The San Francisco call., 1907-06-02

At q meeting of the state board Of
harbor commissioners yesterday Thomas
A Hender was appointed chief wharf
niger to succeed Richard R. welch,
whose term had expired. Bender' S
bond OF $4,000 was approved and he
viii assume the duties of his position
on Monday he was appointed for four
years
Hender comes from Sonora in Tuo-
lumne county where for Is years he
served as supervisor. He is q hotelman
by profession and was engaged in the
real estate and insurance business. He
served for six years as Yosemite park
commissioner. His experience IN mat
tiers marine has been limited to the
sea OF politics
Speaking Of the new chief wharf
inger's knowledge OF shipping affairs,
President Stafford said yesterday:
Mr.. Hender was done an injustice
by one of the morning newspapers,
which stated that he hailed from Gala
veras county. AS a matter of fact, he
comes from Toulumne county, which
has at least one more river running
through il than Calaveras.
AS chief wharfiinger. Hendef will be
plunged into the middle of things ma
rine from the time he begins his new
work. His first duty will be to recon
struct his vocabulary, and in doing that
he viii add to his knowledge of phys
ical facts He viii learn, for instance
that the brine that washes around the
piers that will be under his charge is
not the refreshing beverage that flows
between the banks of the babbling
Tuolumne. He viii find that what may
now look TO him like hitching posts are
called bits and that ships are not
hitched, but tied up or made fast. He
VIII learn that ships are hollow and
that it is bad form to call a vessels
bow the thin end. its deck the roof
or the bridge upstairs The unwisdom
Of calling heaving line a lariat will
dawn upon him before he has been
long upon the water front and before
he lays down the duty of harbor mas
ter he viii be able to tell at a glance
the difference between scow schooner
and a towbOat or q windjammer and
an ocean liner.
Commissioner Henry J. Crocker was
not present at the meeting, not having
yet recovered from his encounter with
the brakeman with whom he engaged
In a fight while on his way to Hopland
2 few days ago.
The commissioners ordered the sec
retary to advertise in The Call for bids
for supplying electric light along the
water front for three years. The com
ullsSioners also are figuring on the cost
Of lighting plant to be operated by
the state, and If the bids appear to be
unreasonable the board will build a
plant.
The request Of P. Bercovich to retain
the cigar stand he occupies on Meiggs
wharf was denied. Bercovich's petition
was signed by all the pilots and by
every member of the Meiggs wharf col
ony- The order for Bercovich's re-
moval was part Of the plan for restor-
ing the bulkheads to the public service,
and the refusal was in line with the
boards policy to make no exceptions
report made to the board by Cap
tain Petzinger,' superintendent of state
tugs and dredgers. showed that the
boilers of state dredger l were ruined
through the carelessness of Watchman
F. Allen. who on May % lighted the
furnace fires and did not discover that
there was no water in the boilers until
the boilers were red hot. The boilers
were provided with water gauges, but
Allen ignored them until melting metal
funning down the sides of the cylin-
ders told him that something was
wrong. His excuse was that the cap
tain had neglected to tell him that the
boilers were empty.