The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-07-21

the in-fated Pacific Mail steam
ship Rio de Janeiro. is believed to
have been liberated from the wreck of
the vessel that lies sunken somewhere
/. in the secret depths OF the waters be-
tween the upper bay and the Golden
Gate entrance. Yesterday the badly
deoomposed corpse of man supposed
to have been an officer of the Rio float
ed ashore at Fort Baker, near Sausa-
Ito. and was picked up by soldiers.
The head of the corpse was entirely
ca ten away by the action of the water
and decomposition. Only few strips
of flesh clung to the bones of the legs
and arms. The trunk remained prac-
ticaIly intact, but, from the appear
ance of the body. it is believed by those
who viewed it that it had been in the
water for more than year without
being exposed to the air.
There are number of things that
go toward fixing the identity of the
sHfpse as that of an officer of the sunk /
es ship. On the trousers was sewed a
button such as officers of the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company have on their
clothing. 1t was of brass, and marked
on It were the letters p NJ. s. g, the
initials of the corporation The trou-
ser5 were apparently a part of an Of
icer's blue uniform, of good texture
and bearing the mark of "A Ping,
Hongkong. China" The corpse was
clad only in shirt and trousers, and
a pair of rubbers were over the shoes.
Chained to the shirt was very yalua-
bic 19-karat gold watch, worth prob
ably $3.50. It was open faced, the back
being of plain gold, without initials or
.fef.f he TT<,T a
from Shreve's jewelry store, in San
Francisco. The number of the works
was 7425252, and of the case 95043. At
tached to the plain gold chain was a
gold fob In the form OF an anchor hold
ing small compass.
There were no papers or initials
found that would give ciew to the
name, but the button, the chain. with
anchor fob and compass. the stripes OF :
an officers Uniform, the length of time ,
the body had been in the water and
the hurriedly dressed appearance all
tend toward the theory that the man.
was once an officer of the Rio de ia !
neiro Added to this is the fact that [
very recently large pieces OF timber, I
apparently from the hulk of some yes-
sci breaking up, have come ashore with 4
he tide near Fort Baker. Today Cor
Iner Eden of Marin county viii hold :
IN inquest over the remains, at which .
he officials of the steamship company I
lave been invited to be present, and
I IS very probable that the identity OF e
he corpse Will be positively fixed g
There are many supposftions and y
acts that<tend strongly to substantate 9
lea. belief 6hat the body Will be identi- e
- today as that of the master of the
sE Particularly strong is the evil &
ence borne by the clothing and the -
ianner in which the body was dressed
S 1t developed in the hearing of the
harges against Pilot Jordan that
aptain Ward was in his room asleep
hen the vessel struck. Jordan went
the captains room after he decided
bring the vessel in and found him ha
ressed in the manner described. After ali
lie accident Ward appeared on deck in -
n overcoat which he had in all prob -
biIity thrown on hurriedly without ch
aiting to dress in the usual manner. at
The watch theory is also a good one be
ON the fact that so valuable a time -
ece would not likely have been in the ~
of q petty officer. A number nc
Captain Wards friends were seen in
e city last evening, but none could ric
member having noticed the watch he
ore prior to leavings port the last iIi'
ne A telegram from Charles z. n;
ard. brother of the sea captain, to to
G Chronicle" last night stated that wa
e Identification of the watch would
tile the question, but he could not VI
member the number. He thought We
at the watch had been purchased in of
.nyer through a jewelry man that as
er came to San Francisco and was Ta
Eat favorite of William Ward. tbr
Many are the seoiies ot '"T DO
TX OF the cap.aLn o1 ee ~ ,,,.as apl
the passengers of his ship that went 5
her doom on the morning OF Febru- in
? % 1901 and of how he refused all ax,
re,stiesT TO save himself. 1t is said ;s I
-.lfe hau OFTEN oeeh heaio ~ sen
lost with her One of the stories yo,..
oiished was TO the effect that he tied any
lseIf To the bridge when he dis The
cred the worst on that fatal day,
another was that he locked himself -,
his cabin If today's investigation
ntifies the discovered hodv TO be his. aga
latter story will be corroborated, ate
The appearances are that it has been GERS