Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-28
CAST0Fr STEAMSHIPS
IN PACIFIC COAST TRADE
OLD STEAMBOAT OFFICER DE-
scRIBEs THE COLUMBIA
captain Merry Makes Some Careful
Classificatons of Vessels Now
or Recently in the Coast
wise Service

LOS ANGELES, July 26.-[Editor Her
aiuI' Inc Examiner of the oath has a
'eieeram from New York signed by a
party named Norton to the effect that
'he Columbia was a castoff shin that
nad outlived its usefulness in eastern
waters.
Notnins could be farther from the
N"e was puilt to the order of the
ia'e fienry Willard, and he knowing what
.sicKy old chap John Roach was had
-. 'ach henderson $40 per diem to
and 70 si,,p IN process of construction
was sighted H VI 'he Wark
hoach was the great shoddv oor+r,o+o-
.ne american merchant marine He
Souiu puilu good ships, but never ala COZ
uIiless ne was we'll watched. He hniIt
.ne CITY OF Peking and City of Toxic
aia @ uosI oI three millions for the Pa
cinc mail company and thew had 10 ~
virtually rebuilt on their arrival i, c.
FRANCISCO at an expense somewhere T.,
excess OF 100000. So when Willard L..
the contract for the Oregon. huil+ 49,
years before the Columbia. he biros
henderson to see the work was properlv
uone; ana ne did the same in reference
to the Columbia INV
L was one of the latter ships passen-
gers from San Francisco to Portland ~,
her initial voyage in Pacific waters sba
having just come around Cape Horn nm
DER command of Capt. o. F. Bolles. now
dlstrlct inspector of hulls at San Fran
CISCO She was the finest finished and
neatest looking steamship of her size that
mau ever seen. Her equipments were
fully equal to those of the Citv of Pc
king, and / would not be afraid to hot
that her total cost, divided by her actual
registered tonnage, would show her to
nave peen at that time the most costly
steamship Tor each ton of her capacity
ever built in any American shipyard.
now make three classes of steamships
between 1873 and the present writing one
or which was class of ships built for
trade in Atlantic waters but rejected on
account of failure to record the schedule
time demanded in the respective con-
tracts under which they were built:
BUILT FOR THE TRADE
State of Califor- Oregon (R)
mia (C) Columbia (Rl
Queen of Pacific (C) Santa Rosa (R)
Pomona (S) UmatiIla CR)s
corona co Walla Walla (R)%
President (CD Willamette CR)
Senator (S) Alameda (C)
St. Paul (S) Mariposa (C)
Spokane (S) Peru Isl
(C) Built by Cramp at PHILADELPHIA: (R)
built by Roach at Chester; (S) built at
San Francisco; built as colliers but al
tered into passenger ships.
VESSELS THAT HAD Piled EAST
ERN WATERS
City of Rio Janeiro Leelanlaw
City of Para Indiana
Acapulco Ohio
Colon Cottage City
Costa Rica Kate Carols
City of Kingston City of Topeka
"Now called the Curacao.
REJECTED FOR LACK OF SPEED
George w. Elder City of Puebla
Roanoke Yaquima City**
City of Chesters
"Wrecked off Fort Point, 1889. +*Wrecked
on Yaquima bar.
OF these the City of Pueba was built
for a fifteen-knot ship but failed to show
over fourteen. After the Goodall & Per-
kns concern got hold of her they ran
her to Victoria and their consulting en-
gineer so remodeled her boilers that she
is now the fastest steamship of her size
sailing out of San Francisco. The Ches-
ter was a cheap ship and large carrier
for her size. The Oceanic of the White
Star line the first ship of that name)
cut her in two in dense fog and many
lives were lost. The Yaquima City was
built under another name but purchased
by Col Edgerton Hogg just before she
was launched. She was wrecked on her
first VOYAGE to Yaquima bay. The Ro-
anoke was built for the Old Dominion
line but rejected for lack of speed.,~The
George w. Elder was another turned
down ship that has since done thirty-tWo
wears of good service, and is the largest
her registered
tonnage of any steamer on this coast.
Owing to,her great carrying capacity ana
operation she was under char-
ter to the Pacific Mail company for sew
eraI years. plying to ports IN Cetnral
American waters.
There are doubtless other vessels en-
eaped in Pacific coast traffic that mad
seen woman service in Atlantic waters.
ond several all now wrecked, had done
hard labor in the waters of the great
lakes.
Rut this Mr. Norton could not have
shown a worse knowledge OF steamships
in California waters than to nave selectea
the Columbia as an exemplar OF the cast
offs which have found their way hlther'
7 an, confident Capt. Bolles will join me
in wing that the Columbia was not only
the hest ship that he had ever command
cd hut the best one on which he had ever
sailed. .,o
The real hero of that wreck is the
Lindstrom, who saved
thirty-four lives. If I had my way ABOUT
II I would plaster him all over with Car
negie medals till he looked like walk
ing jewelers. shop. / have nephew III
the navy who has a Carnegie medal for
saving lives, but this noble scandinavian
makes my boy Wallie look like retail
dealer in a back street.
THOS. B. MERRY.
ABOUT THE ONION