The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-01-21
SEVENTY
TRIPS TO HAWAII

1
rakish appearing barkentine Klikitat is
discharging cargo of lumber. This in
itself is nothing unusual. for many sail
ing vessels discharge cargoes of lumber
there but there is an unusual man in
the crew at work there Down be-
tween piles of lumber on the ship where
the donkey engine furnishes hosting
power for the work, is Captain Cutler
, in charge Of If. He is commander of
the .Klikitat, and mariner who has
made more visits to Hawaii than any
other captain III port. Cutler has en-
tered Hawaiian ports over seventy times
with cargoes of lumber. He has brought
over thirty-five million feet of Sound
lumber here. according to rough
estimate, and from his appearance at
present is capable of bringing as much
more Although an old man now he
gets right in among his crew and works
just as hard as anyone In his employ.
*...%-s.<-s.%.s$.e-%-.-*
1895 to 1850 the reliable old Blackball
liners sailed back and forth across the
Atlantic as passenger and freight
carriers: They were comfortable but
clumsy ships. each peculiarly marked
with a big black circle upon the fore
top sail. But the introduction of
steamships steadily forced these slower
vessels out of business. Then came
the next epoch of sailing vessels, the
Baltimore clipper type, built for
greater speed, and seen on the At
lantic from about 1910 TO 1850 Mean
while the success of steam was Great
ing a demand for faster sailing to
meet the new competition, and the
extra clippers developed, beginning in
I843 with the 75o-ton Rainbow, and
reaching climax III 1855 i'll the COM
pletion of the clipper ship Great Re
public, a vessel of 1850 tons, with
suddenly became a commercial neces-
sity after the rush of gold hunters to
California, for it was a matter OF big
profits to the ship that could land her
merchandise first at San francisco
without the expense and uncertainty
of breaking cargo and moving it across
the Isthmus of Panama for reshipment
in another steamer. already over
crowded with gold seekers and their
personal baggage So it happened
that the extreme clippers came to be
called California clippers, and they
everything on the seas from
1850 onward for twenty years. hen,
as a modification of these swift sailers,
came the half clippers-ships with less
canvas and greater carrying
Their epoch was about the
decade 1860 TO 1870.
Partly because the United States
ceased encouraging shipbuilding by
Il et,hc To he me
marine and partly because of the COM
nercial difficulties during the Civil
War. Americas fine merchant marine
steadily declined, and most of the SPLEEN
lid California clipper ships, having
aarforned their original function by
1urryifg merchandise to San Francisco
n the exciting times of the ffties, were
sold to foreigners or. remodeled to garry
ess canvas and smaller crew.
When the demand for the fast Cali
.ornia clippers was at its height along
bout 1880, every sfipyard on the At
antic coast with the necessary facilities
vas engaged in building clipper ships.
The principal clipper ship yards were
IcKay's near Boston and WeDbs at
New York. From the Mckay yards
we're launched in quick SUCCESSION the
;taqhourld of 1850 tons, the Flying Fish
II 1000 IONS, ItlG DdlO 1-oSf~ " 1'
he FLYING Cloud of 1900 tons, the West !
Yard f4o of 1900 tons, the Empress OF the
,eas of 225o tons, and the Sovereign OF
he Seas OF 400 tons, and then, a little
ater. the amazingly big Great Repub-
l. a mammoth clipper ship OF 1850 tons,
leyiathan among sail craft as large
: the Great Eastern was among I
teamers. But the Great Republic never
1ade the trip to California. Her upper
eek was burned off before she started
nd she was repaired and slightly modi-
ed and sold to France for a transport
} be used in the Crimean war, III which T
arvice it was said of her. no steamer I
ouid catch her when she had a whole. /
all leading wind" A good many OF i,
1e clipper ships were bought up by !
.npland and France in the hasty effort :
secure ADEQUATE and fast transports :
, hurry troops to the CrIn1ean war. =
How very large the California cI1P-
er ships really were, those vessels
angling from 1000 to 1890 tons, may be
etter understood when II IS staFed
,at at that time a vessel of 1000 tons (
as wonder for size. The California :,
ippers, built primarily for the. Cali I
,r1lia trade, found their way all over
e world. and on all seas aroused
,fonishment, not only for their lofty. Q
asts and unprecedented spread OF
,nvas. but for their matchless speed
I'd remarkable gracefulness, Z