Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-02-23
BLAME CAPTAIN
FOR ENTERING PORT DURING A
HEAVY FOG.
HE WAS UNABLE TO NAVIGATE,
Ship and Cargo Total Loss-Ovsr One
Hundred Lives Wen Down
Into the Deep.

san Francisco, Feb. ear. p.
s iwerin. Vice president ana general
manager Of the PaciGc Mail Steamship
company. - discuss.rs the loss of the
NO de JdAeiro-- said he thought the
anne was due to Captain Ward in
b'lnslns his vessel in during a fog
flme AMI time again." said Mr..
SehWerin. we have warned our captains
atNcf 10 leave or enter" port during a
1os' 1t Is erroneous 10 think that when
a plot boards It vessel that The captain
has NJ more respon> ,hility A pilot is
simply guide for a captain.
The statements mae to me by Pilot
Jordan indicate thai there was a foe
hanging around the h ads and think
mat undue haste was shown by the cap
tain in bringing his Nesse. in. | cannot
understand Why there should have Been
SO much haste shown. as the vessel Law
outside all night. Captain Ward was
careful officer aNtl / learn that when he
reached Honolulu vi n he Rio he waited
outside the ha" for II hours rather than
taNe amy chances in NE rcugh weather.
OF course he is npt hsre to speak, /
wish that he Mas. fog h was one of our
BEST officer He was brought up in our
service. ana We all feel deeply over his
loss ana Of those o. his comrades.
Cauao: state Xactlv the value OF
the Iti1 De Jsneiro. bar It is between
$>'0.oro AMI Suo,ooo. w have between
100000 AMI S5oooo0 insurance on the
vessel. PAL Of which is carried by insur-
9rer 9'nTarits and part of which We
carry ourselves. Tn valle of her cargo
VS. probably bejWs il $1,000 and $2oo.-
t2o. ! dJ 70 " think she had any amount
Of specie on bo3rd
In response to further questions Nj
SchWern statel that h. did not think
there WAS The slightest chance of rails
ing the vessel.
The wreck Of The R.o de Janairo. which
for Il while hung on 4 pinnacle of the
rock where she struck in the Golden
N"ie, 50 That paris of her upper works
We're visible. soon sill off into deem
water and IS now entirely out of sight.
Fort Point. Where Pilot Jordan claims
the vessel struck marks the narrowest
point % tn entrance to the bay ana is
usually given wide berth by mariners.
lie tide here runs very swiftly. and a.
times has a SWirlin@ notion
Off Fort Point lie several sunken rocks.
forming 4 dangerous lse on the south
EN- edae of ,he fair way channel of the
go den tate but close under the shore
There is a light on top of the fort anu
"a fog bell. but the latter cannot be heard
2 far when a westerly wind is blowing
capt. Frank w. Jcnian. the pilot who
was in charge OF the Rio &c Jarer.-,,
when she went on tn rsef ana sank, is
"a man a little past middle life and has
been a maS,ar mariner on this coast for
over 20 years. He came from the At
lantic coast. Previous to beng appoint
ed pilot. about twelve years ago. Jor
RI in, of -l,a
Bristol ana other Golfers still plying be.
tween this port and Puget sound. He
was a remarkably successful navigator,
and never hefo'ehan any misfortune
He declares that the loss of thesteamer
could not have been foreseen. According
to his story. the vessel drftcd half a
mile broadside in thefog that enveoped
the home bound steamer like a pail, and
no man could have judged either the di-
a'eciion OF the velocity of the invisible
current that changed her course and
Sent hcr ON the Fort Point ledge.
The Rio de Janeil'o has since the year
1880 had "hoodoo on her.
August. 1880, sheNas in coll. sion With
the British steamer bombay and was
severely damaged. This occurred in
Hong Kong ha,bor
In December of 1875 she went ashora
badly damaged that her cargo had to
he discharged ana the vessel locked for
repairs.
In March. 1856, she started from Homo
Iulu for Yokohama. Continuous heavy
weather was encountered. and while the
Japanese coast was still II days away
Ill was found that her coal supply was
about exhausted The vessel was run
back for Honolulu. l-lt before she got
there the cabins ana staterOoms had
been Quilted in order to provide fuel for
The furnaces.
In May lNoS, she co'iided with an un-
known Japanese steamer of Honoma ko,
Japan, but was not seriously DANA gad.
During the past 20 years, the Pacific
Nlail Steamship company has lost 10 of
lis fleet. The list Includes the South-
erner, 'SiVador. Golden Gate. Golden
CRY. America. Guatema+a, Sacramento.
f4oniufaS. Japan. ely Of San Francisco,
Georgia. City of Toxic. San Pa bio, Mica
ragui. City of New York CoEma, Co.
1ulEnia and the City of Rio deJaneiro.