The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-26
CAPTAIN McKEnNA
RETURNED HOME
4 RUINED MAN
Misfortune Pursued
Him for Years.
HE LOST ALL HIS VESSELS
THE FEARLESS ARRIVED LAST
NIGHT WITH NO WHALES.
All Have Words Of the Highest
Praise for the Way Lieutenant
Jarvis Conducted the Re
lief Expedition.

Captain James McKenna returned from
the Arctic last night, after an absence Of
four years, a practically ruined man. Six
years ago he was one of the foremost
owners of whaling vessels in the world,
and ranked second only to the Pacific
Steam Whaling Company. In 1892 began
the series of disasters that have finally
left him without cent, whereas at one
time he could have signed his check for
600 and it would have been honored.
In those days he was considered the luck
lest man in the business and whalers
were tumbling over each other to get
chance to sail in his ships. To-day the
steam whaler Fearless is his in name
only.
In the season of 1892 McKenna mad
in the Arctic the whaling barks Sea
Breeze, James Allen, John P. West,
Northern Light and Hunter, the brig w.
H Meyer and the schooner Bonanza.
These vessels cost him in the neighbour
hood of $780, 900 to fit out. The Sea Breeze
came back with 10000 pounds of bone, the
James Allen with 5000 pounds. The John
p. West was burned at Honolulu, ner
crew having set her on fire. The North
ern Light and w. H. Meyer came back
clean, and the Hunter brought back $4,000
| and the Bonanza $500 pounds of bone.
In 1898 the seasons catch was poor one
and the Sea Breeze was wrecked on the
| Alaska coast Then Mckenn determined to
go steam whaling, and in Norway pur-
chased the Fearless. He and Captain
| John Witham went to Stockholm and
| sailed the vessel to the Arctic. That was
| in 1894, and that year McKenna had only
| fitted out the Reindeer and James Allen.
| The Northern Light and Hunter were in
| Oakland Creek. Misfortune was still
| close on McKenna's heels, however, and
| both the Reindeer and James Allen were
| wrecked.
When the news of these disasters
| reached Mckenna he determined to have
one more try at fortune, SO. with the as
sistance of his friends, he fitted out the
Northern Light. and she sailed for Point
! Barrow on July 3, 1894, in charge of Cap
tain B. Cogan. At the point the Fearless
| joined her, and that year both vessels
wintered in the Arctic.
whale, so the bark was sent home. In
1897, while trying to return to San Fran
cisco, the Fearless with t the the rest OF 1.-The the
vessels helped the crew, of the Fearless
out during the. winter, but the men had
a hard time of 1t, and came back with
| but little money coming to them.
! During Captain McKenna's absence his
creditors took the Northern Light and
ward put on the run to Kotzebue Sound
when the gold discoveries were made
| there.
| The Fearless, the last of the whaling
| fleet to arrive, anchored off Meiggs wharf
| last night, and none Of the men were al
lowed ashore despite the fact that the
|
has a clean bill of health. Captain Nc
/ Kenna is naturally not exactly pleased
with the outcome of his four years cruise.
The officers of the ship who We're en-
ployed on shares of the expected eaten
! return without a cent, but for the last
/ two years the crew has been working on
wages, and each of the forty-three men
has something coming to him, some hav-
| ing as much as $500 to their credit. Cap
tain McKenna spoke in the highest praise
| of the work done by Lieutenant Jarvis
| and Dr. Call of the relief expedition.
| Nothing too good can be said of Lieu
tenant Jarvis and the magnificent work
| he did," said the captain. He was the
right man in the right place. and per-
| formed the duty In a most practical man
ner The mastery way in which he took
charge of the men after he reached US
with all he made no enemies and had the
respect and friendship of every man In
the fleet.
out the cruise. We We're always in the
| wrong place. Innumerable times we struck
! places where whales had been seen in
| plenty just before our arrival, and then
we would learn that after we left they
! had appeared again. The first two years
| out we took six whales, the bone from
| which we sent to San Francisco. The
| next year we stayed out little too late
and were caught in an ice pack off Cape
1 Sabine and had to carry our provisions
/ fifty miles
were but thirty miles from Point Barrow.
! If we had been able to go th1rty-fVe miles
| farther believe that we would have come
| out all right. We had about two months
| provisions at the time. Soon after this
/ the wreck of the Navarch was picked up
| by the natives about twenty miles away
and by trading we secured the provisions
! found on her. When these were about
! gone Lieutenant Jarvis arrived with aid.
! We had enough to eat all the time, but
| made a meal for the forty-three men, and