The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-08-11
MARINE


When the transport Buford left fol-
San Francisco about O'Clock Fri.
day there was a passenger aboard who
took bunk in the brig and will have
a personal attendant with loaded
rife. This was Fred Harpe, formerly
private in tine hospital corps, who
once made rather spectacular attempt
to desert When the transport Thomas
was about to leave for San Francisco
six months ago, drunken soldier came
on the dock and got into an alterca-
ton, during which he pulled a revolver.
He was promptly disarmed, and then
was recognized by the police and Fort
Shafter officers as a man who was
wanted at the post.
A robbery had been committed the
night before at the arsenal. The place
had been found broken open in the
morning and the interior ransacked.
Two revolvers and lot of cartridges
were missing. Harpe had deserted the
day of the robbery. The revolver he
pulled on the dock was one of the
missing guns. The other was never
found. Harpe got a two years sen.
tence in Alcatraz for the theft of one
revolver. Had the other been located,
n couple of years more would probably
have been added to the sentence.
Among other passengers from Homo.
lulu were Customs Inspector Cooper,
who Has a fve-weeks' vacation on the
mainland. -Four marines from Camp
Very went to Mare Island. Among
them was "Phoney" Davis, the crack
catcher of the Diamond Head team.
The Buford arrived from Manila via
Nagasaki yesterday morning, after a
pleasant and uneventful trip She car
ried full list of cabin passengers, and
number of casuals in the steerage.
Miss M. Pershing, sister of Brig. Gen
eral Pershing is through passenger.
General Pershing and wife leave Manila
presently for New York via the new
trans.Siberian railway and Paris.
MAKING CHANNEL SHALLOW.
That long whitish strip which shows
up through the channel waters about
half way to the offing indicates that
the channel is becoming quite shallow
there. 1t is reported that one deep
laden steamer touched the sand spit on
arrival. One has only to look from the
wharves to see the sand spit sticking
out from the Waikiki side of the chan
mel toward the Eva side. From Tan
talus the strip looks almost like a
point of land rising above the surface.
A dredger would find that the sand
bank was really quite high. AS there
is no appropriation at present available
this sand spit may keep on growing
until an emergency appropriation is
necessary to dredge out the dangerous
point.
1t has formed from an immense
amount of sand blown off the naval
reservation. The suction dredger is
now at work polishing up the floor of
the harbor where the new dredging has
just been completed. When completely
polished the newly dredged sections
will be deeper than the original har.
Dor. The old lighthouse site has been
taken out and steamers can readily
pass close to the new seawall. A new
appropriation will be necessary to
dredge out the old Sumner island and
the present site of the quarantine
wharf, whenever that structure is NOV
ed bacl, $50 feet to accord with the
new harbor lines. With the quarantine
wharf moved back Honolulu harbor
will be splendid anchorage basin with
plenty of room for maneuvering the
largest steamships.
BOTH FILMERS MASTER.
Information was received yesterday
to the effect that w. c. T. S. Filmer,
son of Captain Filmer of the America
Maru, has been appointed captain of
the Hongkong Maru at Yokohama and
will sail from that port as captain of
the Japanese liner August 4.
The Young Captain Filmer althonph
only "a years old, has been at sea for
20 years. He received his early train
ing on the British training ship Con-
vey at Liverpool. Two years ago he
was made captain of the oil steamer
Buyo Maru and was master of the YES
sci on a trip from Philadelphia to Yoko-
hama, stopping at Madras and Cal
cutta to deliver oil. From Yokohama
Captain Filmer was sent to Sumatra TO
load oil for Japanese ports, and only
L. l,EA ~. ii