The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-13
CABLE COULD :
NOT BE LANDED
Great Crowd of San Franciscaps
Sadly Disappointed.
ANOTHER ATTEMPT SUNDAY
SEVERAL ACCIDENTS OCCURRED
DURING THE DAY.

I1( IAN FRANCISCO. Dec 12.-An IN
successful attempt was made to-
day to lay the shore end of the
Pacific cable. AS a result, the big
steamer silvertown. with the cable in
her hold, is not forcing her PROV
through the waves of the Pacific to-
| night. She is still floating idly on the
waters of San Francisco bay, and
aboard her there is keen disappoint-
ment that adverse conditions made a
failure of today's attempt to lay the
| first span of cable toward the new
| American possessions
streng unfavOrable tide was the
chief cause of the non-success of the
first step of the great undertaking and
| minor casualties marked the efforts OF
/ the workmen at the shore end, one of
the victims being no less persona ge
/ than Clarence H. Mackay, president Of
the Commercial Gable company, who
was not seriously hurt
Great Crowd Present.
| The day was perfect in the matter of
| weather conditions and, the occasion
/ having been made the cause for a semi
holiday, fully $4,000 people gathered at
4 the beach, one-half of them school
children, to witness the beginning of
The Silvertown got under way from
i her anchorage in the bay soon after
| daylight this morning and she was at
! anchor off the beach soon after 8
| O'Clock. The surf was breaking heav-
! lily of-shore. but the seas were rap
idly moderating. 1t was then decided
/ to delay hauling the cable ashore until
| the water became somewhat smoother.
| Clarence H. Mackay and his fellow
off nF
| BILE company had two large tents erect
ed on the sands of the beach close
to where the shore connection was to
be made, and there they entertained
their friends as they arrived.
Operations Begun.
1t was nearly IL o'clock before the
| life saving crews from the South Side
and Bakers Beach stations appeared
/ on the scene with their surf boats,
ready to lend any assistance that
! might be needed of them in communi-
| eating between the steamer and the
shore. The crews of those two boats
along with the crews of two boats
launched from the steamer, carried a
large rope from the SilVertown to a
point just outside the line of the break
ers. and there they lay while one OF
the crew of one of the life savers
boats signaled for the boat of the
Golden Gate park life saving crew tc
come out through the surf and take
the end of the rope to the land. The
boat, drawn by the horses of the sta
/ ton, ganoped down bravely into the
surf and the men of the crew climbed
into their places. a favorable wave
folled well up on the shelving sand
and the boat was shot from its car
riage into the water.
Cheers Scared the Horses
There was a cheer from the crowd as
the men met the breakers, and that
same cheer scared the horses. The team
broke away from the driver and it
with the boat carriage dragging after
it, plunged into the crowd OF men and
children that had gathered on the
beach. Several of the children were
/ knocked over in the wild scramble t.
get out of the way of the maddene6
horses. One little girl about 7 years OF
age, who said her name was Hutch
ings, was knocked over by the vince
of the rig and her right leg was con-
siderably bruised. She was carried in
to the tent where the refreshment:
were being served to the special guest:
and there a physician who was in TIT
crowd attended to her injuries. The
horses. as they dashed into the GROVE
of children. were caught by JOSEPH
Wright and, though he was rolled Over
several times and barely escaped being
trampled on by the animals, he ,cluns
to the bride and succeeded in bring
ing them to stop just as they were
at the entrance to the tent in which
the special guests were assembled.
Several Minor Injuries.
After several attempts the life saw
ing crew succeeded in getting ashor,
/ hawser to which was attached tn
cable. A wait of four and one-hal
hours was had for even water befor,
attempting to draw the cable ashore
The hawser bellied down so that it wa
impossible to draw it ashore through
the strong tide. Just before the at
tempt was abandoned for the day,
number Of men took hold of the haw
ser for final pull. The hawser flew
up and struck Clarence Mackay. VIII
was hit on the chin and carried of
his feet. George W. McNear, a prom
inent grain exporter. of this city. wa
, nit on the back Of the head and rem
dered unconscious for a brief time
Frank HotaIing of New York wa
struck in the face. sustaining quite
cut. George Fraser. a photographer
, was also hit in the face. His Gamer;
; was broken.
81 Darkness coming on, the Silvertol
-