The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-02-11
FEARLESS And OLYMPIA.
Vessels That Are Available for Govern.
ment Service.

What steamer is available in the event
of an urgent demand for one to go to Ha-
waii?" was asked of John D. Spreckels
yesterday. Mr.. Spreckels paused for few
seconds and then said: ''There will be no
demand for vessel for few days under
any circumstance. The Oceanic Steamship
Company's Australia sails tomorrow at 10
A. NJ. and the Occidental and Oriental Com
pany's Oceanic sails at 3 P. NJ. If the Gov
eminent should desire to send an urgent
dispatch to Admiral Beardslee and should
order us to push the Australia, Captain
Houdlette could put the dispatches on
board the Philadelphia early on the morn
ing of the 18th inst
If no communications are sent from
Washington then nothing will be done un-
TIL the Alameda reaches Auckland on the
23d inst. She will be due at that point on
that day, and the situation in Honolulu
will doubtless be telegraphed to Washing
ton. Should the emergency then arise and
should we be called upon to fill it, why
then we would send the Fearless. She is
the fastest vessel of her class on the coast
and could make the run to Honolulu in
seven days. When she was out looking
for the British ship Honresfeld she
cruised 5000 miles without taking in fuel,
and when she returned to San Francisco
there was still five days supply of coal
in the bunkers. If word was received to-
night that a steamer was required we
could have the Fearless coaled, provisioned
and on her way tomorrow. But that
would be a useless expense, as the Aus
tralia would beat her down in any event
SHOULD larger steamer be required we
have the Zelandia, but it would take
couple of days to fit her out. A crew
would have to be procured, and stores and
coal put on board. Take it all in all |
think the best and cheapest boat in an
emergency would be the Fearless"
eff you mean what warship is available,
said Henry T. Scott, ''there is the
Olympia" Mr.. Scott was entertaining a
party of friends at dinner, and naturally
was not in very good humor at being dis
turbed. When he mentioned the name
Olympia, however, his voice changed and
at once took on the tone that a father
might assume in talking about pet child.
The crack cruiser holds a warm spot in the
heart of her builders, and they seem to
hold her in even higher esteem, if any,
thing, than the Charleston, San Francisco,
Oregon or Monterey.
1.-THE Olympia" continued Mr.. Scott
"can be gotten ready for sea in twenty-four
hours. Her armament is on board her
crew is all ready, she is fully provisioned,
and all that is lacking is the coal. If the
Government wanted dispatches sent to
Honolulu in hurry the Olympia could
carry them there IN four days. She is
faster than the Columbia or the Mime
apolis, and could easily cover that 2100
miles in ninety-six hours. l would like to
see her put to the test"
Here Mr.. SCOTS eyes cleaned and a
confident look spread over his face. After
a short pause he continued: "All l can
say is, that be it stern chase or long
chase like the Charleston and the San
Francisco, the Olympia will never be found
wanting in an emergency. If the Govern
ment does not want to send cruiser, then
they could not get better boat for the pur-
pose than the steamer Fearless, owned by
John D. Spreckels & Bros. Company. She
is almost as fast as an ocean steamer, and
could take dispatches to Hawaii faster
than any available vessel outside of the