The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-08-05
WAS NEARLY A
YEAR AT SEA

| Buffeted by angry waters from with
out and menaced by IRE within. the
American bark WilIscott. her masts
splintered and her hull battered, slowly
crept down the Southern California
coast and made the port of San Diego
on July IS after a voyage of 353 days
from Baltimore. The Wtllscott is con-
tsigned to this port via San Diego and
has had one of the most eventful voy-
ages in the history of the sea She
was picked up off Point Iona by the
! Revenue Cutter Daniel Manning and
towed into San Diego harbor. After
discharging cargo of coal at that port
she was towed to San Francisco by the
Red Stack tug Sea Rover on July 20.
After being repaired at that port she
Will proceed to Honolulu.
The crew of the unlucky bark were
all Well although worn out by their long
voyage and We're overjoyed TO once
more be on terra arma As they have
nearly a years pay coming TO them it
would be surprising if they did not cele-
brate, though at last reports none of
them had gotten into trouble. The fol-
lowing interesting interview with the
captain appeared in the San Diego
Evening Tribune;
Captain Macloon, the commander of
the Willscott, is one of tbs oldest
mariners in the merchant marine and
has been following tie seas Tor nearly
sixty years. When seen on board the
ship tonight, he said that the trip just
ence, and one OF the worst he had ever
heard of. There We're MANY times
when l thought the snip would never
live to see port said the captain.
After leaving Philadelphia we had a
fair run until we were rounding Cape
Horn when we struck a severe snow
storm, accompanied by a hard wind.
The weather was bitterly cold and as
fast as d sea would break over the
deck the water would freeze. The en-
tire deck, sides of the ship and che rig
ging was one mass OF ice, and il was
almost as much as a mans life was
worth to pick his way along deck
During the worst of the storm the MAIN
topmast and the foretopmast snapped
short, and brought all the sails and
rigging to the deck where it lay mass
of tangled and frozen wreckage. The
crew Immediately commenced TO cut
away the wreckage. but what with the
fierce storm and the ice, the job was a
difficult one. Our condition was such
that it was impossible to proceed, and
decided to beat back to Port Stanley
as the most available port in which
temporary repairs could be made. We
were four weeks making Port Stanley,
and during nearly all of that time the
h
almost without intermission. Shortly
before reaching Port Stanley smoke was
noticed issuing from the hold and a
hasty examination developed the fact
that the cargo had become overheated. |
AS soon as possible after reaching port /
we commenced discharging the cargo |
Three hundred tons We're discharged |
before the danger was past. After /
leaving Port Stanley we encountered |
nothing but head winds. During the .
last month our greatest danger has
been from a possible lack of provisions
and only the most careful economy en- I
ablad US to reach port without running
out. All of the officers and crew have
suffered great deal. but we are all
thankful that sickness was not added /
to our other misfortunes."
News of the destruction of the Amer /
lean sailing vessel C. Bemont of PhiIa-
delphia was brought by Capt. Macloon. i
While lying at Port Stanley the Bemont
arrived in port with a cargo of coal
and after making a few necessary re-
pairs and taking on part of the cargo
of another vessel which was there, put
to sea. Twenty days later she returned |
to Port Stanley with her entire cargo i
ablaze. All efforts to put out the fire
were without avail and the vessel was
beached. The ship was almost entirely
destroyed and VIII probably be a total
wreck.