Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-23
.UJNKS IN SAN
FRANCISCO BAY
Curious Craft Built and Sailed by the
Chinese

Chinese
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
OF all the craft that plough through
the waters OF San Francisco bay none
are more curious or more picturesque
than the Chinese junks. Probably few
people are aware of the existence
within the portals of the Golden Gate
Of fleet of these strange little boats,
built on almost precisely the same
lines that Mongolan marine architects
made fashionable many long centuries
ago. They frequent the byways rather
than the highways of the harbor. One
might visit the busy water front Sec
tion every day for a month and not be
rewarded with the sight of junk.
The greater part Of this oriental
fleet in occidental waters is employed
in the shrimp fishing industry--a
branch of human activity which in
this city is almost exclusive in the
hands of the Chinese. A few, indeed,
journey among the townships located
around the bay and collect old horse
Shoes kelp and broken glass-the lat
ter utilized in the manufacture of
sandpaper. Others are used as fish
ing smacks. Many of them. 1t is said,
are available when there is chance
to smuggle a little opium. From ves-
sells arriving from the east parcels of
the drowsy drug, with floats attached,
have been dropped overheard, and a
keen-eyed junk captain has generally
been near enough to secure the valua-
BILE contraband. But the vigilance of
the customs authorities has pretty
we'll put an end to this practice, and
the junks are now perforce engaged
in legitimate business. The other is
| too risky.
The Chinese junk is in itself an
illustration of the characteristic Celes-
tial imperviousness to all change. 1t
is built along lines that have remained
practically unaltered for hundreds of
years. Yet, though apparently a relic
of past ages, this craft is not to be
despised as a useful boat for bay pur-
poses. 1t is very fast sailor, is
capable of resisting squally weather
and is easily handled.
The laws of Uncle Sam take no more
cognizance of the average Chinese
| junk in this harbor than of floating
log of wood. The vessel is as a rule
forty feet long by ten feet on the beam.
1t carries one mast thirty feet high.
The crew of a shrimp boat comprises
six men.
The unmistakable distinct earmark
Of the junk is it's sail. 1t is typically
Chinese-a huge, nearly square thing,
measuring perhaps twenty-five feet by
thirty feet. Nothing is more odd about
this sail than the fact that it is stayed
or Slated with cane sticks at regular
intervals, three or four feet apart, over
its whole length. The effect is some
| thing on the lines of a Venetian blind.
stiff instead of limp, like the everyday
European and American sail. This is
another very old idea, carried down
to these modern times by Chinese COM
servatism The purpose of the Stats is
not clear. Probably they are meant
to obviate the necessity of carefully
furling and folding the sail when it is
down. The junk sail is run up and
down by a pulley instead of by means
of a ring. When lowered it remains
where it falls, does not become tangled
and may be hoisted again instantly
and without trouble.
A junk is built on the beach by Chi
nese shipbuilders. During last summer
a new one was constructed at Hun
ter's Point. 1t took three months to
put it together. The builder charged
$3.50 for it, inclusive of labor and
| materials.