The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-02-24
ROTTEN COFFEE
TN THE SYDNEY.
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS LOST BY
WATER IN THE SHIPS
AFTER-HOLD.
TROUBLE ON THE MAIL DOCK.
A SOUNDING PIPE WHICH FAILED
TO WoRK-ACCIDENT OR
MALICE.
TROUBLE ON THE MAIL DOCK.

A small sensation was uncorked on the
Pacific Mail dock on Friday afternoon
while the work OF discharging the Panama
steamer City of Sydney was in progress.
The steamer having been detained in quar-
antine several days is now considerably
behind time and an extra gang of steve
dores was put to work discharging cargo.
The after-hold was stored with the finest
quality OF Salvadoran coffee, and after sew
eral layers of sacks were taken out it was
discovered that there was about five feet OF
water in the hold and that at least 900 OF
700 sacks were ruined.
Vice-President Schwerin and General
Manager Center of the Pacific Mail Com
pany were on the Mail dock all day yester-
day investigating the matter. 1t was re-
marked that there would be a change
throughout in the engineers department,
for it was learned that the trouble rested
there. The leakin the hold was occasioned
bye the apparent neglect in sounding the
well. In the department are Chief En-
gineer Donnelly and Assistants Shirley,
Kahlstrom and Quinn and four water
tenders.
The coffee was hauled out in bulk and
sacks and deposited on the wharf outside
the shed. Its appearance indicated that it
had been under water several days, and for
commercial use it is absolutely worthless.
The sacks were worth more than $40 each,
and it is estimated that the loss is between
900 and $4,000. Mr.. Schwerin would
say nothing about the matter further than
that it was impossible to estimate the dam
age at present, or to locate the blame.
The coffee, which is the G.. L. q Co.
brand, was consigned to G. E. Bickford and
had been sold prior to arrival. Mr.. Bick-
fore is considered the best coffee expert on
the coast, and he pronounced the stuff
valueless.
The stuff was shipped at Acajutla, {"
said Mr.. Bickford yesterday, land it is the
best quality of coffee which comes into the
market. In my opinion it has been under
water since the steamer left Acajutla. The
beans are thoroughly soaked and abso-
lutely rotten. To coffee merchant they
are worthless, but the Mail Company may
be able to sell the stock to some Spectator.
10 be used at all the proportion Of mixture
would be about one sack to fifty sacks of
good stuff"
Later in the day H. Miner, coffee
dealer, made bid on the damaged lot, and
he will probably be awarded the blue
nodded beans.
In the afternoon the hold was sufficiently
cleaned for an examination as to the cause
OF the damage. 1t was ascertained that the
sounding pipe had been stopped up, either
accidentally or maliciously The pipe is
used to determine the amount of water in
the hold, and to the engineers department
its care is intrusted. 1t was discovered
that the sounding rod had been broken off
and left in the pipe When a sounding
was made, in consequence only four inches
OF water was found, while at least five feet
should have been shown. An attempt will
be made to find the guilty party, and there
may be yet some changes in the engineer s
department. Chief Donnelly was formerly
in the Rio, and bears a good reputation. 1t
is said that the sounding pipe was the only
method OF learning the amount of water in
the hold.