The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-03-09
MEN DISTRUST
The CAPTAIN
-
Peculiar Reason for Sailors
Deserving Ship.
-a=aaaaa-ss
SAY HE IS INCOMPETENT
Men Leave County OF LlnllthgOw and
VIII Never Ship Again With
It's Master.
SAY HE IS INCOMPETENT

Six able seamen of the crew OF the
British ship County Of Linllthgow.
which arrived Thursday evening from
Kobe, Japan, dcg"fwi vest rday and
VIII libel the vessel today for wages
dur. The reason for breaking their
shipping articles ~ one Of the strnng
cot that has turned up In this port for
many day. According 10 the story
told by John III be, Captain SIoark. the
master Of the ship. ls not competent 10
BE- second mate Of rowling machine
much lehs In supreme command Of a
deep sea vessel The men make no COM
plant Of ~ treatment or insufficient food
nA their reason Tor dcserting, the only
allegation being The gross incOmpetency
of the skipper AID their fear % 10 10
sea with him again with any certainty
~ seeing lana on the other side.
According 10 the story told by klebe.
who acts ~ spokesman for the men,
the County ~ l.nli,hgow lrft Sew York
Tor Japan win cargo ~ oh. After
dischnrRlng at Kobe. klcbc says, the
captain sold an the boards. that had
bton usrl Tor boxing In the cargo to
prevent II shifting In n rolling SEA. 20
the Jnpancse for nrewODd Ballast
was then dumped into the hold In
three places and no efrort b'ing made
10 distribute 1t equally 1t remained Ia
three piles. aa put on board by the
stcvclores The rest " the story Is
tod as klcbc related II last night 10
reporter for the Ast0rinn;
The nand furnished at Kobe for bal
last II of peculiar sort and can make
great amount ~ trouble IN a gale
unless II II properly distributed ana nee
csmfy precautions taken 20 prevent II
iron shifting The shifting boards
used on the trip we're gone, no orders
were given - attcEd 10 the ballast and
II vas allowed to move unrestricted
with the movement OF the ship For
forty eight hours after leaving port We
had steady northwest wind which
held VS. 10 our course. Then the breeze
frcshenrd though not enough To worry
the ship II she hdd been properly han
died. shortly before midnight the main
lower topsall was carried away. The
vessel vas hove 10. all hands ordered
IN deck and the captain directed that
the fore lower topsau and the mizZen
lower topsail b. cut away. The lUss
Of the canvas put the vessel In the
trough Of the sea where she lay broad
tldc on. The continual rolling resulted
In the ballast shifting TO the starboard
and the ship lay ever on her beam
ind. the Epnrs were under water. and
with every wave the peril Of the situa-
ton increased.
Il crawlpd aft to tind the captain and
ask for orders 10 right the ship. He
waH on the poop deck but neither he
nor the first mate seemed To know what
to do. The youngest officer uf the ship.
the second mate. Ave members OF the
crew ana the cook then took II upon
themselves to do what was possible.
We went into the hold and found the
sand all on the starbOard side. There
WAS absolutely nothing that we could
use for shifting boards so we wrenched
the between deck hatches from their
faNenngs These were lashed to the
stnnchons and for seventy-two hours
we worked 20 get the ballast into po-
slllon 20 right the ship. Sails were
bent on and the ship proceeded.
"Twenty-four hours after the work
was inisaed the captain came down
To look at II and protested that the
flooring out Of the ballast would set
the ship so low In the water that she
would roll out her masts AS there was
no other way OF disposing u the ballast
he acted on our suggestion and the
ship remained on an even keel For a
fortnight everything ran smoothly.
Then another blow came up the cap
tain became alarmed ordered In all sail
and we scudded under bare poles. As
matter of fact the wind at no time was
sufficiently strong To be threatening.
We swung around into the trough OF
the sea and for forty-eight hours rolled
hclpleesly with the waves. Owing TO
the confinement Of the ballast the ship
on even keel and when the
wind abated short sail was ordered up
and we proceeded to the Columbia
river.
Another instance OF the captains in
occurred when trying to
take a pilot aboard. He came down
to the bar under full sail and the pilot
schooner was unable TO overtake us.
The captain cried to the men on the
watch that he was unable to stop the
ship and bee lme angry when It was
suggested TO him that he back the
yards. Finally. however, he did so and
after an hour and a half spent In chas-
Ing, the pilot boarded the ship"
According to the captains statement
in the evening papers he lost an an
chor In the storm Thursday night while
In the lower harbor. Klebe states that
the anchor was dropped while the ship
was making eight knots an hour and
the cable parted owing to the terrific |
strain. It Is remarkable. according to |
Klcbe's statement. that the forward |
plates We're not pulled out OF the ship. |