The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-06-12

destined to WanderingS as yagrant as
those of an unclaimed Texas steer.
After knocking around the seven seas,
it was burned. with its cargo of oil.
in the harbor of Halifax, soused IN
the water and finally sunk; then fished
out, weirdly twisted and warped by
heat and water, rebuilt and recommis-
stoned. Finally, when the war with
Spain was declared. it accompanied
SIMPSONS fleet all through the war as
water supply ship for both sailors
and troops in transit. When the I'M
pleasantness was over it was promptly
returned to coast oil trade, where it
is now doing business as usual. It's
carer may be taken as typical. for
IN Te Is no other vessel afloat that en-
counters so manyeadventures and mis-
adventures as the tank ship, and none
other would survive nalf of them.
Tank ships, widely scattered over
the oceans, have done great service 10
shipping in the way of salvage in tow
ing disabled vessels to port and rescu
ing crews from wrecks, says the
Washington I'd. e. Star. They are
the staunchest ships of the seas be-
cause OF their division into water-tight
compartments, which are always kept
closed. Several compartments may be
damaged by collision or otherwise and
the steamship viii keep affoat and
steam to port The tank ship Beacon
Light once ran into an iceberg and
tore out q considerable part of her
bottom, but continued her voyage 20
port. Several of these ships have been
ashore, but by pumping out compart-
ments were able to draw away and
proceed. The tank ship Energie ran
on a rock Of the Lizard, doing much
damage, but got off by emptying some
compartments. arriving in Bremen two
days late.
But though it will win through
many periis in water, the tank ship
falls victim to fire, Notwithstanding
the greatest precaution of cofferdams.
or double Dulkheads, which are filled
with water, and despite the constant
watchfulness on board. The case or
the Maverick at Halifax is character
istic. Al a time when oil was being
pumped into the ship and some one
had carelessly left the door open lead
ing between decks, pipe burst. Be
fore the pump could be stopped the
oil was forced through the open door
into the fire room. An additional cargo
of case oil unusual in vessels of this
class. .hampered prompt usage of fire
apparatus. The Maverick was sunk
in the harbor as a last resort The
total bill for the episode was s150,oo0
The tank ship Weehawken was once
proceeding down the Delaware river,
when she ran On a rock, injuring her
cofferdann and permitting her cargo TO
run into the fire room When the fire
was over there was no Weehawlzen
left: only cid iron.
The tank ship Attila went ashore at
Nadre Renner, Denmark The oil
reaching the fire room soon furnished
a grand ccn1agration. After she had
been burning ten days, a hole was
blown in her with dynamite. causing
her boiler room to fill with water.
salvage ship then approached and be-
gan flooding her holds, when ire
me,ldous explosion took place. inVoiV-
ing the whole afterpart Of the vessel.
aud woundjng many OF the salVors, the
remainder escaping by jumping over
board. The fire then ragged furiously.
1t was only subdued by exploding more
dynamite and flooding the entire yes
sci with water The ship was then
tightened pumped out. towed TO Co
penhagen and repaired. She is still IL
service.
The tank ship Minister Maybach left
maiden voyage, laden with I, $50, 0o0 gall
Ions of oil and a crew of thirtytwo
men. II was the memorable January
when there were heavy gales, during
which at least ten steamers were lost
She may have shared their fate, or
she may have blown up as many be-
live. One tank ship, the General Knox
laden with case oil. burned at the foot
of Wall street affording a splendid
IN, Ja.l- -,
at Fire Island may still be seen the
wreck of the tank Gluckauf now half
buried in the sand. She was driven
ashore there, and the best efforts OF
her crew could not bring her off from
the shifting and clinging bottom
One great danger to tank ships ap-
pears after the cargo has been dis
charged. when gas generates in the
empty fac.ks Any kind of an open
flame results in an explosion. Electric
hand Ian rs are now generally used.
It is the sss generated by the OIL, not
the oil its-f which explodes.
Prior to &c the tank ships had their
engines far aft. Then an attempt was
made to place the engines amidships.
with tanks at both ends. causing much
comment and apprehension on the part
of the marine underwriters There
were devices arranged. certain steam
out of the shaft alley. The several
vessels constructed in this manner
were soon condemned, and builders re-
turned to the former method of piac-
ing the engines aft, and the tanks for
ward of them. There has always been
much difficulty in keeping the tank
ships tight, as the oil eats the rivets.
At present the underwriters have
nothing to do with oil craft, the own
ers iusuring their own vessels. The
owners of tank ships and all other oil
transports are now combined IN sever
al corporations, closely associated
with the oil monopoly
a tank ship may be described as a
steel marine Goliath, divided into
steel-walled, alright. oIl-tight COM
partments. located forward of the mo-
tor section and living rooms It Is
loaded and unloaded by pumping the
oil direct to and fro between the
wharf reservoirs and the eompart
ments of the ships. Each compart-
nent holds on the average 10000 gall
Ions of oil, and each tank ship has
from tweleve TO twenty compartments.
Aft of the compartments are the en-
CINE and boiler rooms, which the oil
can only reach in case of extraordi-