The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-02-22

The OfncerS OF the transport Meade
were astoun4ei yesterday on learning
that one OF TIE CHESTS belonging to
Company 3, Second infantry, which
had teen LETT behind on the San Fran
cisco dock, blew NJ when it was being
loaded into 4 dray severely wounding
the eEpressman.- a cylindrical tin can
in the Eox has been fouHtk<and it is
believed this contained some sort of
chemical.
Following close on the heels of the
disastrous fire on the Meade the dav
she was to sail in which three men lost
their lives, some believe that both the
fire and TIE blowing up of the chest
may be traced 70 the desire of some
one to destroy the ship. 1t has been
thought by officers Of the Meade that
spontaneous combustion was respous-
ible for the fire, oil rags stored away
IN camp chest, for instance. But
now it is thought the fire may have
been the work of an incendiary.
While the vessel was on the way
from San Francisco to Honolulu the
machinery was ont of order and she
had to lay to while repairs were made
Men in the fre1nen s department stat
ed here that the machinery was not in
good order and that the vessel was not
seaworthy. During her stay in Homo
lulu the vessel was subjected TO an
0verhauling and the machinery was re-
paired by local firms. Even then, tbs;
vessel Is not thought to be perfectly
safe. She is old, long and extremely
narrow. The men aboard complain bit
ter1y of the way they are packed in
like sardines
A soldier of the Second Infantry,
formerly A conductor on the Rapid
Transit lines. said that it is positively
a disgrace to the War Department to
send men out in that way. There was
the Second Infantry, recruited up to
its strength and in addition two bat
teries of artillery with their guns stor-
ed on the decks taking just so much
room from the men. They point to the
fact that the Sherman coming next is
practically half filed, and yet she is
a larger and more comfortable boat.
VENTURA AND soNoMA.
Matters We're lively in Oceanic S.
S. circles yesterday with the arrival of
the s. S. Ventura from the Colonies |
early in the morning and the arrival of |
the Sonoma early in the afternoon.
Owing to the presence of the Ventura |
at the Oceanic dock ny to l o'clock |
p. M, the Sonoma had 70 wait outside |
the channel unit! the former had steam
ed out, and then she took her place.
It's an i'll wind that blows nobody |
good for the stevedores certainly reap
ed harvest, working all day up to
midnight last night, coalirg the two
UoSOalS and h3Odiincr
The Ventura arrived twenty-four
hours late from the Colonies. The YES
sci encountered thick weather between
Sydney and Auckland. She had to be
slowed down owing to heavy fog
and was therefore late in arriving at
and leaving Auckland. She also met
rough weather all the way to this port.
She brought nine passengers and 14o
tons of cargo for Honolulu.
Among the through passengers was
Major Foot of the British army, Major |
Stephen, 14th Queen s Hussars, British
army; c. Mallalieu and H. Atwater,
American wool buyers returning from
Australia; liver Lawson, the champion
racing bicyclist; Mrs. Harry Lewis re-
turned here from a trip to Australia.
The vessel took from Honolulu fair
number of passengers as well as con-
SlueraDIe sugar, anu olhCi 10 |
land commodities.
The Sonoma bucked heavy seas all
the way down. The vessel rolled bad
" and the majority of the passengers
were i'll most of the trip. The steamer
passed the transport Sherman the sec
ond night out The vessel brought a
large number of passengers for Homo
lulu, mainly tourists. Among the pas
sengers for Honolulu were the Oregon
girls and chaperon, eleven in number !
J. E. Frost, prominent business
man of Topeka, Kans., who with his
wife comes here for sightseeing. L.
B. Kerr. the Alakea street merchant,
from a business trip to the
mainland Mr.. and Mrs. E. Z. Lansing
of New York are here on pleasure bent.
George H. Schaefer, a druggist of Fort
Madison Iowa. is here on vacation
DR.. Emily Noble writer of San Fran
cisco. is here to gather material for a h
publication dealing with the folklore t
Of the islands. S
Col. c.. Kitchener. brother of General
Kitchener, who won fame in South At s
rica, is passing through to Australia a
Miss NJ II. krout. who wrote BIO V
rraphv of Gen. Lew Wallace, is going |
20 Australia.
r. Edward Wilder senior member of
he lumber firm of Wilder & Co, of \
Chicago. and director of the Chicago {
Commercial Association, is here on
yisit. accompanied by his wife and son.
w. f. Trent, young mining engi-
,eer of Utah, a graduate of Stanford, '
: going to Australia and thence to = J
Africa. on mining business. Mr.. Trent :
$ friend of Ernest Smith, formerly
N the Advertiser staff.
The Sonoma left for Sydney at about
midnight.
sHERMAN's PASSENGERS.