The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-10
Three Ships That Had a Hard
Time Getting to San
Francisco.
ONE OF THEM WAS ON FIRE.
An Apprentice Boy Was Washed
Off the Lauriston, and
Drowned.

Three vessels arrived from three differ
ent ports yesterday and all had tales of
disaster to report. One nearly went down
with all hands, the second was on fire for
two days, and the third lost an apprentice
during gale and another of the crew died
of dropsy.
The first to report was Captain Lewis of
the British ship Senator.
1--WE left Hull with fair wind" said he,
"and all went we'll until August 26. Then
IL came on to blow and soon the waves
were running mountains high. Our decks
were constantly full of water and the cross
seas swept US fore and aft. Our main rig
ging on both sides was carried away and
other damage was done.
For fortnight after that we had mod
crate weather, but on September II it
came on to blow again and this time it
was scorcher. The foretopgallant mast
was carried away in a gale which drove
snow in binding drifts all over the ship.
For four days the ship iabored on and on
the 10Th, when she was rolling heavily in
the cross-seas, the wind died away to a
calm for about twenty minutes. Then it
came again with hurricane force and
threw the Senator on her beam ends.
The main rail and deck to the main hatch
were under water. Then we caught it.
The harness-casks (casks clamped to the
deck, in which the salt meat for everyday
use is kept were washed overheard; doors
were stove, the cabin was flooded, the
mems things were washed out of the fore
castle, and everything movable went
overheard. The mainstay snapped, and for
a time pandemonium reigned. Luckily
the cargo did not shift, and after we cut
away some of the sails the ship righted,
and put her before the gale until some of
the damage was fixed up. After that we
had succession of light gales, but nothing
to speak of.
The Senator shows very few traces of the
terrible battles she had with the elements.
She is spick and span.
The Hawaiian ship John Ena is the Sec
ond vessel. From October rs to 81 her
cargo of coal was on fire, and Captain
Schnauer says that had it not been for the
powerful steam pumps aboard both vessel
and crew would have peen lost.
"There was no sign of danger from the
time we left Newcastle, n. S. W., until
October 25," said Captain Schnauer.
''Then we discovered that smoke was
coming through the trunk matches. L
ordered an examination, and found that
the seat of the trouble was in hatch ?.
The smoke and fumes were overpoweripg,
and the men could not remain in the be-
tween decks. Then we opened all the
matches, and | got the force-pumps TO
work. 1t was nip and tuck with US. and
for six days we fought the flames. Some
times the decks would get SO hot that we
could hardly stand it, but the men worked
splendidiy. We jettisoned sixty tons of
coal and got to the heart of the fire. Then
the force pumps did the rest"
The John Ena made the run from New
castle, n. S. W., in fifty days, which was
the best on record for this season until the
Christine got in from the same port last
night in forty-eight days.
ba ind inf IA fha pr;+ ,ef,
ship Lauriston, lat days from Antwerp.
Like all the other shippers who rounded
Cape Horn, Captain Latta encountered ice
and icebergs and had generally hard time.
On August 25 R. III. Warden, a native of
Halifax, N. S., died from natural causes.
He had been sick from almost the first
week after leaving Antwerp and nothing
in the medicine chest did him any good.
The captain thinks he died from dropsy.
On September 16 an accident happened
that threw gloom over the entire ships
crew. 1t was in latitude 56 80 south, longi-
tude 6S west, and very heavy westerly
gale was blowing. Cross-seas swept the
ship from stem TO stern and everything
movable was washed overheard. Walter
Heath. an apprentice, was caught by one
of the waves and before a hand could be
stretched out to save him he was washed
overheard also and drowned. He was the
son of an English clergyman and only
, 16 years old. He was determined to be
a sailor, and much against his will he was
given permission to go as an apprentice.
1--WE did not encounter any more than
the usual amount of dirty weather." said
the captain. "It was very cold rounding
the Horn, however, and the crew suffered.
1t was blowing a gale when young Heath
went overheard and we could not do a
thing toward saving him. Latterly we had
fair ordinary weather"
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