The morning call., 1894-08-25
A FLEET OF SHIPS ARRIVE,
And a Story Was Told of a
Bad Accident.
BATTLE WITH A BIG OCTOPUS.
Nick Panay Captures a Devil Fish.
The Caleb Curtis Voyage No
Fever on the Bennington.


by heavy cargoes, have come into harbor
IN fleets In the past two days.
-Four cargo vessels arrived yesterday.
and the pilots were made happy. The fog
| had lifted, and the way into the bay was
made clear for those craft that have
crawled about in the mist for week past.
Some Of the ships had men on board
with stories 10 tell One of these was the
British ship Dunstaffnage. ISL days from
Newcastle. via Downs. On the trip Will
liam Wichman lost his life, and George
Fowlie, 2. Harris and Edward Daley were
injured. Fowlie had his sheulder dislo-
Gated and was otherwise crippled. He
was taken to the Marine Hospital in the
afternoon.
A great sea is blamed for the accident
to the men. 1t boarded the vessel on the
8th Of June. when she was off Cape Horn,
during heavy gale.
sit was terrific hill Of water" said
Fowlie, feeling his lame shoulder as he
was helped off The quarantine tug. land it
swamped us before we could realize that
the vessel had plowed into it.
'Wichman was on the jibboom; myself
and the other men were on the forecastle
head.
Il was carried bodily over the break of
the forecaste as far back as the poop. and
rolled about the decks until L lost my
senses. When came to / was in the fore
castle, on my bunk. The crew were stand
ing about me.
Harris and Daley we're hurt also and
had been picked up half insensible.
Everything was done to allay our suffer
ings."
FOwlie spoke we'll OF the captain of the
ship and said that no other accident &C.
CURED during the voyage.
William Wichman, the sailor who was
lost. was native of Finland. aged "a
years.
The American ship Edward O'Brien.
Captain Oliver, tOwed in during the fore
noon. She brought merchandise for j. w.
Grace q Co. from New York. The
Llewellyn j. Morse and the British ship
.StOckbridge. the former from Baltimore
and the latter from Swansea, arrived late
in the afternoon.
The night before the British ship The
Highlands came in from Newcastle and
reported that on July l she PASSED be-
tween Pitcairn and Henderson islands. A
terrible thunderstorm was in progress
and the rain poured down like water
spouts. TO use Captain Stevenson's words.
1T was the darkest, dreariest night
ever experienced in my life." added the
captain by way of emphasizing his re-
marks.
At Fisherman's wharf a story was cir
culated about a big white man-eating
shark. The shark proved to be very inof-
fensive-looking. but Nick Panay of the
fishing-bo Alexandra caught devil-fisn
that gave himself and his crew OF fisher
men lively fight.
The Alexandra went outside the heads
in the morning and nearly ran down the
octopus, which tried to fasten its tentacles
to the bottom Of the boat.
Panay is too old a fisherman to be caught
sleeping, and before the fish could secure
hold on the smack be killed it with
clever stroke of knife.
There is a spot in the back of an octo-
pus' neck that when stabbed causes in
slant death. Panay touched that spot
with his blade.
The fish weighed 175 pounds, and when
raised with a tackle its tentacles reached
from the rafters of the wharf shed to the
floor beneath.
Boatman John Barry made a gallant
rescue yesterday. A poor, forsaken little
dog was drifting outward with the tide
about 1000 yards from the docks of the
city. Barry picked the drowning canine
up and put him on board of the tug Sea
King, which was passing. The dog was so
weak that it could not stand up, but
showed its appreciation of the kindness by
wagging its tail.
The voyage of the ex-pilot-boat Caleb
Curtis, in command of Mrs. Captain
Brock. is further told OF by one OF her
crew, who returned to this city on the
steamer China.
The Curtis left port on August Is, 1893,
and had fine trip to Bntaritari. After
being out two weeks Mrs. Captain Brock
became seasick. ank Rollo Brock. also
captain of the same boat, was seasick also.
Rollo proved to be no seaman at all. but
hated to admit 1t. He said he had once
gone outside the heads in a small boat
and had learned to ship rudder.
Mrs. Brock and RollO are at present at
Hong-Kong and so is the Curtis. Several
attempts have been made TO sell the boat.
but they have all been unsuccessful.
There Is no yellow fever among the crew
OIL the Bennington. nor was there any.
Inc sailors sent to the quarantine station
were not sick. but had been i'll with coast
lever. as was told two months ago in the
papers. Sensational stories are some
times misleading. The Bennington passed
quarantine all right Had there been any
yellow lever on board she could not posi-
Oily nave done so until thoroughly fumi-