The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-01-05
ALONG The WATER FRONT
The Steamer Afridi Brought a
Very Big Cargo From the
Orient.
SHE REPLACED THE BELGIC.
Trouble Brewing Over the Repairing
Of the Government Steamer
Mcdowell.

BeIglc for this trip, anu on her return 10
Hongkong will load for Europe. The
Belgic's repairs will then be completed
and she will resume her regular run. The
Afridi brought no passengers in either
steerage or CO bin, but there was 4748 tons
of general cargo slowed away in her hold.
Among her crew are fourteen Koreans who
have acted as fremen ever since the
steamer went into the oriental trade.
The Afridi is designed for carrier.
Great space and the rapid handling OF
cargo seem TO have been the main objects
with her builders. Accompanying this
she has good steaming capacity, and dur
ing the run of 16 days ana II hours from
Yokohama an average of eleven and one
half knots an hour was maintained. She
is owned by the Mogul line and was built
at Newcastle on-Tyne about twelve
months ago.
She is $50 feet long 46 feet wide and %
feet inches deep. Captain Thomas
Go!ding, r. n. R., who is in command, is
better known on Puget Sound than he is
In San Francisco. He was captain OF the
steamer Mogul in the Northern Pacific
line until that vessel was purchased by
the japanese Government to be used as
transport during the war. The Afridi is
called after a tribe OF Hindoos in Northern
India.
The steam schooner Sunol, which was
bar-bound at Coos Bay, arrived in port
yesterday. Captain Walvig says the
storm encountered during the latter part
OF December was the heaviest he was ever
in. The mouth OF Uolumbia River was
! reached all right, but the bar was break
ing heavily and the steamer was headed
for sea. Then the storm came up, and
the Sunol was swept fore and aft. One of
the boats was washed away, some OF
| the standing rigging snapped, the bull
warks were stove in and the cabin
was, flooded, The steamer was driven
| back as far as Coos Bay and Captain Wal
! Wig ran in there for shelter and rep airs.
The vessel was fixed up temporarily and
then she was headed for San Francisco.
She locked at Little Main street and after
dischargiug will go on the drydock. 1t
will probably be week before she gets
away again for Yaquina Bay.
The cruisers Philadelphia and Boston
will both be open to the public to-day. At
l P. NJ. all the officers and men viii be
ready 10 receive their friends and a big
crowd of visitors are expected. Henry
| Peterson, the oarsman, will run his launch
Amy at regular intervals and ell the boat
men IN the bay will be on hand to carry
eXcursionistS.
The British ship Godiva arrived from
Cardiff yesterday after an eYentful voyage.
On September 10 last she was caught in
hurricane, and considerable damage was
| done. One OF the apprentice boys was
washed overheard and drowned. 1t was
| in latitude 81 south, longitude AZ west that
the fatality happened. A heavy sea swept
the main deck, and before J. Phidds could
catch rope he was carried away. He was
II years OF age ana native of Ireland.
! The Fulton Iron Works and the head of
| the quartermaster's department of the
army are at outs. The trouble is all over
the steamer Mcdowell, and some one will
| be a heavy loser tefore the matter is
settled. About three months ago the
sternpost of the Mcdowell showed signs
of weakness, a2d the contract for a new
one and a new Zeiss propeller was let to
the Fulton Iron Works. The first post
made was too small, and the foreman
of the shop was discharged by the COM
pany. The mistake was rectifed. and a
| few days ago the steamer began running
| TO Angel Island, Alcatraz and the Preside
again. 1t did not take the engineer long
to find out that something was wrong
The shaft does not fit closely into the
sternpost, and in consequence the wheel
almost floods the ship every trip. Again
the propeller acts splenoidly when going
! ahead, but in going astern it seems to have
no power over the vessel. In approaching
| Clay-street wharf Captain Stofin has to
stop the Mcdowell about three wharves
away in order to gain control of the
| steamer.
| According to arrangements made by the
general, the Mcdowell was to have made
couple of trips to the stations to-day
| These orders were countermanded late
| yesterday, ana instead the men from the
| Fulton Iron Works will spend all day and
all night in trying to rectify the mistakes
made. The steamer has not yet been &C
| cepted by the quartermaster.
| Captain Allen will not 90 out in COM
mand of the Benjamin T. Packard. He
will remain in San Francisco as the prin-
cipal witness in the libel suit against the
tugs Sea Queen and Hercules for running
the ship on Mission Bay rock. Captain
Mcclure will take the Packard to Europe
and thence to New York.
Darby, Leydon & Co., the contractors,
are busy getting Fairs waterfront lots
ready Tor the winter storms. Extra clus-
ters of piles are being put down and it is
thought there will be no landslides. a
great deal of the land is now above high
water mark and the contractors are max
ing rapid progress with the remainder.
The old steamer Gypsy is again to be put
in commission with Captain Leland in
command. She will take the place of the
Coos Bay and will run every Tuesday ana
Friday to Santa Cruz, Moss Landing, Mon
terey and Sequel.
A queer looking craft attracted consid-
cradle attention az Jackson-street wharf
yesterday. She was originally intended
for a stern wheel steamer, but was pur-
chased by George 3. Tolman and others
and fitted up to work the tailings in the
Sacramento River. The name of the COM
pany owning the strange outfit is the
Golden Sand Placer Mining Company, and
it expects to make a big haul OF paying
! debris in the various rivers that run into
the Sacramento The boat will be tOwed