Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1892-09-30
CHAPTER i.

Il
bothered the heads of the seamen who
were busily engaged in getting the
Dreadnaught ready for sea on the morn
ing of March 10, 1875. On that day the
Dreadnaught, John Allaire, master,
was to set sail from the port of San
Diego, Cal, on a voyage through the
seas of the northern Pacific.
4 The Dreadnaught, a three-master of
nine hundred tonnage, belonged to that
type of clipper-built ships which the
| Americans use 80 advantageously in
their foreign trade and which in point
of speed nearly rival the best steamers
in their merchant marine. Such fine
| ly-built vessel was the Dreadnaught,
and so admirably commanded, that not
a man of her crew would have con-
| sented to ship on any other vessel even
| with an assurance of higher pay. Every
heart throbbed, every breast was filled
with that two-fold confidence based upon
the certainty of having shipped on a
good vessel under good captain.
The Dreadnaught was about to leave
port on her first voyage, excepting, of
course, her trial trip, for account of her
| owners, the shipping house Of Hollister
& Co., of San Diego. Her port of des-
tination was to be Calcutta, which she
was to reach by way of Singapore, with
a cargo of American manufactured
goods, and upon her return voyage she
was to bring a consignment of East
Indian merchandise for one Of the Cali
fornian ports.
Capt. John Allaire was a young man,
Just twenty-nine, with an open, manly
countenance, full Of force and decision.
He was endowed to high degree with
moral courage, SO superior to physical
courage-the "two hours after mid
night" courage as Napoleon called 1t,
that is to say, the kind which can
calmly face the unforeseen and gather
strength in emergencies It would be
difficult to imagine finer specimen of
physical manhood. Tho flash of his
dark eyes, the ruddy cheeks, the broad
shoulders and arched chest, the great
strength Of his hands, the springy,
elastic tread, all betokened the pres
ence of an iron will inside of an iron
body. And yet John Allaire was kind
and generous to fault, ready almost
instinctively to sacrifice his life for q
1cAOW CTSdbAEh uo AdQ 30 AuCA VI
the heroic in him that it seemed only
a matter of course for him to perform a
brave act, and he had given an earnest Of
this while still a lad by saving the lives
of several of his playmates- In after
years this instructive devotion ripened
into a matter of faith with him and set
its indeliblc impress upon the mans
character.
John Allaire had taken wife q few
years previous to the sailing of the
Dreadnaught-a MISS Molly Mansou-
an orphan belonging to one of the best
families in San Diego. The young girls
fortune was a modest one, but quite In
keeping with the young mans position,
that of mate on one of the Hollister
feet of merchantmen. But there was
good reason TO assume that Molly
would some day or other inherit large
fortune from O rich uncle, Edward
Manson, who was a large land specula-
tor and mill owner in the western part
Of Tennessee. In the meantime there
were two people to support; yes, three,
for little Walter, Wat, as o pet name,
had come into the world the first year
of their marriage; therefore the cap
tain-and the captains wife agreed
with him-couldn't think of giving up
the sea just yet. Later he would deter
mine what would be the best thing for
him to do. either after Molly had be-
come an heiress or he had grown rich in
the service of Hollister & Co.
Anyway, his career had been o bril-
liant one, and he now found himself
captain OF splendid clipper ship at an
age when most of his associates were
nothing more than first or second
mates. But the lact is his splendid
qualifications were universally conced-
ed, and IL would have been hard to find
a more popular man than Capt. Allaire
either In San Diego or in any other Cal
kornian port The personal bravery
displayed by him in rescuing ship
wrecked crew on one occasion, and In
bis skill and tenacity of purpose in ef-
fecting the salvage Of valuable cargo
abandoned by master and seamen, had
made his name known to merchants and
shippers all along tho coast
The firm of Hollister & Co. offered
him the command of the Dreadnaught,
which was all ready TO be launched.
Allaire had accepted without the
slightest hesitation, for he felt that he
was qualified TO fill the position, and
had been thereupon authorized to pick
his officers and seamen, such was the
perfect confidence which the house had
IN him II was under these circum-
stances that the Dreadnaught was
about TO make her first voyage under
the command Of Capt. John Allaire.
The sailing Of this splendid new
| clipper ship was quito an event. The
firm of Hollister e. Co. very Justly en-
| joyed the reputation of being one of the
wealthiest and most reputable shipping
houses In San Diego, thanks TO the wise
administration Of it's affairs by William
Hollister, man respected by his COM
| petitors and beloved by his friends.
Everyone was delighted when 1t be-
came known that he had put John Al
laire In command Of the Dreadnaught.
It was not surprising, therefore, that
on this particular morning, March IS,
vast concourse of people, many of
them personal friends and all of them
admirers Of the young captain, should
have collected on the wharves of the
Pacific Coast Steamship Company TO
| give him a parting cheer.
| The crew Of the Dreadnaught was
made up of ten able-bodied seamen and
master and mate. The sailors were
all natives or residents of San Diego,
experienced men and glad of an oppor-
tunity to serve under Capt. Allaire. The
mate was an excellent officer, Harry
Shelton by name. Although he was
| Allaire's senior by five or six years,
this fact didn't gall him the least bit
nor did an envious or jealous thought
ever enter his mind. He was the first
to acknowledge that Allairc was the
man for the post. They had been mess
mates for years and had learned TO ap-
| preciate each other. Besides, whatever
William Hollister did was we'll done.
Rod Shelton and his men were devoted
to him, body and soul. Most of the
crew had already shipped on some one
or other Of his vessels, and the officers
and men were really like one family.
| So favorable. therefore, was the out
look that but one thought seemed to be
uppermo ost in the minds of the fathers
and mothers, wives and sweethearts
who congregated on the wharf TO bid
! good-by TO these fortunate seamen, and
that was, II would be but matter of
six months, flying trip between Cali
| fornia and India, an excursion from