The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1899-04-29

weeks; and Ramirez has twice tried 10
charter her for quick run 10 Hong
Kong in that time. The Countess
would easily make Guajan and Hong
Kong. out of Manila, in 10 days At the
outside, allowing day and half to
load az the island. II we needed II.
Then we could reach Saigon In five
days more. and turn her over TO the
government in time TO make the Mes
ageries connection all right"
what would IL cost to charter herr"
"Well. probably a little more than
what the compania pays. She'll regis
ter over 5000 tons, gross, and can do
IA knots when she wants to; that's
pretty stiff 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 a
month. ! guess we could have her at
$4,000. easy enough"
ANY expenses besides that|'
"Of course there are. Coal bills. at
least $4,000 a month. II you keep SHOW
ing Ia knots out OF her. She'll burn
over 80 tons a day at that speed, and
you can't get decent. free burning coal
In Manila for less than eight dollars.
Then there are port charges, consuPs
fees, demurrage and numerous incl
dentals, all of which fall upon the
charterer. The owner pays the sal
aries OF officers and crew. repairs and
the special expenses OF the ship"
$50 that we'd blow in the whole
twenty thousand on the mere use of
! the steamer for a month";"
"H'm.well, at least eighteen. I should
say. A 3,000-ton yacht is pretty ex-
pensive luxury; and she'd be practi-
cally nothing more than yacht for
our purpose. There's no cargo at
! Guajan worth handling"
Seems TO me a steamer ought to be
pretty good investment"
THAT depends n great deal upon the
cargo and the time of year she's in
commission. Freights are so low at
present that half OF them don't pay
expenses; still, the tramps that make
over 10 knots are doing most of the
business, and at something OF a
profit"
"Dick. we've got 10 buy the Countess;
that's what we've got 10 do. How
much would Ramirez take for herr"
"Hml she cost $4,000 10 build on
the Clyde, and she's as good a com
pound tramp as there is on salt wa
ter. But the triple expansion boats
that they're turning out carry more
cargo with less coal. and he couldn't
begin 10 get that for her now. If we
were 10 offer 500. 000-$l0.000 down
and the balance within six months
and he were satisfied as to our respon-
sibility, / think he'd let us have her."
Then well take her. If 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; we'll pay
them few thousand rather than have
any hitch about it. Say IS days from
now; how would that do? VIII you be
able TO manage it, and beat the padre
for that length Of timer"
"Y-e-s, that's fairly safe. No matter
what he may discover, IL will be i'm
possible for him 10 head you off in
Manila this trip; and when we own the
ship the passenger list will be as linn
tied as the mail contract. Then. again
you'll have an entirely new crew, regu.
larly shipped for our own voyage. by
the way, why did you speak of making
Hong Kong first?"
Because the Hong-Kong a. Shang
hal Banking corporation will undoubt.
edly be able 10 handle the silver for
us. They have capital of ten millions
reserve fund of four and half. and
Mexican dollars, coined even as far
back as 100, are the current medium
OF exchange in China to-day. Any,
where else the discount on silver-es
pecially old silver-would be so heavy
that we'd have 10 sell the stuff 10y
weight; so we would get more for then
on the Chinese coast than in any other
locality"
Guess you're right. Ididn't think o
that. Now, how about getting IL or
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 bay?'
Don't believe there's one. Even tn,
lianakas that Sebnstiano brough
down on the big proa walk over (,
town as soon as they've made fast FOL
the night. and those who belong II
Agat sail away up to the neck of th'
peninsula. so they'll only have a mil,
10 tramp"
: That's what thought. You've no
ticed the stone building and sheds be
longing &c the harbormaster. haven
you?-about 500 yards from the land
ing pier at Punta Piti?"
ION the road 10 Agana? Yes. fire
quently."
, We'll, have you also seen the big 10
I OF copra. in bags, under another she,
, about half way between them and tn
| pier?"
II remember the bags, but | didn'
1,t 1t