The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-03
ExCURSION|STS
!. ON THE HOMER
IN DISTRESS
The Yacht Sappho to
;. the Rescue.
'FARRAGUT FAILED AGAIN
HER AIR PUMPS GAVE OUT AT A
= :: CRITICAL MOMENT.
More Trouble for the Ship Republic.
She Was Compelled to Put
Into Sydney, N. S. W.,
Leaking.
FARRAGUT FAILED AGAIN
HER AIR PUMPS GAVE OUT AT A
- = CRITICAL MOMENT.

The cleverest piece of seamanship seen
on the bay in a long time was the rescue,
few days ago, of an excursion party on
the gasoline launch Homer by the crew of
/ the yacht. Sappho. 1t was blowing a
strong. breeze and over toward the Ala
media shore heavy sea was running.
the Homer,s party. consisting Of nine
men and women, went out early in the
day and. started for home as soon as it
began TO blow. Just when it was most
wanted the steering gear got out Of order
and the launch began to leak. All kinds
of eXpedients were resorted to to make
land. The ladies loaned their skirts to
make sails and a 3ablecloph, with a red
table napkin pinned in the lower corner,
was flown as a signal of distress. The
skirts were not strong enough to stand
the breeze and had to be taken down to
prevent being torn to pieces.
Then the men tried making a mainsail
by. sewing their coats together, but that
rag. only served to keep the boat steady
and. was not. enough to get any Roadway
on her In this way four hours were
l:passed, and as during the whole of that
time the. ladies had been baling out the
boat, the joy they: felt when the Sappho
came bearing down on them can be i'm
agined.
/. Captain L. Haven had seen the. signal
/ of distress while he was making for the
/. Sail set The yachts course was changed
and abe bore down on the shipwrecked
excursiontsts. The first line thrown from
the: Sappho the men on the launch failed
to catch, owing to the manner in which
both boats were pitching. The yacht had
therefore to- fill away and make another
tack In order to try again. This time the
line; was caught and made fast. Then the
Sappho was headed for Oakland Creek
and in, half an hour the rescued party
was ashore. Captain Haven did not wait
/ for thanks, but as soon as he saw them
to a place of safety put about and made
for home.
was out on her official trial trip yester-
day. and for time surpassed all expecta-
tons, During her warming up she sped
up and down the front like a deer, but
when 1t came to the actual test she set
tied down TO work and reeled off the
record breaking knots with ease. On her
yesterday she made fully 80 knots for
forty-two minutes, and then the air
pumps got out of order and the trial had
to be stopped. 1t was a great disappoint-
ment to everybody on board, as the build
ers were confident the test would 20 off
without a hitch. The vessel was taken
back to the Union Iron Works and will
be made ready for another trial in a few
days.
There was nearly a collision between
the Farragut and. ferry-boat Oakland.
The latter did not figure on the speed of
the former, and got in her way. In con-
sequence the Farragut's course had to be
cffanged IN order 10 avoid a disaster
The bark Hayden Brown has been p,r-
chased by Captain Charles Nelson and
will probably be put in the sugar trade.
The bark came from the East here with
a. party of Klondikers and made one trip
to- ST. Michael. She is now on Puget
Sound and will load coal at Departure
Bay for this port. Captain Tyson, former
ly of the steamer Cleveland, has gone
north to take command of the bark
The Oceanic Steamship Company's mail
steamer Marfposa will sail for Australia
with every ounce of cargo she can carry
and every passenger she can accommo-
date. Turner patent hunks have been
fitted up in the Railways for fifteen cabin
passengers who can secure no other sleep
Ing accommodation These hunks can be
fitted up at night in five minutes and
taken down in less time than that in the
The r iss'i Ship Republic, from Newcastle.
Australia, for Honolulu with a cargo of
coal, has been compelled to put into Sgd
ney, n. S. w, leaking.
The Republic sailed from Port Towns
end in November, 1897. for Australia with
a load of lumber, and three weeks later
put into San Francisco In distress. She
had been In a heavy storm and was leak
ing badly. The captain at first refused TO
make for San Francisco, but as he found
that the vessel made more water the more
sail was put OH her, and the rudder head
being damaged, he decided to put in here.