The record-union., 1899-01-23
A Naphtha Launch Run Down BY the
:'sfryhsat Oakland.
The Graft Immediately Sinks, Carrying
One Of Her Passengers.
Another Man Struck by the Bow Of
the Oakland and So Badly In
jured That He Died Shortly
After Being Removed to the Re-
ceiving Hospital.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22.-The
naphtha launch William D. was run
down and sunk by the steam ferry boat
Oakland in the bay to-day. Two lives
were lost, and three other persons were
rescued with difficulty. The dead are:
J. Otis Wattles, student of the Uni
versity of California, son of San
Francisco broker.
Frank E. Orr of this city.
The former disappeared when the
launch went down, and his body has
not been recovered Orr was struck
by the bow of the ferry boat and in
jured so severely that he died soon af-
ter being removed to the Receiving
Hospital
The others on the launch at the time
of the disaster, all of whom were res
cued, were Joseph Matthews, marine
engineer, and one of Lloyds' surveyors; !;
Charles c. Finn and Captain Christof-
ferson, the latter being in command of
the craft
The circumstances attending the ac-
cident involve another tragedy of the
bay, as the party on the launch were
in search of boat containing two men
supposed to have been drowned. These
are William Seabury, son of Captain
Seabury of the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company's steamer China, and Edward
J. Finn, who started out last Friday in
a small boat on a duck hunting expe-
dition. AS they failed to return, their
friends chartered the William D., and
had just started on their mission of
rescue from the Folsom-street wharf,
when the ferry boat Oakland was seen
approaching The launch was headed
for Goat Island, and was crossing the
Oakland's bow, as it is claimed was it's
right, when the big steamer ran 1t
down. 1t was badly stove in, and went
to the bottom almost Immediately, and
it is considered remarkable that all
on board did not perish. Wattles.
who was apparently stunned by the
shock of collision, went to the bottom,
but the others were picked up, Orr,
whose injuries proved fatal, being the
only one seriously hurt
Later in the day the boat in which
Seabury and Finn went hunting was
found bottom up off Red Rock, near the
mouth of the Sacramento River, and it
is believed that both men have been
drowned.
Contradictory stories are told about
the collision. The people who were on
the William D. state positively that the
Oakland ran them down. The Cap
tain and mate of the ferryboat say the
William D. ran into them.
I'VE had run about $50 yards from
our slip, and the boat had not gathered
full headway when the accident oc-
Cured" said First Mate Douglas of the
Oakland. II noticed that the launch
was getting very close to US, and spoke
to the Captain about. / then blew the
danger signal and reversed the engines,
but. before we could gather stern-way
the William D. struck us. The paint
on our hull forward of the paddle-b box
was scraped off when she struck us,
and 1 think that as all the damage
done the Oakland. We got our boat out
as quickly as possible, and did every
thing we could to save life"
Captain Clairville of the Oakland con-
firms the mates statements, but the
survivors of those on the launch say
they had the right of way, and the
ferry yboat was clearly to blame for the
disaster.