The San Francisco call., 1895-11-02
THE OVERDUE EVANDALE,
She Arrived Here in Safety Yes
terday With an Enormous
Cargo.
Captain Buyers Says That Freight.
Boat Cannot Make Mail
Time.

The long-overdue freight steamer Evan
dale got in from Yokohama late Thursday
night. She brought almost 6000 tons of
cargo, although her register is only 3775
tons burden. Nearly all the merchandise
was from the stranded steamer Belgic and
should have been in San Francisco weeks
ago.
The Evandale took twenty days and four
hours to make the run from Yokohama
and the underwriters began to wonder
what was the matter. Their fears were
not allayed when they remembered that
the steamer had been in trouble on her
last voyage to Tacoma. On that occasion
her after water-tanks burst and the cargo
was damaged to the extent of $50, 900. The
owners Iibeled the ship for that amount
and Captain Buyers and his first officer
were arrested for criminal negligence on
the ground that it was owing TO the faulty
construction of the ship that the accident
occurred. This faulty construction is sup
posed to have been known to the skipper
and his subordinates. The officers were
discharged by the court, but the libel suit
for damages is still pending.
1t was no accident that delayed the
Evandale. She is not fast boat at the
best of times. but on this occasion she was
very heavily laden and fogs and head seas
detained her. You didn't expect q freight
boat to beat Mail steamer time, did you ?"
asked Captain Buyers yesterday. why
we just came along quietly and surely, and
that is all there is TO it, What would the
mercantile public have said if the Evan
dale had been pushed and got into San
Francisco in the same time as made by the
flyers? 1t would have tossed its head and
remarked: If steamer, built to carry
freight, and big freight at that, can make
the run as quickly as a Mail boat, the
sooner we get new ships the better
LAS | told you before, the Evandale is a
freight-boa and was not built for speed"
Captain Buyers is q splendid seaman and
gentleman. He would be welcome ad-
ditlon to the list of well-liked ocean-going
shippers now sailing in and out of San
Francisco. There are now awaiting his
vessel over 5000 tons of cargo, and as she is
to sail next Tuesday the stevedores will
have TO work night and day to get her dis
charged and reloaded.
The only passenger who came over on
the Evandale was DR.. Bowie, late surgeon
of the Belgic. The blame of allowing the
cholera TO enter Hawaii was placed on
him. and the fact that three bodies of
Chinese were brought here in Theoretically
sealed collins was also commented upon.
Shortly after the news of the outbreak
in Hawaii arrived here DR.. Bowie took
passage for Yokohama, and the Mail Com
pany gave it out that he had gone there to
establish himself in practice. The doctor
found that the rosy hopes held out to him
were not realized, so he came back to San
| Francisco.
In talking about the Belgic case the doc
ter said: 'There was no cholera on the
steamer and the Belgic's passengers never
| took it to Honolulu. The only cases of
sickness we ha1 on board were simple
complaints, and the men who died had to
thank weak constitutions. Opium and
The men that died were placed in lead cof-
inns according to an agreement the Mail
Company has with the Chinese Govern
ment and were shipped back to Hongkong.
That s all there was to the matter. l have
returned TO San Francisco because l think
there is better field for physician than
in Yokohama"