The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-05-11
THE SAMOAN SITUATION.
Important Facts and Interesting Details
from our San Francisco Correspond

Important Facts and Interesting Details
from our san Francisco Correspond
ent.
Ex-AIinister Kasson, one of the
Samoan Commissioners, who sails
with Commissioners Bates and
Phelps for Liverpool, in declining
to express an opinion in regard to
the stand taken by this Government,
said:
I'VE all wish to enter the confer
ence as free as possible from any
utterances on the subject. We have
considered the main question which
confrOnts us for decision. 1t is to
agree upon some mode of protecting
the rights of foreigners at Samoa
without interfering with native in
dependence. Our general aim will
be to secure good order at Samoa
and maintain the principle Of equal
rights of the powers interested there
KassOn, when asked if he thought
the destruction of the naval squadron
at Samoa would affect the settlement,
said he thought it would There
would probably be more strenuous
efforts to reach settlement SO as to
render unnecessary the maintenance
of an armed force at the islands"
Bismarck is man of too much
sense" said Kasson, ''tO let mans
views, as expressed in such a man
ner, influence him IN case like this.
We are going over there to discuss
the question of arrangement for Sc
curing the rights of foreigners In
Samoa, without interfering with the
native independence, and to secure
good order in the islands upon prin-
ciples of equal rights to the powers
interested. We want to go into the
conference with as much freedom
from previously expressed views as
possible.
Il must, therefore, decline to ex-
press any views III advance, save
that [ am sure the conference will
be actuated by a desire to do Justice
TO the honor of the countries inter
ested, and to maintain the rights Of
all concerned"
Two or three circumstances con
nected with getting the Trenton
ready for service marked her as a
JONAH" and several officers have
had their orders changed when sent
to her. The first attempt to launch
her was December 30, 1875, but af-
ter two hours work the effort was
abandoned. Soon after being
launched she was put into dock and
| cOppered, and when she was taken
ont she was found to leak SO badly
! that she had to be redOcked. It was
then found that two or three holes
near the sternpost had been care
lessly or maliciously bored and left
without plugging. A few weeks
later a large piece of the machinery
! fell from the crane when being hoist
| ed on board and caused considerable
damage as it went plunging through
the decks to the bottom of the vessel.
Now that the Samoan disaster has
passed into history, interesting facts
| in relation to its cause are likely to
come to light, and none more signif-
cant than the following: The fact
that none of the Inflated vessels were
provided with coal at the time of
the accident is we'll known, and it
| is evident that ''sOme one had blum
dered" 1t now transpires that this
cOalless condition of the boats was
not unpreventable, and that an offer
was actually made to the heads of
the Navy Department, which, had it
been accepted, might have pre-
vented the calamity. A prominent
firm in San Francisco, whose head is
acquainted with the Samoan coast
and the imminent danger existing
there at this time of the year -espe-
cially menacing boats unprovided
with fuel-made an offer, through
Paymaster Goldsborough, to supply
Australian coal to the vessels at
Samoa at the rate of ten dollars
per ton.
This offer was referred to Commo-
dore Schley, who is the head of the
Equipment Bureau at Washington,
and was refused. The contract was,
instead, carried off by a Philadel-
phia firm who sent 1000 tons at
very high rates to Pago Pago. Had
the offer of Australian coal been
accepted, it can be easily seen that
the disaster might have been avoided
as the coal could have been placed
on board within thirty days.
Respecting the San Francisco dis
patch criticising the Navy Depart
ment for its failure to accept the
offer of coal from Australia for the
American men-of-war at Apia, Com
modore SchIey, of the Bureau of
Equipment, said: Eve do not yet
know that the loss of our vessels at
Apia was due to a lack Of coal. My
latest advices, dated the last week in
january, show that there was a sup
ply Of coal on the beach amounting
to $50 tons. Nine weeks ago the
! MOnOngahela sailed from San Fran
cisco to Apia with 600 tons of coal,
which we had on hand at the Mare
Island Navy Yard. 1t was not,
therefore, necessary to buy Yelling
ton coal at ten dollars per ton when
/ uya bo1 coal Of ON. oIUn W biph had