The Hawaiian gazette., 1905-11-14
Run AfouI Of a Buoy
Cable and Had to An.
chor off Shore While
Divers Workedto Free
the Ship.
CFrom saturdays Advertiser)


with nearly a thousand souls aboard,
met with an accident just as she was
backing away from her berth at the
Naval Dock No. yesterday afternoon.
She got away at 5;25 and while her
starboard propeller was running astern
Il picked up a wire cable supposed TO
have been attached to the Inter-lsland
steamer Mokolii in rotten row.. The
backward motion of the propeller quick
lv threw the cable back of the propeller
onto the collar of the propeller shaft.
MANY times the wire cable wrapped
around the helpless shaft and then fol-
lowed the chain at the end OF the
cable. But by this time, the buoy at
tached to the cable was seen to move
and the starboard propeller was imme-
diately stopped But before that could
be done the chain had wound around
the shaft five times.
The dredging operations of the Pa
cific, which on account of Her great
power, is presumed to have disturbed
the usual quiet of the waters of the
haitor and TO have loosened the buoy
from its moorings, so that when the
powerful twin screws of the Siberia
came in its neighborhood, the great
suction produced easily drew the wire
cable onto the propeller and back onto
its shaft and collar. The rapidly turn
ing shaft then drew the chain after 1t
as described.
The tug Fearless was Immediately
commissioned to tow the big liner out
of the narrow channel, where she was
liable to damage herself. and she was
hauled three miles out to sea, or just
inside three miles, for the Customs peo-
pie sent a man right out to see that
he tariff laws were enforced strictly,
and three miles is the limit Of Uncle
Sans authority.
Sorenson and Lyle were also notified
at once and Alex Lyle, just sitting
down to a pleasant dinner, left his
smoking viands and taking his diving
suit rushed to the wharf With his
father. Young Bros tug Rover was In
waiting and under all steam hastened
to the scene of action, or, rather mac
tion, as the powerful steamer was as
helpless as a little child 1nvestiga-
ton under the water revealed the state
of affairs just described.
Fortunately the buoy attached to the
chain had staid fast and was dragged
out to sea with its anchoring device,
which had ceased to anchor 1t. A grip
was taken of the buoy and 1t was hoped
bv pulling on the buoy and running
the engines the other way to turn on
the chain. Then the wire cable can be
cut off.
f. w. Klebahn, Secretary Of II.
Hackfeld & Co, Ltd, the agents of the
Pacific Mail, and their wharf superin-
tendent, II. L. Reilly, also went out as
soon as a boat could be obtained. The
Rover is compelled TO do all the launch
work, as the Two Brothers Is working
with the scow of the Reclamation,
Lord 4 Belser's dredger, and the GUS
toms house launch, the Water Witch,
is entirely enwrapped with the coils OF
the sea serpent, the pipe of the dredger
Pacific, so that 1t can not get out.
1t is said that the harbor is particu-
larly dangerous now owing to the pres
ence of several floats of wood lightly
anchored, which mark the sides OF the
dredging contract 1t is claimed that
anv steamer coming in during the hours
of darkness might Swallow up" one
of these floats or at least, its cable,
in the same way that the Siberia pick
ed up what is supposed to be the Moko-
Iii anchor cable.
Unless the Siberia gets away by mid
NIGHT the customs relief Will go out
to take charge of her until morning
At 1850 last night, Mr. Young and
the tug Rover returned TO the wharf
for the relief of the Customs guard on
the Siberia. He reports that the Ghain
has been loosened from the steamers
propeller shaft and that he divers were
at work on the wire cable. How long
II will take to get that loose Is not
known.
incidentally, Mr.. Young doubts verx
much that the buoy is the anchorage
buoy of the old Mokolii, He thinks II
is one Of the harbor buoys used to mark
the channel. He said he had just pull
ed Il away and put a light on II and
left 1t outside. He thought it had pos
sibly been buoy to which wire from
the dredger had been fastened, but was
not positive. If it was one OF the
dredger buoys, that would account
possibly, he said, for its becoming loos'
ened from its moorings.
At a. m. the Siberia was still or
port, but was expected to get away
at any time Latest reports has i
that there were eight wraps of th'
chain around the sleeve of the pro
peller, three of which were gotten or
by nine o'clock.
The buoy has been identified as al
old territorial government buoy whicl
was formerly used to bring the Cana
dian Australian liners around In or
der to get out of the channel. Sine
the practice OF docking those ships
Bishop wharf, the buoy has not bee
used. 1t is stated that the dredger ha
lately been using it as an anchor fo
one of the guy lines by which tn
dredger moves back and forth with he
cutter and that this loosened 1t suti
ciently to get it out of place.
The Pilot, Captain Lorenzen, is rt
ported to have made the claim ths
the buoy was out OF place and tbs
Is the reason he backed the steam'
right into 1t. 1t is pretty sure ths
there will be an investigation by II
Pacific Mail people and possibly by II
Department of Public Works of II
Territory. whose employe CAPITAL
Lorenzen Is. Whether or not the Uni