The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-10-13
OFF HER COURSE.

However that may be, it seems to be
agreed by both captain and pilot that
the ship was soon being steered two
points out of her course, or if not
steered thus at all events veered
thither by the tide. Why the compass
failed to make this grave depression
plain or why no pause was made when
the horn ON Lime Point at last began
to howl is a mystery. In any case the
result of this middle came quickly
enough. The Alameda struck the reef,
quivered from stem to stern and
bumped and ground her bows into the
mighty niche which held her fast and
kept her right side up.
Few if any of the ships passengers
were on the decks when the accident
occurred. Some were in the saloon,
some were in the smoking-room, and
many were busy unpacking their be-
longings in the staterooms. But at the
first jar an instructive premoniNon of
what had happened appears to have af-
fected them all. They made a wild
rush for the stairways, crowded into
the outer gangways, and were kept
from absolute panic only by the calm
ness and presence of mind displayed by
many of the crew. Assured that they
were not in danger of drowning, they
huddled together in comforting groups
and stopped their ears to keep out the
din of the siren, which now began to
scream in token of the ships distress.
The lifeboat from the station at
Bakers Beach responded promptly tO
the siren s appeal, and finding matters
aboard the Alameda. temporarily lack
ing in peril, FASTENED back to the shore
and telephoned to the city for tugs and
lighters. Oddly enough, the tugs that
quickly came steaming down the bay
at the first summons were none of them
the property of the company which
owns the Alameda, but all belonged to
a rival concern. Yet they could not
have fastened to the stranded vessel
any faster than they did, and could
not have accomplished the work of tax
ing off her passengers with greater dis
patch or care These tugs were the Sea
Fox, the Sea Rover, the Sea Prince and
the Sea Queen. Other help came at
the same time from the army transport
service tug Slocum and the Pacific
Mail tug Arabs.
Once the passengers had been safely
disposed of, the officers of the Ala |
media turned their energies to trans
shipping some of her more precious
cargo. The contents of her hold were
valued at about $1S5,000, and among
them was $4,000 worth of opium,
which was the first commodity re-
moved While this work was going
forward no less than fifty launches be-
longing to Italian fishermen appeared
upon the scene and scurried back and
forth in search for possible plumber
in fiotsam and jetsam. Additional ex-
citement was created at this time by
the swapping of the tow-rope which
joined big lighter to the hfeboat
trying to bring it to the Alameda's
side Strenuous efforts were immedI-
ately made to recapture the clumsy
craft, which carried fifty longshore-
men, but before it could be made fast
it was caught in the NAV of the tide
and drifted out toward the sea. Pur-
sued by two tugs, the second attempt
at capture was rewarded with success.
FOG SOON LIFTS.
Though the fog which enveloped the
Alameda was so thick when she struck
the reef that the soldiers in the garri-
son at Fort Point could not see her
when they ran down to the beach, less
than a score of yards away, there was
no trace of the Opaque mist when the
work of rescue was fairly under way.
As soon as possible hawsers were
passed from two of the tugs and fast
ened to bits in the tilted vessels stern,
preparatory to a determined endeavor
to pull her out of her predicament.
TN To ho of NO
avail. however, as the tide had now
begun to fall, and it was finally de-
cided to postpone further operations
along this line till early this morning,
when the tide should be again at the
flood.
Just how much damage was done to
the Alameda can not be exactly esti-
mated until she has been removed from
her present precarious position. She is
twenty-five years old, but one of the
best known liners of the Pacific, and
worth about $450,000. This is the first
serious accident she ever sustained, or,
for that matter, which was ever sus-
tanned by any of the Spreckels boats.
YOUNG OFFICERS MUDDLED.
The work performed by the officers
and men of the Alameda in transfer
ring the passengers to the government
tug Golden Gate was severely criticised
by officers and crew of the latter boat,
who asserted that the former made
serious blunders which might have re-
suited in disaster to boats and loss OF
life, that the boats which brought the
passengers to the Golden Gate were
undermined, and that one officer of
the Alameda while in charge of one of
the boats made such a serious error as
to badly hurt Fl. Kiley, one of the Ala
medals passengers, and endanger
women and men who were in the boat
with him.
s'I don't know what in the world
was the matter with the officer who
commanded the third boat to leave the
Alameda said petty officer of the
Golden Gate. ''He acted in the most
middle headed manner you could think
of. When he put away from the side
of the Alameda his boat was loaded
down with women and men and he had
only two men to row the boat, and the