The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-24

Il Ill SAL IANIx
of the boats and similar matters. Pilot
Jordan will be summoned as a witness.
The pilot commissioners. who are
Captain Leale and Messrs. Alexander
and Pratt, VIII hold "A regular meeting
next Monday. but, IN courtesy to the
government officials, the state inquiry
| is always held after that Of the in
soectOrs.
The licenses of Captain Ward. First
Officer Johnson and Second Officer
COghlan were found floating in the bay
near Alcatraz island by Captain Lund-
Quist of the steamer Acme, and turned
over to Captain BOlles-
Fog Hangs Over Wreck.
Rain and fog hang like a pail ove-
the ocean, and during the night
rainstoTm of unusual proportions Wis
tied this vicinity. making the work of
the searchers for the Rios dead a task
of difficulty. Small boats have how
cred around the scene of the wreck for
the past tWenty-fOur hours, and bodies
are frequently seen floating in and out
/ of the harbor with the tide. but the
rOughness of the water greatly binders
/ the work of recovery. If any of the
/ Rios passengers or crew lived on the
water until sunset and had not met
succOr up to that time they must all
have persisted before this, as the
strongest could not live through a night
such as last. 1t is possible that some
of the survivors may have been washed
on the Marion county shore at obscure
points.
Wreckage strews the shore on both
sides of the Golden Gate and beach
| combers and fishermen are reaping 4
harvest.
Captain Ward Blamed.
r. P. Schwerin, vice president and
general manager of the Pacific Mail
steamship company, in discussing the
loss of the Rio de Janeiro, said he
thought the blame was due to Captain
Ward in bringing his vessel in during
a fog.
Time and time again." said Mr..
! Schwerin, we have warned our cap
tains never to leave or enter port dur
ing fog. It is erroneous to think that
| when pilot boards a vessel that the
captain has no more responsibility. A
pilot is simply guide for a captain.
The statements made to me by Pilot
Jordan Indicate that there was a fog
hanging around the heads, and / think
that undue haste was shown by the
captain in bringing his vessel in. I
/ cannot understand why there should
nave been so much haste shown, as the
! vessel lay outside all night. Captain
/ ward was careful officer, and l learn
/ that when he reached Honolulu with
/ the Rio he waited outside the bar for
eleven hours rather than take any
chances in the rough weather
'Of course he is not here to speak.
wish that he was, for he was one of our
| best officers. He was brought I'D in
/ our service and we all feel deeply over
his loss and of those of his comrades
I cannot state exactly the value of
the Rio de JaneiTO, but it is between
So0O,o0O and 5000, 600. We have between
100000 and $500, 600 insurance on the
I vessel part of which is carried by in
surance companies and part Of which
we carry ourselves. The value of the
cargo was probably between $3.50 600
and 5000 900. l do not think she had
any amount of specie on board
in response to further questions Nj
I Schwerin stated that he did not think
/ there was the slightest chance of rails
/ ing the vessel
No Vestige of Wreck insight.3
The wreck of the Rio de Janeiro,
which for awhile hung on a pinnacle
/ of the rock where she struck in the
I Golden Gate. so that parts of her up
per works were visible, soon slid off
! into deep water and is now entirely
/ out of sight.
] Fort Point where the vessel struck.
marks the narrOWeSt point of the en-
trance to the bag and is usually given
wide berth by mariners. The tide
here runs swiftly and at times has a
sWirling motion.
, OFF Fort Point lie several sunxen
rocks, forming a dangerous ledge on
the sOutherly edge of the fair way
channel of the Golden Gate, but close
under the shore There is a light on
( top of the fort and a fog bell, but the
! latter cannot be heard far when q
westerly wind is blowing.
Career of Pilot Jordan.
/ Captain Frederick w. Jordan. the
pilot who was in charge of the Rio de
JaneirO when she went on the reef and
sank. is a man d little past middle life
and has been master mariner on this
/ coast for over twenty ypears. He came
from the Atlantic coast previous to
being appointed pilot about twelve
years ago. Jordan was in command
of the Wellington, Bristol and other
golfers still plying between this point
and Puget Sound. He was a remark
ably successful navigator and never
J before had any notable misfortune.
I He declares that the loss of the
steamer could not have been foreseen.
According to his story the vessel
drifted half a mile broadside in the fog
that envelOped the hOme-bOund steam
er like a pail, and no man could have
judged either the direction or the We
/ lOcity of the invisible current that
changed her course and sent her on
the Fort Point ledge.
Boat Had a Hoodoo.''
/ The Rio de Janeiro has since the
( year 1890 had a "hOOdOO" on her.
} August, 1920, she was in collision
with the British steamer Bombay and
was severely damaged. This occurred
( in HongkOng harbor.
December, 1895 she went ashore at
South KagOshimo. Japan, and was so
/ badly damaged that her cargo had TO
/ be discharged and the vessel locked
for repairs.
March, 1896. she started from Homo
/ lulu for Yokohama Continuous heavy
/ head weather was encountered. and
/ when the japanese coast was still / POO
miles away it was found that there
/ was only $50 tons of coal in the bunk
/ ers- The steamship was run back to
Honolulu, but before she got there the
cabins and state rooms had been gut
/ ted in order to provide fuel for the
/ furnaces.
] May, 1898, she collided with an IN
/ known Japanese steamer off HonOmo-
/ ko, Japan, but was not seriously dam
! aged.
During the past fifty years the Pa
cifiC Mail Steamship company has lost
nineteen of its fleet. The list includes
the Southerner, Salvador, Golden Gate,
Golden City, America, Guatemala,
; Sacramento, Honduras, Japan, City of
/ San Francisco. Georgia, City of Toxic.
/ San Pablo, Nicaragua. City of New
/ York, COlima. Columbia, and the City
/ of Rio de JaneirO
The laundering of the Rio de Janeiro
did not result in the greatest loss of
1 life 0f the 200 Y1aSCpOoraTS on 10