The morning call., 1895-02-11

when the broad white wings Of the regattas
flew over these waters.
The place where this noted aquatic racer
"ues in ordinary" as dead ships are cpl
taphed, is a shanty-surrounded nook de-
voted to the uses of brood of chickens and
a mild-eyed COW. shattered fragment of
the boats frame is the manger of the hay
munching bovine and the poultry roost
nightly on the remaining piece of plank
that bears portion Of the name, Pride of
the Bay"
The old plunger Pride of the Bay, now
so ignobly cast away, was built in this city
thirty-six years ago, by workman who
had long been employed in the noted ship
ward of George Stears & Co. of New York.
Her lines were identical with those of some
of the great sailers turned out by Stears,
and her life was as famous as that of some
OF her speedy Eastern sisters. She was not
a beauty. as her breadth of about nine feet
amidships, with little decrease at the stern,
and her length of only twenty-seven feet
gave her the beautiful symmetry OF a fiat
iron. Her bottom was fat from bilge to
keel, but she could go to windward as II
pulled there by magnet. That was the
source of her everlasting luck, and why 1t
was the cause OF 1t was never revealed.
She perished and the much-sought secret is
hidden in the frame that lies rotting on the
wreck-strewn shore of Mission Bay.
The boat passed into the possession of an
old mariner named James Tainor, a we'll
known character among the human drift
along the waterfront "Old Jimmy" was
a skillful and enthusiastic yachtsman, and
he sailed her against everything that wore
canvas. Her rig was one huge mainsail
with a gaff almost as long as the boom, but
for a race her skipper would rig out jury
bowsprit. On this he would spread big
jib, and up aloft he would send gaff top
sail that would fairly lift her out of the
water Before tho wind the Pride of the
Bay would drag leisurely along on the
quarter of her opponent but rounding the
stakeboat she would shorten up her sheets,
and, while the others were drifting alec,
she would literally 'sag" up to windward.
1--WE never could understand" said Cap
tain Barbour yesterday, "just what helped
that plunger to get away from us. L have
sailed against her often, but whenever she
got close-hauled I wasn't in the race. 1t
seemed that nothing could prevent her
from sailing right into the eye of the
breeze. We used to say that if she were
staked ont in a vacant lot she would break
loose and drift sidewise to windward.
"When Old Jim went over to Goat ISL
and to look out for the fog station he had
to moor her against the lee side of the
bluff, and even then she would try to
warp herself up over the steep precipice
whenever the wind began to pipe across
the island.
Trainor had shipmate named Johnson
"a Norwegian Of the fiaxen-haired type
who ALWAYS stood by the sheets when the
Pride was kicking foam in her rivals eyes.
One night Johnson, who was top-heavy
with water front gin, tried to board the
plunger, but slipped on the gangplank and
fioated away to the unknown sea.
Trainor put the ensign at half-mast and
mourned the loss of his chum~with sail
ors genuine sorrow. He grew supersti-
tious and swore that Johnson often came
back and without making any sail would
take midnight run under bare poles up
and down the bay.
.sMany time said he, shave / been
awakened in my bunk by the plunger
heeling over, and, looking out toward the
stern, I've seen Johnson standing at the
tiller, his white face shining in the star
light and his long yellow whiskers blowing
over his shoulders. There wouldn't be
stitch of canvas on her, but could hear
the water bubbIing and tapping outside as
she rushed ahead. / was never afraid, be-
cause John was good sailor and the best
shipmate ever I had. He would float her
right out past Fort Point in the teeth of a
stiff breeze, with the fog flying around him
like smoke and the big bull horn on shore
booming off to the north ard He would
stand there with the tiller amidships,
silent.as tobacco-store Iniin and staring
straight ahead.
GAS said, was not afraid, but it was
awful sometimes, this going sailing with
out sails and without the creaking OF
straining timbers or the grinding of the
sheaves in the blocks. He would send her
safely in and out among the anchored
ships-always with the helm amidship.
His presence made me wakeful and ner-