The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-03-21
THE SERIOUS PLIGHT OF A BIG
STEAMER.
Three of Her Crew Travel 800 Miles III
a Small Boat to Get Assistance From
Maui.

The steamer Cleveland, Captain Kilt
gard, is adrift with a broken shaft,
several hundred miles from Maui. She
was bound for San Francisco with a.
full cargo of sugar from Kahului when
she was rendered helpless by the break
ing of the shaft. One of her boats, with
three men, started for Maui to get as
sistance, and at last reports was forty
miles away from Maui, south by east.
Where the steamer is is not easy to
say, and it will be no easy matter TO
find her.
The news of the Cleveland's plight
was brought here by the steamer Eric,
which arrived this morning off the har-
bor stopping here on her way to Japan,
on account of the illness of the captain s
wife. Yesterday the Eric spoke a small
boat forty miles from Maui. There were
three men in it. They informed Cap
tain Roos of the Eric, that they were
from the Cleveland, and were going to
Maui to get assistance for the steamer,
which had broken her shaft, and was
practically helpless in the open sea.
The men in the boat stated that the
Cleveland, when they left her, was 800
miles north northwest of the island of
Maui. The little boat had Travelled 2SO
miles of the journey to Maui, a trip
that must have required several days,
so that the Cleveland must have moved
good deal since she was last located.
She has two yards and can put UP a
little SAIL but not enough to control
her movements. If she lost her pro-
peller as she would if her shaft broke
near the end, she could be more easily
controlled with sails than with the pro-
peller dragging astern.
The Cleveland left Kahului on the
18th, it is thought. She had 1900 bags
of sugar on board. She was about two
days distant from port when the small
boat left her, so that it would seem that
the accident must have occurred on the
14th, and the little boat must have
been six days on the way when it was
spoken by the Eric. If this is the case,
the Cleveland had time to drift long
way before any assistance could go 10
her, and her plight is very serious. If
she was directly in line on the San
Francisco route she might be picked up
by the Australia.
Captain Saunders of the pilot house,
thinks it likely, in view of the weather
that has prevailed, that the Cleveland
is northwest of Maui instead of north
east. The news of her difficulty was
| communicated to him by the captain of
the Roos.
The Cleveland has something of a
| reputation as hoodoo. She has been
in a number of scrapes, and has been
the subject of much controversy as 10
her fitness for sea.
During the Civil War the Cleveland
was a blockade runner, and was cap
tured on one of her trips to Charles
ton. She was built in 1861, and has
seen service of all kinds, all over the
world. Her name has been changed
many times Lately she was used as a
| transport for the Philippines, after a
lot of controversy as to whether she
was seaworthy
Alexander & Baldwin began to look
for a steamer to send after the Cleve-
land as soon as they received news OF
her plight. The search for her may be
long job, and only the largest of the
| island steamers are fit for the work
The Kinau or Claudine are best fitted
for the contract. The Claudine has been
at Maui, and may possibly have gone
on the search already, though she very
likely left for Honolulu before the three
men from the Cleveland got there.
The steamer with her cargo of sugar
| is worth over hundred thousand dol
lars, SO that there is big salvage IN
the job for any steamer that picks hel
up. The Australia would probably re-
fuse to tow her as taking tow would
be a violation of the mail contract.