The San Francisco call., 1899-01-15

year 1926. The policy consistently pur-
sued by the firm during all these years
has been marvelously SUCCESSFUL. II
has built ships for itself and for no one
else. and has sailed it's own ships over
every sea, thus keeping to 1tsen the
double profits of shipbuilder and SHIP
owner.
Last year when the late war broke
out, the Shenandoah added 10 her Idnle
by being the first ship reported cap
tured by the Spanish. 1t was a Itcn
prize if the Dons had only got 1t. TOT
the cargo of wheat was afterward sold
in Liverpool for nearly $3OO,OOO For
few days all San Francisco was IN con
sternation over the event, ana war
risks went up to an eXtravagant neuIe.
But luckily the report turned out 10 pe
only canard invented by the WheaI
Jobbers to rig the market.
Captain ]. F. Murphy. who was IN
command of the vessel at the time. IS
now in San Francisco, and laughs mer-
rily over the story I'VE never saw d
trace of Spanish ship" he says. "One
morning my son told me he saw cou-
pie of torpedo boats, but they might
have been British or French or any
other nationality, for all we knew"
The captain, who is a typical specl-
men of the American sailor, pohsheo
and courteous in manner IS nlmSei
one of the largest owners or the Shen-
andoah and a member of the firm OF
Arthur Sewall & Co. Eight years ago
he superintended the construction OF
the vessel and is justifiably proud or
his achievement.
Il have sailed her all over the world
he remarked, 'and there is not inner
sailing ship afoat. She is as strong as
an iron vessel and as handy as yacht.
l have never yet seen the weather
which caused us serious trouble, ana
even in the worst Of storms she never
leaks at all.
In one sense it was rather unfortu-
nate for the Shenandoah that she was
such a tight vessel. Had she leaked
a little the inside of her bottom would
have been wet and the water soaked
wood would not have burned. AS 1t
was the timbers were so dry that for
the space of a hundred feet on the port
side just opposite the main hatch, they
burned right through. Even the out
side planking was nearly destroyed,
and but an inch or so of wood saved
the ship from destruction.
I'VE could even see the copper nalls
which fasten on the sheathing, so you
can imagine what close shave 1t was,
explains Captain Murphy. Had the
voyage lasted a week longer she must
have been lost.
Few people realize the immense
thickness of a ship built like the Shen-
IL.
where the fire broke out, the timbers
are of the heaviest possible character.
First there is the ceiling. fourteen
inches in thickness, then the frame
timberS, great pieces or oak eighteen
inches square. Then comes the outside
planking of eight inches, so that alto
gether the fire had to burn through
forty inches of solid timber before the
outside was reached. And If the tlre
had once made ever so small hole in
the outer planking, the coal would have
commenced to drop out into the fath-
omless ocean. The opening thus made
would have rapidly enlarged, the water
would have rushed in, and the vessel
would have foundered.
Probably had these things happened.
the Shenandoah would have gone to
the mythical port of missing ships. and
the catastrophe would never have been
explained. That such an occurrence
should only have been averted by the
merest chance opens up a startling pos
sibility. Many coal-laden ships have
been posted at Lloyd's as missing. and
they may have suddenly foundered
without any one on board knowing the
cause It must be remembered that
no one on the Shenandoah had the
slightest idea she was on fire until the
matches were off and the cargo was be-
ing discharged. Then the smoke burst
forth and for days the harbor tugs
poured water into the vessel. untll Sne
came well nigh settling down in the
mud of San Francisco Bay.
Captain Murphy's theory about the
fire is a very simple one. 1t was
caused, he thinks, by spontaneous COM
bustion induced by damp and pressure.
AS a general rule it is only when coal
Is shipped in a damp condition that
there is much danger of conf1agration
breaking out. But the Shenandoah's s
cargo was shipped in a perfectly dry
state, it did not even rain While 1t was
being taken in at Baltimore. Still all
coal contains a certain percentage Of
moisture. and it is likely that the enor-
NOUS superintendent pressure squeezed
this water to the bottom, where 1t ac-
cumulated in sufficient quantities to
generate heat, which, during the long
voyage through the tropics, became
sufficiently powerful to set the coal
aflame. j. +. ROSE-SOLE1 l.
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