Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-12-09

Was a break down IN the canal at George
town, so could not get a cargo of coal ther,
as expected. Therefore | was Obliged t.
90 round TO Baltimore TO get load Put
ing out S95 tonnage in and out Of tht
Potomac river. sailed up to Baltimore, and
loaded but jdst before We we're read, To
sail, had another notice from the pilot
Office la come over and pay toll, 6 cts. per
ton, S2676, which Of course had to do or
my Vessel would be libeled at once and de
tanned. besides the expenses they could put
me To.
Nov think our pilot system is nuisanc.
and all imposition on both captain and
owners. and no, much protection to insur-
snce companies, as masters of vessels take
chances and risks that they would not take
but for the sake OF getting rid Of so much
Pllot taxes. and they are almost compelled to
use ever! available means /, save dollar
in order to run their yessele and meet the
enormous expenses they are subjected to on
these low rates Of freight,
concur with Capt. Kane that our Gov
ernmen, should protect us sgain., The p,lo,
outrage Our Government has gone to
large OUTLAWS IN building night houses.
isht-ships. beacons and buoys. also in pro-
vding charts and books TO assist US in sail
ing our vessels. Ii seems to me that se
ought to be allowed to 90 hy them when We
think il safe and proper. ,huk i, night and
proper that We should have pilots 10 most
Of our ports who're The, now operate. but
they should be connected with The light,
house or life saving board and work On
salary in boats owned b, the Government
Then we could set our signals and get a
pilot when We needed one. We could then
rrpoIt them To the piot oommis.ionrr or IN
spector and get hearing. But now it
would te spending ones time fooi,hh L.
enter complaint for negligence Il some
time, happens, especial, at these sauthrru
ports, with barred harhors. We gel close in
near night when a storm .s coming on
Then 1t j. very imporrau, TO have = plot.
wi, name one time In par'icglar iha; vas
hound to Satilla RIVER. Georgia. 10 load
With yellow pinr ran down 10 the bar alien.
towards nigh, and set my co!ors for a pilot
~ knew would Le abused to pa, pilot
age, thought a: that tIm, sould not iakr
al, risk. So W. hauled our vessel Il and
waited tor pilot. ~s. very auxiou, A.
night Was coming on and the weather va.
Threatening Storm, but We waited IN VAN, no
pHot putting "a an appearance. Iar wealth
er looked bad. But The, knew that the,
we're about sure Of geliirg ii, when there
was good chance. 50 the, did not propose
10 exert Themselves To help US IN out # a
STERN. The result va, iha, at about 8 7.
NJ. We took a southeast gele and was
obliged to car, sail 10 keep otf .hor, .ud
during tht night W. blew our foie.ai,. which
va good sail al! tn piece.. Wei. of
course, N he storm ~ worked to keep ofF
shore shl'e the wind bic, on, and WHEN II
shifted II The land. We ~ere t. leewaId aud
II took u. two dn,s 10 get hacA to The bar
and all this time ~itho4, fore~ali Wnrn
~ I'D get bach i was near n!rhI and the
pilots were in good quarters and did not
care about Us. ~he'her stopped sut
another might or not. W. set our signal
the same as before and no pilot pa, ia an
appearance. So al last concluded 10 ri,k
II and not stop out through another storm
and fortunately went in all right
Nov, claim. i these pilot, had been un-
der Government control Il could have
had one when needrt. And | think there
are many similar cases | am ha.f Inclined
TO believe that there are places along the
United Siates where pilots and wrrckef, are
more or less interested 10 have i vessel g-y
stranded. The wfeckers can ge, more
none. out OF the adventure than the, woaid
il she wen, in safely, and the pilots would not
be out much by the operation. At the
present line there i. not a port on he coast
from the 81. Croix 10 the Rio Grandr hut
has one or m 1re tow boats, and these boats
all have first class pilots on board. When
the, tow our vessel, alongsice the, are sup
posed 10 have charge Of Us, and We steer
/ our vessels whore they order. Even If We
have another pilot on board. the vessel i,
generally run 10y the orders Of The captain of
lie tow-boat. Ii the tow boat IS towing
ahead. she ], supposed To Keep in the chan
nel and best wafer And think it would
be very crooked channel IN which could
not follow a to~-boat as vel! as any pilot
could, and under some circumstances |
think the master being largely Interested TO
get in and out safely would look ou, more
sharply and do better than a pilot
One time was towing down from Buck
vile, Ga. snd another vessel was H. the
tow ahead Of Us, 10th towing on hawser
aud both Of Us under charge # branch
/ pilot. Before got down TO Georgetown
/ bar the head vessel ran on to sEoai and
I We did our best 10 steer clear, but could
/ not. We struck the other vessel head on
near the fore-rigging. carrying away all of
/ our head gear. breaking III her rail and
/ masking general smash-up. The great
trouble was the pilots had been getting up
/ too much steam, so they could not see very
well. Then what could We do ? Il was Sat-
urday almost night, and we were most down
| to the bar, and ought to have gone out that
| night. Well, the captain of the schooner
and myself consulted together and concluded
that the better way was to keep quiet uulil
we got out over the bar and then refuse to
! pay either tonnage or pilotagr, as we con-
.idered both parties to blame and response
bic. So We repaired damages the besr we
could and decided to 60 out the next morn
ing and gave the boats and pilots notice that
We were ready. Well. up they came and
| demanded their tow bill and pio,age, be-
fore going any further. But We said we
would not pay until the work was done
But they said, lyon must either pay or give
US your word and honor that YOU will pay
our bill when We get you out clear" OF
course We saw the point. That they did not
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