The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-29
THE bAWNMORE LOST
Continued from First Page.

Payta, Peru, and there the fun began. band
OF guerr1llas came down from the mountains
ana took charge of the town. They levied
blackmail on all the prominent men, and the
skipper and his bride received particular atten-
tlon from them On several occasions the rob-
bers attempted to board the steamer. but the
captain and his crew were always on the watch,
and on one occasion the five months bride
drove the brigands away by presenting q
double-baTreled shotgun at them.
The town and harbor was held for twenty
four days by the brigands, and they were
finally bought off by the payment OF 5000
pesos, which the principal man in the town
borrowed or received on account from the cap
tain of the steamer.
The vessel in question is the British steamer
Bawnmore, and she is commanded by Captain
Alexander Woodside, brother of the owner.
The steamer is under charter to Grace & Co. to
carry crude petroleum from Peru to San Fran
cisco, and owing to the fact that the guerrillas
held the town the vessel was delayed twenty
four days. Captain Woodside does not object
to keeping his men under arms for that length
OF time, neither does his wife object to being
called upon to repel boarders, but the gallant
skipper does object to being kept at that par
tlcular point awaiting Grace & Co.'s pleasure
because a band OF robbers held the village.
Grace d Co. would not compromise the
matter, so Captain Woodside has begun suit to
recover the sum of $500 for demurrage. He
expects to prove that 1t was band of robbers
terrorizing the town that delayed him, while
Grace q Co. viii assert that there was a re-
bellion in progress. As the principal men in
the oil regions all assert that the men who
held the town were robbers it will be hard for
Grace Il Co. to prove that they were insurgents.
The Bawnmore arrived from Payta, Peru,
week ago. She anchored in the stream and
later went to the Arctic Oil Works. When
Capteln Noodside discovered that a compro-
mise was moi possible he stopped discharging
ana at once llbeIed the remainder of the cargo.
We had very pleasant trip from San Fran
cisco to Payta, said one of the crew Yesterday
when talking about the matter. At the latter
place, however, We had enough fun to last for
remainder vii in,
Talara Bay, opposite which we anchored, is
only little bit OF place. The principal man
IN 1t is the owner of the oil wells, and as the
Bawnmore uses oil as fuel in her furnaces, our
skipper had contracted with him to supply our.
tanks. There were about 5000 pesos on board
ana that money cost us an awful amount of
trouble. The hills at the back of the town
were overrun with robbers and these gentry
used TO make periodical descents on the place.
While we were in port they made a raid and
captured the town. They also thought they
could capture the Bawnmore, but they were
mistaken. Captain Woodside had eight repeat
ing rifles on board, and these were always Kept
IN readiness. Mrs. Woodside carried shotgun,
and had 1t come to pinch think she would
have fought as well as any OF us.
The oil wells from which the steamer was to
get her supply are long way from the beach,
SO the bltumen has to be piped from the wells
to the waters edge. When the robbers found
they could not get any money out OF the vii
layers they cut the pipes and swore they would
not allow any more oil to be pumped into the
steamer unless money was forthcoming
In his dilemma the owner of the wells
applied to Captain Woodside and that gentle
man at once paid him the money due on
account of fuel. This sum-SOO0 pesos-was
handed over to the robbers and they at once
retired TO the mountains. Five hours later the
Government troops were on the scene, but as
usual they were day behind the fair
Mrs. Woodside is brick-one of the bricks
that formed the walls of Sparta-snd 1000 men
Ike her could conquer the whole of South
America. She was always on the alert and
when the robbers came prowliug around she
was generally the first TO catch sight of them.
r. E. Hue, manager of Grace & Co., who
chartered the vessel, was seen at late
hour last night and he said there was no
truth in the rumor that she was topheavy
in her load. He could tell nothing about
the probable loss as he had received no in
formation in addition to that first fur
nished by the Merchants Exchange His
denial of the reported overlooking was
emphatic, in connection with which he
referred TO the vessels having Lloyd GER
tifcates.