The San Francisco call., 1898-05-12
GETTING READY
 FOR MANILA Ohio and Connemaugh Added to the Fleet of
 Troopships. Will Carry Men and Provision to the Aid of Admiral
 Dewey.
Work on tho Australia, City of Peking and City of Sydney Is Being
 Rushed.

The steamers Ohio and Connemaugh, which arrived from the East few days ago for the Klondike trade, have been chartered by the Government, and will
 carry soldiers and stores to Manila The
 Ohio can easily be fitted out for troops.
 but the chances are that the Connemaugh
 will be used as a storeship. The work of
 discharging both of them was going on with a rush all of yesterday, and the chances are that both of them will be ready to go into commission to-day. The Australia was taken to the Union Iron Works yesterday and put on the drydock. A gang of carpenters are at
 work on her, putting up hunks and fitting
 her up for the trip to the Philippines.
 She will come off the drydock to-day, and the work of coaling will begin as soon as she Is docked at Pacific-street wharf. The work of discharging the City of Picking was to have been finished Tuesday night, but 1t was not until yesterday
 evening that the work was completed. | The big steamer will be drydocked at l Hunters Point and 1t will probably be Tuesday next before she Is ready to sail. There was a change about in the officers
 on the steamers City of Sydney and San l Jose yesterday. The Sydney is being
 made ready as quickly as possible to go
 to the Philippines with troops, and as | Captain Mclean and Chief Officer Kilt would rather remain on the Central
 American run, they have been transferred
 to the San Jose. Captain Pillsbury and | Chief Officer Connors of the San Jose
 will take the City of Sydney to Manila. Admiral Miller raised his flag on the | Monterey yesterday. Until cruiser ar rives in port the coast defense steamer | will act as flagship.
 | Island dispatch-boat, were feeling quite happy yesterday: For more than three
 weeks they have been working nights lay ! ing torpedoes in the harbor and about | the entrance The work was not only
 tedious but dangerous. and the men are | glad it is over. Only dark nights were | and dark lanterns only were used.
 The schooner John D. Tallant was run | into by the river steamer Modoc yesterday | and considerably damaged. She was to l have sailed for the Amoor River to-day
 with a cargo valued at ss5,397, but it will take couple of days to make the neces- | sary repairs. The flood tide carried the l steamer against the schooner with suf- 1 ficient force to carry away the cathead | and considerable portion of the port | railing, besides some of the bulwarkS. Henry Trattan was nearly killed on the British ship Port Logan yesterday. He
 was down in the hold shoveling coal, when l a black diamond fell from the ascending | bucket and struck him on the head. He | was not stunhed by the blow, but as his l head was cut, his companions decided to | take him to the Harbor Receiving Hos pital. Trattan walked from Green
 street wharf to the hospital, and there
 Drs. Hartley and Green found his skull was fractured and that trepanning was necessary in order to save his life. Frat 1 tan is now doing as we'll as can be ex- pected.
 l Frederick Becker an elderly man, was struck by a Sacramento-street car and l badly bruised, besides receiving internal l injuries yesterday. He was treated at | the Harbor Receiving Hospital.
 | The lighthouse inspector notifies marin
 CTS that the Mile Rock bellbuoy is not
 sounding and that it will be put in order | as speedily as possible.
 | The bark Northern Light started for Kotzebue Sound yesterday afternoon, but
 was stopped off Meiggs wharf by the
 revenue cutter Golden Gate. Owing to l passenger accommodation having been l built on deck, the vessels tonnage had l been increased, and Captain Whiteside l failed to notify the Custom-house of the | fact It was proved to the satisfaction
 of the Collector that the. matter was an | oversight, so the bark and her passengers were allowed to proceed, and she will be
 resurveyed upon her return.