The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1894-11-23
SAN DIEGO'S GIRL PILOT.

only Twenty Years Old and Able to E,;nx
In the Biggest Ships.
MISS Elizabeth Polhemus of San Diego.
Gal, 2O-year-old lass, wishing to earn
nef own living and having a fondness for
inc yer, has been qualifying herself as a
tssoel TOT ocean vessels entering San Diego
MIRROR. ~ eight months she expects to
pass the examination required by the
state board ut pilot commissioners and re-
ceiVe nef certiaeafe MS frst-class pilot,
Miss POlhehuS sis the only woman in
the country, 30 old sea captains say.
VINO now attempts to guide great ships
into harbOr. OF course, until she re-
ceiyes pilots certificate Miss Polhemus
guides the vessels under the eye Of IL vet
eran pilot who stands beside her on the
quarterback. This, however, is a mat
ter or form, as insurance companies de-
mand a certified pilot, and the old nlot
accompanies the girl simply to conDIv
with the rules. So thorough is the young
Woman's knowledge of handling a ship,
anu OF the reefs, shoals, currents and air
old pilots who have Instructed her in
this difficult work seldom have IL word to
say IN criticism of her management.
ana Tor SIX months it has not been neces-
sary to change one of her orders when
bringing ship into port.
All her life this young woman has
lived by the sea. Her father is a gaI
liant old sea dog. who fought for the
fiag, and has sailed all seas as a master
OF Dig merchant ships and now holds an
important harbor position at San Diego
She has kind of hereditary instinct for
pllotlng. When in her teens she could
handle an SO-foot schooner in a stiff
oreeze almost as well as Il veteran sail
ing master. The old pilots are proud
of their feminine protege because Of her
marked skill, and also because of her
courage and GOODNESS in emergencies which
nave called for a prompt display of
steady nerves.
One summer afternoon during a half
gale from the sou'east, Il :}OOO-ton collier
move IN sight off Point Iona, and. in
the masters eagerness to make port that
afternoon, he ran in too close before
taking pilot. and found himself being
forced upon Zaninga shoal off the har-
Dor mouth. Miss Polhemus was the ONLY
available pilot at that moment. She was
put aboard the collier and gave the cap
tam a dressing down in Queens English
because of his carelssnesS. The captains
eyes were open to the fact that unless
speedy action was taken the ship would
be lost. At the girls order all hands
were put to shortening sail. She stood
by the wheel and soon had the ship on
another course, although the situation
was so grave that she had to wear ship
under most trying conditions in order to
get an otfing until the ocean subsidized and
the harbor could be entered in safety.
The girl skipper amazed the grateful
captain. She gave the bluff old English
man some new ideas concerning the ca
pacity of an American girl.
When Miss Polhemus gets her pilots
certificate, her fees for bringing in i, YES
sci will be IS per foot Oh the draft of a
vessel and cents per ton. A :'WO-ton
ship drawing 20 feet would pay the pilot
1920. The pilots have a lookot station
at Point Iona. and, unless vessel is
expected during the night their trim
schooners can lie in their berths inside
the point and put to sea only when a
vessel is sighted. 1t is not necessary
for them to cruise up and down the coast,
as do the New York pilots.