The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-25
ALONG SEA And SHORE.
Some Pertinent Pointers About
Modern Steel Cruisers.
The Bay Gay With Buntirg-A Shortage in
the Salmon Pack-Auother Line From
Hong-Kong to the Coast.

A gentleman who has had many opp0rtuni-
ties for observing the wear aud tear of mod
ern fast steel cruisers, both in Europe and
America, said TO a CALL reporter yesterday
that he was fully of the opinion that IN less
than 10 years time no more would lie butt,
or if built they would all be sheathed with
wood and copper. He cited the cases OF the
Charleston, San Fran cisco and Baltimore as
Illustrations and declared that there is not
one Of these three or any cruiser on the
Eastern coast built On the same principle
which would not require to be docked at
least three times year if the speed is to
be maintained at all near the reputed
figures. "In tropical sea-" said he, "the
growth of the marine life on the sides and
bottom of an iron ship occurs with a
rapidly beyond all Imagination or descrlp-
ton and it is not long before an 1S-knot
cruiser finds it hard matter to keep up a
speed Of - All the anti-foulng compost
tons vet invented have failed to prevent
this iucTustatiOn and resulting coIrOslOn.
The plates of these fast cruisers are very
thin, too, and the engine p"wer hlgn; IN
fact, they are merely engines kept ahoat,
and YOU would be surprised at the
number of loose rivets found when
fast cruiser is locked, after even short
VOYAGE But by sheathing cruiser
with wood and then copper, the lncrusta-
ton is prevented, for the gaivanic action
sets up pOwdery mass on the surface Oh
the copper, which fails oil as fast as 1t
ferns, carrying the vegetation with II, so
the copper is always bright aud clean. Eng
land has now about 30 Of her fast cruisers
thus sheathed, and with her present eXpe-
rience it will not be long before the plan is
universally adopted. You have not the
slightest idea what costly concerns these
new cruisers are Their first cost is but a
trifie TO the after expense San Francisco
is the only port on the Pacific Coast where
they can be conveniently locked, which ac-
counts for the long nOrthWard trips OF the
Yorktown ard the Boston. Every time a
cruiser is dOcked 1t costs minimum OF
$1,000 and often So, coo or 500 600. Then
there is an enormous waste, and wear ana
tear of c0ndenseEs, bOiler-tuOes, etc, which
amount to thousands more every year Tor
each vessel. These things come high, but
we must have them. But the main point
is the frequent docking, and there Is only
one remedy. The vessel must be sheathed
and copDcTed. 1t would save its cost In
two years, with greatly Increased ell
cheney"
GAY WITH BUNTING.
The British ships In the bay yesterday
were gayly decorated with flags in honor OF
Queen VIctOria's seyenty-third birthday
Il IS usual for foreign ships in an Amer
lean port to lily the stars aud stripes at the
fore on such occasions, but yesterday the
custom was more hOn0red 70 the breach than
the observance, and 1t is not surprising that,
under tie circumstances, the American
ships RETAINED from complimentary recog-
milton of the day.
The British bark Darra arrived yesterday
from Hong Kong, 81 days out The cook OF
the vessel Is a brother of Peter Jackson, the
tr.-ff In nur Df hn n rrn 4Fn i -
packages oil fiTecTackerS 10 be used in cele-
bFating the glorious Fourth. The ship w,
j. ROtch is reported loading at HOng-k0Dg
fOT this port.
The Phra Nang will be the first Of new
line Of steamers which the Northern Pacific
Railroad has established between Hong
Kong and Tacoma. The vessel left Hong
Kong on the Dist inst and will be due at Ia
coma on June 10. Two more steamers will
follow at intervals OF 30 days. There are
now three monthly steamers between China
and ports at the north, Oregon, Washington
and British Columbia each having its own
line This arrangement Will give that sec
ton the same number Of steamers as San
Francisco, viz: three each month.
" hen the French cruiser Champlain left
for Tahiti about four weeks ago opinion
was expressed that she would intercept and
seize the MontseTrat If any attempt was
made 10 take any Of the Society Islanders
was an open secret that Captain Blackburn
had spoken OF trying TO get the kind of lab
OreTs he wanted on the Hawaiian and So
cetv islands. The latter are under French
control On inqulylng at the French con-
sulate it was learned that the trip of the
Champlain has nothing whatever to do
with the MOntseTrat. The officials at the
consulate laughed at the idea Of the Tahi-
tians being induced TO emigIate. They
are, as a people. passlOnately attached to
home, and the simple needs are so prodl-
gally supplied by nature that no proposition
of the kind would be entertained. On the
Gilbert Islands, the Consul admitted, the
case might be very different. They are
merely a tiny group Of atolis or coral
islands, having a population larger than
they can support theTelr0m. Emigration
is a natural sequence 1t Is greatly doubted
at the French consulate whether any at
tempt viii be made to interfere with the
Muntserrafs enterprise. at least By France.
The English cruiser Nymphe, which left
here alter the departure of the ChamplGin,
went up to EsquImalt and Behring Sea.
The Alice is loaded with wheat for
Europe and is the fourth vessel cleared this
month. The RhOdeTick Dnu. Chieftain and
SusquehaRDah are now loading at Port Costa
and Benicia. The Earlseourt. Frances
Fisher, Mooltan aud Urania are chartered
for loading and will leave in June. Ten
other ships IN port are engaged to load
wheat between July and November /.
BRAVE ACT REWARDED.
The Royal Humane Society Of Great
Britain has presented an honorary bronze
medal and certificate TO Richard Guy Lee,
an apprentice on the British ship GILMORE
On September 20 of last year, while the
GILMORE was lying at the seawall, lad
named LaIkin fell from the British ship
Sariomene and would have been drowned
but for the prompt aid of Lee, who was
nearly drowned himself in etfecting the
rescue.
The British tramp steamer Grandholm
arrived from Departure Bay with 1880 tons
Of coal.
Tie schooner William Renton. which ar
rived on Monday evening, brought 52i1 bags
of nitrate for the PinOe powder works.
The steamer Gypsy has been thoroughly
refitted and will resume her trips forthwith.
The salmon catch of the season in the
Columbia River has been small and the
catch poor. The canneries have provided
liberal outfits and heavy catch will be
needed to make up the shortage. In former
years the eanneres were busy in May. but
this year practically nothing has been done.
The big ships Henry B. Hyde and f. b.
Sutton are both being loaded Tor New York
in John ROsenfeld's line. The ship Con-
querOr will take a full cargo of salmon to
New York, making three large ships that
will soon want crews. Among the foreign
ships chartered Tor this coast are the Swan
more, London, the Lebu and the Chile for
Victoria, aud five others which are from 90
to 118 days on the way
The steamer PrOgreso of the Atlantic and
Pacific line has cleared from New York for
this port. The Mineola Of the same line
will sail on June for New York via Cape
Horn.
The Newbern will take freight for
Mexico to-day. and will sail June /.
palpe af cfa D1ar
was that between the GuOn liner Alaska
and the Cunarder Aurania, from Liverpool
TO New York. They left within an hour of
each other, were never out OF sight Of each