The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1899-09-14

Kong. out OF Manila. In 10 days at the
outside, allowing a day and a half to
load at the island. II we needed Il.
Then we could reach Saigon In Ave
days more. and turn her over to the
government In time TO make the Mes.
ageries connection all right"
"What would II cost to charter herr
swell. probably a little more than
what the compania pays. She'll regis
ter over 5000 tons. gross, and can do
II knots when she wants to; that's
pretty stin travelling for compound
engines OF this size. But the govern
ment don't care for more'n ten knots;
so they pay Ramirez a. Co. $500 n
month. ! guess We could have her at
$4,000. easy enough"
ANY expenses besides that?"
"Of course there are. Coal bills, Mt
least $4,000 n month. u you keep show
ing ~ knots out Of her. She'll burn
over 30 tons day at that speed. and
you cant get decent, free. burning coal
In Manila for less than eight dollars.
Then there are port charges, consul's
fees, demurrage and numerous Incl.
dentals. all Of which fall upon the
cbarterer. The owner pays the sal.
aries OF officers and crew, repairs and
the special expenses OF the ship"
so that we'd blow in the whole
| twenty thousand on the mcr. use of
| the steamer for n month";"
"H'm,well, at least eighteen. ! should
say. A 3,000.ton yacht Is n pretty ex.
pensive luxury; and she'd be practi.
cally nothing more than a yacht for
our purpose. There's no cargo at
Gunjan worth handling"
Seems to me a steamer ought 20 be
"a pretty good investment"
THAT depends "A great deal upon the
| cargo and the time OF year shes In
comhiission. Freights are so low nt
present that half OF them don't pa,
expenses; still, the tramps that make
over ~ knots are doing most of the
business, and at something of
profit"
Dick, we've got to buy the Countess;
that's what we've got to do. How
much would Ramirez take for herg"
HIN! she cost $1,000 10 build on
the Clyde, and she's ms good a com.
pound tramp ms there Is on salt wa.
ter. But the triple expansion boats
that they're turning out carry more
cargo with less coal. and he couldn't
begin to get that for her now. five
were 10 offer 500. .O00-siO 900 down
and the balance within six months
and he were satisfied as to our rcspon.
sibility, ! think he'd let us have her"
Then we'll take her. II you don't
care about the investment I'll buy her
myself. Now, how soon can you get
back TO Agana?"
I'D want at least six days in Manila
to discharge, coal up and settle mat.
ters with Ramirez. The government
may kick little II they want the
steamer for another trip, but guess
the old man can fix that: weli pay
them a few thousand rather than have
any hitch about IL. Say Is days from
now; how would that do? viii you be-
able to manage IT, aud beat the padre
for that length of time?"
Yes. that's fairly safe. No matter
what he may discover, IL will b. i'm
possible for him To head you of IN
Manila this trip: and when wr own ,h.
ship the pnsscnp,r lis, will IA, IA. Inn.
tied as the mail contract. Then u,nir
you'll have an entirely new crew. r.yu.
larry shipped for our own yoyovc By
the way, why did YOU sp,ak Of making
Hong-Kong drstP"
Because the Hong. Kong g. shnng.
hal Banking corporation will undoubt-
cdly be able to handl. the silver for
us. They have IA capital of ten millions
n reserve fund OF four and n bnIf. ond
Mexican dollars. coined even ms fur
back ms 100. are the current medium
OF exchange in China today. ANY.
where else the discount ON ,ilyer--rs.
pccially old siivcr--would he so b.o,y
that we'd have TO sell the stuff by
weight: so we would ge, NOR. for them
on the Chinese CONS, than In ,,y o,h.r
locality"
Guess you're right. Ididn't think of
that. Now, how about getting Il on
board without showing what the car
go really is?"
"Well, let's see. Have you noticed
whether any OF the fishermen STAY
over night around Apra bnyY
Don't believe there's one. Even the
Kannkas that scbastiaro brourh,
down on tn. big proa walk over ,o
town ~ soon us they've made fas, for
the night. and those who belong In
Agat saii away up to the meek of ,h,
peninsula. so ihcy'Il only have n mill,
to tramp"
That's what I thought. you',. p,.
ticed the stone building and sheds he. |