Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-11-17
A MILLIONAIRE SKIPPER
Remarkable Career of Capt. Lang
don, of the Caroline SpOOner
JUNK FROM BATTLE FIELDS
The Owner of Fleet of Merchant
Vessels Coming North to
Locate
JUNK FROM BATTLE FIELDS

1t is not often that millionaire is
found acting as skipper of a sailing yes.
sci. The bark Caroline SpoOner, now
lying at the b. B. L. company's wharf,
is commanded by one of the wealthiest
men that ever trod deck. The name
of this wealthy mariner is Capt. William
Langdon, and he is two or more times
a millionaire. He owns the bark he
sails and many others on the Pacific
ocean. Two of his vessels, the bark
Oscar Herrora and the ship Georgiana,
have recently taken cargoes of lumber
from the Sound. He is accompanied
by his wife and four childrn, and is
making the voyage with view to To-
eating either on Bellingham Bay or at
Vancouver.
He is at present a resident of Val
paraiso and besides having large inter-
ests in Chile, is very close to the new
government, having associated with
him in the lumber business President
Montt and Augustine Edwards, minis
ter of finance of the republic.
Captain Langdon is an active, ener.
getic ScOtchman, and while in com.
mand of British ship about eighteen
years ago he was wrecked near Val
paraiso. The beauties and riches of
the country and the kind hospitality
of the natives made him believe that
he had found the garden of the world
and he settled there and built UP the
large fortune that he now possesses.
He married Chilean lady and en-
gagged in the lumber business. Possess
ing unusual business ability he ac-
cumulated riches rapidly. He is the
principal owner in the Company Ex-
plotatlon de MADEIRA, the largest lumber
company in Chile, in which President
Montt and Minister of Finance Ed
wards are shareholders.
Captain Langdon remained neutral
during the late Chilean revolutionary
war. While warm personal friend
of Balmaceda, his sympathies were
with the insurgents cause. He saws
that Balmaceda was not bad man at
heart but was the victim of the hatter.
ing wiles of sycophants seeking their
own selfish ends.
The captains home is at
Quilpue, a little suburb about eight
miles out from Valparaiso. 1t was near
there that the battle of Concon, the
first decisive BATTLE of the revolution.
was fought. Balmaceda's forces were
routed with appalling slaughter
and the insurgent forces pushed
on toward Valparaiso, rest.
ing the next day at Quilpue.
A regiment camped on the beautiful
grounds about Captain Langdon's
home, and his palatial residence was
used for officers. quarters. There were
between 600 and 200 men in all, but
Captain Langdon found no fault. and
officers and men acted like gentlemen
toward him and his family.
Capt. Langdon says that the country
has not yet recovered from the ravages
of the war. Business generally is dull
and depressed and this is the reason
that he desires to locate on Puget
Sound. Exchange has fallen off from
thirty pence to 10, and he tried 10 sell
out his interests, but was Obliged to
leave his affairs in other hands. He
thought the backing of MOntt and Ed
wards would aid him in unloading, but
he found that the influence of their
names was not sufficient to increase
values and so he is holding on.
He sailed from Valparaiso for San
Francisco with cargo of scrap iron,
the greater part of which was picked
up from the battle fields of the late war.
After disposing of this cargo he sailed
for Bellingham Bay to load lumber.
The captain relates that he had
a sentimental reason for sailing his own
vessel on this voyage. 1t was his de-
sire TO have son born under the Brit.
ish flag. He figured that he would
again become the parent of a boy about
the time his vessel arrived at Victoria.
But he missed his reckoning twice, for
to his disappointment his child was
born at sea before he reached San
Francisco, and instead of being boy,
it was "only girl" The best laid
plans of mice and men gang aft aglae. y
Captain Langdon has long been a
firm believer in the future of the north
west and thinks that it is going to dis.
tance San Francisco in commercial
progress.