The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-02-23
Officers OF Oriental Liner Tell Some
Interesting Facts,
TRAFFIC IN OREGON FLOUR
ruglaud's Strategy in the Coal Market %
Political Aspect 10 Chiua-lap Soldiers
-imuSiaO lneidsutS On loyass

tonnage or s0t. with a carrying capacity
NJ StO tons dead weight and ;Nn toms
\ larye triple expansion
engine drives the propeller Two biz ma-
r,ne boilers heated 10y battery OF SiN
furnaces furnish tho necessary steam
power. ON the main deck u large tur-
mace and boiler supplies the steam for
the four winchts aud hcating apparatus,
The vessel was built IN iNG and has all
modern convcnicucys. The bridge pilot
house ana chart house. above the officers
Quarters. are amldships, The steering ap-
ptraus Is steam. with patent return sig
nal system. Every late invention ior taxi
ins observations and calculatiug deVio-
lions of the compass Is employed, and a
number of protected compasscs and i've
chronomcters arr the property ot the
shin. ON the main deck. just below the
chart house and bridge. are the officers
saloon and quarters. which are commo.
dious and handsomely appointed. An up
right piano. pictures books, guitar, hute.
mandolin. bcspeak the literary and mu-
steal tastes OF these men who traverse
the deep sea in the interest OF commerce.
All ~ the officers of the Mogul are Young
men of more than the average ability.
and are enthusiasts IN their work. Fona
OF sport and exercise. when ashore they
ride their bicycles. which they carry With
them. or bowl cooked hat which has been
their principal amusement al FlaVcl dur
Ing the past few days while the ship was
coalng The following are the officers
OF the Mogul:
Cppnin-W Il. Wright
Chief niicer-C n. Butler.
Doctor-L. Colquhoun Adam.
Second otiicer-A r. Gill
Third ofiicer-W +. Norman
Fourth ofiicer-T Ecsten.
Purscr-E. +. Whistler
chief Engineered. Wells,
Second engineer-J. w Welton.
Third engineer-J. Wood.
Fourth engineer-Alan Harker.
Inc crew is composed Of g Chinancn
and Japs.
The Mogul sailed saturday. having on
board something over i00 tons of Oregon
-four and Texas cotton.
Speaking OF his last voyage from the
Orient. via Honolulu. and the exciting
incidents in the FAR east. captain Wright
said TO an Astorian representative. just
before sailing saturday that before start
ing on the voyage east they took native
coal at Mole. Japan. at a cost Of 80
,Mexicans) per ton. and that the price OF
coal is advancing, having doubled since
the Chinese war. The steamer DuIns ~
tons Of Japanese coal each q hours ana
but % tons OF Welsh coal. but the Welsh
coal costs IS per ton in the east and hns
all been purchased by the British navy.
as It is the only coal they can use. we
furnish men. wages and grub on the ship,
and our charterers, the Northern Pacific
Railroad Company, which has placed US
in the y. z. 4 y. line, furnish the fuel.
You may be sure they are utilizing US to
the greatest advantage OF the commerce
of the Columbia river. and even Eivr US
local business between Hong Kong anu
Yokohama. We lose no time at either end
Of the route.
you may add In regard to the coal
matter which Is now an important one
In the east. that Sir Arthur II. Sey mour
yice-admiral OF the yellow sea naval sta
ton. brother OF Cullum Seymour, OF the
Mediterranean station. mas bought up all
the coal He understands the eastern
business. Opposing fleets cannot move
without coal. and can only Sc, II by ap-
plying TO Great Britain.
There Is a general impression that Rus
sla does not wait to fight the British
ships A Russian officer admitted that
to us. one Of the japanese papers says
that the difference between the Russian
and British fieets is that while their bat
tie ships might sink together Great Bri-
tain could build new ones as fast as the
old ones we're destroyed. and Russia could
not. Britain, the United States, Japan
ana India would win against the world
i'm .he east Japan could throw 2j0,Oa
troops into the field to augment her navy
AS we left Hong Kong the new British
truisar Powerful had Just arrived from
Singapore in three and onc-nalf days
against a strong monsoon. This was a
remarkable voyage, as It usually takes
seven days.
We had 90 japanese passengers foT
Honolulu. ostensibly destined for the gu
gar plantations, hut they are said to bios
som into soldiers on arrival There were
men and women and were a curious
crowd They are great on bathing ana
every day men and women lined up on
deck and took their turn in the tub In All
kinds Of weather. The tub held about
ig people. all were stark naked, the mer
standing by waiting for the women t.
finish. as uncOncerned as II at home on
the banks Of their native streams or IN
tho public bath houses which are uscc
by both sexes.
I'VE had much nasty weather and
think in the past Y months we have moi
seen Y days Of pleasant weather.
"On our last voyage from here We har
1890 tons Of -four and were bcsicged by
importers begging for American -four
Some Of them were pitiful in their ap.
peals. The Chinese are waking mp 10 the
value of -four as an article of food anC
the trade is increasing.
u want TO say one thing, that Captain
Pcase, the river pilot. who handled oul
shin to Portland on all our visits hcr'
fs one OF the best naylpatcrs Of Ions
shin in crooked channel ! ever had th'
pleasure Of meeting"
DR.. Adam, the ships surgeon. a. grad
uate in Edinburgh, says that there s.
much excitement in the Orient over th'
political situation. Influential Chnamer
say that they hope Great Britain vii
have finger in the pie They seem tc
realize that they are on the "crge Of dis
mcmberment. IN Yokohama things arc
very lively, but the people have no money
and many banks have failed. The Japl
seem to believe that crisis IS cominl
and are not 80 fresh as they were righ
after the war. All the Indemnity money
received from China IS gone and The peo
pie apparently don't know where 1t wen
to. There may be radical change In th'
situation when We reach there again"
| Truth. by whomsoever spoken, come
] fs In Oh