The San Francisco call., 1896-02-23
THEY FELL FROM GRACE.
The Crew of Clipper Ship Misled by Bogus
Preacher.
Preacher.

There may be found among the older
inhabitants of the City front, if one took
the trouble to look them up, few OF the
more weather-beate who, if their men,
ories were logged, would recall the time
when the Yankee clipper ship Vitula ar
rived from New York and anchored abreast
the old Greenwich dock just inside the
rlght-of-way line of the old Sacramento
steamers. She will be better remembered
by the old water-fronters as Christian
ship.
The coming of a religious square-rigger
into San Francisco Bay, flying the stars
and stripes, in those days, was indeed
surprise to the wharf loungers, who up to
this time, had been accustomed to listen
TO woeful tales of brutality from the lips
of incoming sailors, many OF whom
pointed to the cuts and scars upon their
heads and faces, and some there were who
called attention to their broken noses as
proof that they were telling the truth. 1t
mattered little to these rollicking and
happy-go-lucky sons of the sea whether
their smellers had been smashed and their
faces cut IN drunken brawls on shore in
other ports, the Yankee shippers and their
brutal mates were made to shoulder the
blame.
Innocent people, and indeed a good
many OF them, believed the wild tales of
these careless sailors, and all ships that
had the misfortune to fiy the America n
nag were set down as FLOATING hells. ~
Such, however, was not the fact and nearly
all, II not all, of the statements made by
these men were wide of the truth, know
OF my own personal knowledge whereof I
SPEAK ignorant louts, not sailors, circu-
lated cruel and foul ISLANDERS against those
Yankee captains and their American
mates.
1t Is not my purpose here to enter into a
oefense-1or they need none-of the fear
less and gallant sailors who officered those
famous clippers; suffice it to say that
now look back on the years spent on board
those ships as boy and man, before and
aoatt the mast, as being the happiest OF
my active and exciting life
1he Fltula, then, was one of the early
day California full-rigged clipper ships
ana her captain was Yankee. UD TO the
time that he took command of the Vitula
ms reputation was that of q quarterback
devil, who kept his officers and himself
very busy ascertaining which was the
hardest, the heads of his sailors or those
OF the belaylng-pins, and We were told in
New York that we had shipped in a "foat-
ing nell" But our 1nformants were mis-
taken, for to our surprise, instead of belay-
!ng-plns, he pelted US with quotations
from the Bible, ana on Sundays be pray ed
1or our salvation.
The captain carried his wife with him.
She was sweet-faced New England lady,
whose head was covered with a mass OF
auburn hair which hung over her shoul.
ders in ringlets, and her singing at the
Sunday services had indeed charming
effect.
Those of US who lived before the mast
were mixed lot. We were made up of
many nationalities-one Cape Cod Yam
kee, three Irishmen, one Greek, two Eng
lshmen, three Dagoes, eight Dutchmen.
one blue nose from Nova Scotia, six Scan
dinavians, three Portuguese, one Russian
FINN and one Lascar. AS sailors, l think.
we ranked above the average of crews.
Every one among us could take his trick
at the wheel, haul ont a weather caring, fit
q crngle, turn in deadeye, clap on a
throat-seIzlnc, or strap a snatch block.
AT the beginning of the voyage we knew
more about skysail clewlines, royal bunt-
lines, topsail reeftackes and flying lib
downhauls than we did about singing
hvmns, but by the time that we sighted
the Farallon Islands the well-known sea
shanty,
Shake her. wake her. Oh, wake that girl with the
blue dress on,
Was pushed TO one side for
l love Jesus, halleluja
love Jesus, yes do.
In common with others we had heard
about California's golden shores and