED the stanch A l bark Il NINA G..
Hartman and placed her under the COM
mand of Capt. Martin. The Harriman's
tonnage was 800 tons, and she carried a
crew all told of thirty-six hands Previous
to her new departure she hal been in the
sugar trade, and carried the usual cargo Of
sugar and rum Had the owner been as
careful as our mining operators in stock
deal, and cleaned her up closely, the future
of the Hartman might have been as respect
able as even Boston Puritan could desire;
but-there always is but-part OF her for
mer cargo was left Oh board, and this was
thirty barrels OF fine New England rum.
It will be we'll to bear this i'll mini, as all
the disasters arose from this fact. Well, the
Hartman left Boston in good shape; the
owner went home to dream of enormous
sperm whales. with occasionally a ton or two
of aIobergris thrown in, all of which were to
be the prize of the Hartman.
Days rolled into months and months into
years but nothing was heard of the vessel;
the owner was seriously considering the OK
pediency of calling on the underwriters for
his Insurance, when rumors began to reach
Boston that vessel resembling his was hay
ocean; she was like the flying Dutchman, al
ways spoken Of but never spoken to; she
was described as entering port and leaving
between two days. This was not what the
owner sent her out for; her object was
whaling, and while she in some part full
filled her mission by causing Mr.. Roberts
much wailing, still such cruises did not pay,
and Capt. Holmes was dispatched with full
powers to hunt her up and get explana-
nation from Capt. Martin. Capt Holmes
went to every port frequented by whalers,
and discovered that the Hartman was still
ahoat and could always be relied ON being
{ exactly where Capt. Holmes was not.
Capt. Martin, on overhauling his stores,
discovered the New England rum bonanza,
and sampling it found it to be of A quality.
Turning the matter over in his mind, he
consulted his officers, and found them also
alive TO the good qualities of the liquor, and
his proposal that they should leave the sor-
did hunt after whales as wealth for the own
eTs alone and turn the business into pleas
ure trip met with the approval of all hands
A grand, high old Tina determined on,
and another nip Of rum served out. Every
port of any pleasure note was visited, and
between visits hunt after such whales as
couli be easily caught took place. Success
seemed to smile on their pleasure
trip: whales would come alongside
anu DoR W DS dIDOOHeu-d LO4uOoG
easily granted by the captain. After
each whale caught, a move would be made
to some cOngenial port, the oil sold, a pro
rata distribution on the principle Of every
thing for the crew and nothing for the
owners would take place, and some South
American seaport would be painted red by
the whole outfit This grand pleasure trip
lasted for three years, Capt. Holmes follow
ing on the trail like "Old Sleuth, the Whal-
ing Detective" only to find that she had left
the day previous But he kept up the chase,
and at last ran her to ground or to bay in
the bay of ST. Thomas early in the present
year. Capt. Martin had nothing to show for
his cruise but the thirty empty barrels of
New England rum and as fine collection Of
rum blossoms as ever were seen in an orchid
house.
Capt. Holmes dispoSsessed Capt. Martin OF
his command and discharged the crew. Con-
sidering it cheaper not to prosecute Capt.
Martin he left him at St. Thomas to runi-
nate on the evil influence of New England
rum. In justice to Capt. Martin it must be
said that he laid all the blame on the rum
being left on board, and offered, II pardoned,
70 sign the pledge and wear blue ribbon
the rest Of his life. Mr.. Roberts, the orig
inal owner, places his loss for the three
years pleasure trip of the Hartman at
S4O nO0