The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-30

we were lying III tiit StiCdlIl dl tIlS
time that the Fearless took hold of us.
We had a stern line out attached to
| the Encore, and we had had a forward
line attached to the buoy. the buoy
which lies between the Oceanic wharf
and the railway wharf.
1.-The Fearless took hold of US and
started to take us along out of the har-
bar at one fell swoop. The line at
tached was one hundred fathoms long.
but that seemed to make no difference
to the tug. She started to yank us out
of our position in naval row, and take
us out of the harbor, evidently without
any allowance for the room that we
would need in which to turn A yes
sci of the size of the Willard cannot
turn in her own length. The captain
Of the Fearless did not seem to think
of this. He ordered the stern line of
the vessel to be let go, and then he
|started ahead at full speed"
Although we had the helm hard
down, it was of no use. AS I said be-
fore, we could not turn in our own
length, and the result OF the vigor-
GUS pulling of the Fearless was that
we headed directly for the Inter-Island
steamer Hanalei, which was lying at
the Inter-Island wharf I was at the
wheel at the time that the Fearless
took hold of the Willard. When saw
that collision between the Willard
and the steamer Hana1ei was inevita-
bic i left the wheel and ran forward
as fast as 1 could to see what was
a bout to occur.
LAS you stated in your article in the
paper the other day, we did not exactly
collide with the islander, but we ran
our jibboom into an arm of derrick
of the steamer and carried away our
jibboom. You say in your article that
it was only owing to the quickness OF
Captain Brokaw OF the Fearless that a
very serious accident was avoided. I
do not think that it is right that Cap
tain Brokaw should get so much credit
when it was really through him that
the accident occurred.
What if most of the members of
the crew were drunk at the time. All
the men necessary to perform the work
were sober There We're three sober
men on hand to obey orders, and ]
think that it is shame to speak OF
the ship as having a jag on.
II never heard of All expression like
| that before. I never heard of ship
having a jag on, and I do not see the
| sense Of referring to the Willard as
being In that condition.
ITO be sure, the majority of the men
were drunk. and were of no account,
| but 1t was not for that reason that the
Willard created the disturbance in the
harbor that she did.
mo one was to blame except the
| captain of the tug Fearless. The Vii
lard was taken out of Naval row with
a jerk which sent her spinning towards
| the steamer Hanalei at the Inter-Isl-
| and wharf.
mo allowance was made for her
| turning and getting out or the harbor
in the ordinary way. AS I said before,
we had the helm hard down, and as
far as things aboard the ship itself
were concerned, we were not to blame.
Anybody could see that Brokaw had
too long line on the vessel.
after we smashed into the Hanalei
and carried away our jibboom, the
Fearless, in the attempt to pull US
clear of the steamer, made such an
effort that the momentum was so great
that the vessel went almost on the
reef near the lighthouse.
1T was by the greatest good fortune
| that we managed to clear the reef and
get safely out of the harbor.''
Captain Brokaw, of the Fearless,
states that the fault of the accident
rests entirely with the people aboard
the ship, and that the fact of the crew
being drunk had everything to do with
the Willard running into the steamer
HanaIei