The herald., 1896-12-27
STORMS MAY RAGE At SANTA MONICA

shelter, the canyon ana the long wharf.
OF the wrecks at San Pedro he thought
two-thirds were due to bad seaniah-
ship: the Kennebec struck rock ana
dragged her anchor: there was no one
aboard the ship, America. to man her
when the gale struck her. If the cap
tains had stayed aboard the vessels
would not have gone ashore.
MR.. JONES UF LONG BEACH
Joseph S. Jones of Long Beach, a W BOD
and coal dealer, testified concerning
the coal that had drifted up from San
Pedro. The people Of Long Beach had
gathered quantities Of coal, many of
them more than they could use. He has
nc practical knowledge Of currents, but
knows that some force brought the coal
up the coast and washed 1t in shore
When the colliers were wrecked most Of
the coal was washed ashore at Timms
Point
SHIP OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Mr.. ]. w. Davis of San Pedro is agent
for the Ship Owners association of the
Pacific coast. His experience with land
ing places has been along the line of
furnishing crews for vessels when in
need of them. In March last he engaged
a crew Of seamen for the bark Fern
bank, and left San Pedro In the evening
for Port Los Angeles in a sloop thirty
feet long, expecting to reach the Fern
bank in the morning When they left
Sam Pedro the sea was smooth, with no
sign of storm, but as they came within
two miles of Santa Monica bay they
were notified by Captain Dornfield not to
try to reach the vessel; that no boat
could live In such sea- They put back
to San Pedro, found the sea smooth
there, and as the men were contracted
for at certain time, he brought them
next morning by rail-.
He asked Captain Dornfield why he
had not been notified Of the storm, and
the captain replied that the sea being
so high at Santa Monica, he supposed
it would be rough enough at San Pedro
to prevent him from leaving. The sail
ors had begun drinking, and he was
very anxious to get them aboard, but
the captain said it would be sheer folly
to try to weather such a storm. The
men were taken to the wharf kept over
night and put aboard the Fernbank next
day at IL o'clock. 1t was the worst storm
the witness ever saw In Santa Monica
bay, while al San Pedro the sea was
auiet. In May last Mr.. Davis exper-
fenced difficulty in getting a. crew to the
Charles f. Moody. a ship of $500 tonnage
There We're no lives lost, but the men
were severely drenched. He has been
doing business at San Pedro four years,
anu never nau any QlmCulty IN getting
men aboard vessels.
SKIPPER WHITTIER
]. H. Winther is skipper at San
Pedro and commanded the boat which
took Mr.. Davis and the crew to Santa
Monica His account of the trip cor
roborates that of Mr. Davis in every
particular. Their reason for leaving
San Pedro in the afternoon was to head
off the wind; as they neared Point VI
cente he put up sail and stood off in the
bay, not venturing to go to the wharf.
When they returned to San Pedro they
were surprised to find a calm sea.
PRESIDENT PATTERSON'S PLEA.
Mr.. w. C. Patterson, president Of the
chamber Of commerce. was then intro
duced. Mr.. Patterson said he appeared
before the board as business man, en-
gagged in business which now involves
a. large amount of shipping. and which
is capable Of expansion. He also ap-
peared as representative Of the Free
Harbor league. an organization COM
posed of a large number of our most
prominent and active business and pro-
fessional men. The league was organ
lied for the purpose of securing the
construction of a deep water harbor
which would be accessible to as many
railways as may wish to come to the
water front. 1t was the belief that
only such a farbor would best subserve
the interests of this great and growing
community, and at the same time be