The Washington times., 1901-10-20
THE TWIN CAPTAINS.
Two Sen Dogs Who Greatly PerpIex
Shipping Men.

Twentv-sfx signal tiags were strung
from the tops of the four tall masts to the
deck Of the new four ITdsted schooner
William II. Ycrkes which arrived in port
Tuesday from Washington. The schooner
was dressed in honor of her maiden voy-
age and the flags are the first set of the
new international code seen in this port.
The Yerkcs is in charge OF Capt Millard
+. Wade, and has a capacity of 800 tons.
She is 222 feet long, 50 feet inches wide,
and % feet inches depth of hold. She
registers l,2l tons net and llgS tons
gross. The vessel was built at Thomas
ton. Ne, aud was launched August 81,
and cost $76 500. The vessel made smart
run down the coast with $500 tons OF ice.
She was but five days from Maine to
Washington. d. G.. and was taken in tow
of Smith Point by the Washington tug
William II. Yerkes. jr. The schooner is
named after the father and the tug after
the son, who was a passenger on the
coaster.
There are other odd similiarities in
names connected with the vessel. as
Capt. Millard Wade is a brother of Capt.
Willard Wade twins, Of whom only two
men in the shipping world can tell who's
who. Capt Millard Wade says the model
Of his schooner, the William II. Yerkes.
is the same in eyery detail as that OF his
brothers schooner, the Thomas 5. Den
nsou. The shipping interests distinguish
the two masters as Captain Wade, OF the
Thomas S. DeHnison. and Captain Wade
Of the William II. Yerkes. Their Christ
ian names are generally omitted, and the
names of the vessels they command are
used instead to designate one from the
Nt..
same time. as happened here recently,
confusion follows. They come from Wal
dorborough. Me, and are typical down
East shippers. dressing exactly alike
and having the same mannerisms and
same Maine dialect When they walk
Gay Street together those having busi-
ness with them stand off and wait until
they separate, fearing to approach the
wrong skipper and waiting for a clue to
the identity Of one or the other.
When both were here recently the cap
tains had different ship chambers The
miX-up was continuous. one brother has
often had TO listen to the business trans
actions of the other brother. Whlle in
Washington a party Of ladies went aboard
a vessel of one of the brothers to inspect
the ship. They had a pleasant time, but
they met the Captain Wade that they
did not know.
Some time ago the twins came here in
the same vessel, one as master ana the
other as mate. seaman accused the
mate OF assaulting him, and swore out
warrant for his arrest The twins heard
of the movement At sea the captain
wears shore clothing, while the mate is
dressed in working clothes. When the
policeman and the seaman came aboard
TO make the arrest, both captain ana
mate were dressed in their Sunday best.
The seaman stood dumbfounded, as ne
could not tell one from the other. and
no arrest was made. Not long since the
brothers were together at their nome. IN
a new suit OF clothes. in different South
ern ports. They had never been worn
and by a strange coincidence both men
put on the new suits on the same DAY
were startled to see suits of the same
style. color. and cut.-Baltimore Ameri-
can.