The Savannah morning news., 1904-09-18
STORM DAMAGED
VESSEL IN PORT
NEITHER STORM NOR FIRE
COULD DESTROY SCHOONER JOSE
oLIVERoS FOR SAVANNAH.

Started for This Port Weeks Ago
With Cargo of Fish Scrap, But
Had to Put Into Norfolk With
Decks AbIaze-CargO Was Dis
charged and Another Cargo for
Savannah secured--On Second Trip
Storm Was Encountered.
With foresail and mainsail gone, it's
cargo shifted, and all its rigging bad
ly damaged, the schooner Jose Oliveros,
after passing through one of the
severest storms on record, is now in
Savannah discharging it's cargo.
Despite the heavy seas and the dam
age sustained, the vessel did not take
in any water and the cargo, coal, con-
signed to the Herman Coal Company,
was not damaged at all.
The Jose Oliveros passed wreckage
from two vessels about twenty miles
north of the Savannah bar. 1t ran
through lot of boards, showing that
some lumber vessel had either lost it's
deck cargo, or else had been complete
ly destroyed.
Wreckage from a cattle ship was also
encountered. Troughs and cattle pens
in great numbers were found floating
on the ocean. There was nothing in
either of the collections of wreckage
to indicate the vessels from which it
had come.
A Ninety Mile Gale.
Capt. Hewitt commands the Oliveros,
but he is suffering from rheumatism,
and the mate. George A. Rines, told
of the storm, when the vessel was Wis
tied yesterday morning by a. represen-
tative of the Morning News. The
storm, he said. was encountered Wed
nesday about twenty-five miles south
of Frying Pan shoals.
The intensity of the wind increased
until Thursday night, when it was at
its worst. A 90-mile gale was blowing,
Mate Rines said. and it was impossi-
BILE for a man to venture on deck, ex-
cept by crawling on his stomach and
holding fast to the ship. Even then,
ne said, the wind would at time lift him
completely up.
With the trisail set to keep its head
in the sea and it's wheel dashed, the
schooner battled against the storm for
two days. When the cargo shifted,
the schooner listed badly. The beams
chances of weathering the storm seem
ed slight. The storm did not entirely
abate until early Friday morning.
Mate Praises Vessel.
'I have been going to sea for TWEEN
ty-two years. said Mate Rines, land
l have never seen a better ship.
have encountered typhoons in the
China sea. and seen every kind of
storm, but never saw a vessel come
through so hard a storm as well.
The seas went all over the decks
and the salt spray cut like a knife.
the wind was blowing SO hard. The
water beat through the cabin and
everything was wet I haven't a sin
gle dry garment"
The Jose Ohveros ds owned by Capt
Brewster of New York, who manages
it. When the vessel arrived it was
at first thought a survey would be
held, but it was soon found that the
cargo had not been damaged and that
the damage to the vessel was only
superficial
Fire Aboard Also.
The Oliveros is the vessel that sailed
from New York over a month ago for
Savannah loaded with fish scrap, but
was discovered to be on fire and had
to put into Norfolk. 1t was one of
the most daring runs ever made, Capt
Hewitt declining all offers of aid in
order to save his owner from paying
salvage.
The fire was discovered some dis
tance from Norfolk and before that
port was reached the flames were
towering from the forward hatch. The
sides of the hatchway and the deck
house still show the signs of the fire.
while below the timbers were burned
for an inch or more.
The fire was extinguished and the
cargo which was for Savannah, was
discharged at Norfolk. The schooner's
present cargo of coal was taken on at
Fort Henry, as soon as the vessel
was gotten in good shape again. The
trip to Savannah in which the storm
was encountered was simply a contin-
uation of the trip which was inter-
rupted by the fire.