The San Francisco call., 1909-03-26
IGNORE FATE OF
ANCIENT MARINER
Crew of British Ship Wayfarer
Make Natural History Coll
lection at Sea
~And good south wind sprung up
behind,
The albatroSS did follow,
And every day for food or play
Came TO the mariners hOllO!
-CnIe-idne,a s1Ancienf MnrIner.v
"Ancient Nj

The albatroSs did follow,
And every day for food or play
Came 10 the mariners hOIIO!
-COIeridge's "Ancient Mariner"
The crew of the British ship Way
farer, which arrived here yesterday
from the Tyne, either never read Cole
ridges Ancient Mariner" or they
didn't care While off Cape Horn mem
bers of the crew caught and killed, not
one but half a dozen of the birds that
are credited with saving mariners
from the hends that plague" They
not only killed the albatrosses, but
subjected the remains to the indignity
Of the skinning process, and the skins
they stuffed with oakum. In spite of
all this the Wayfarer suffered no Sc
rious ills and reached port in good
condition and with all on board well.
Outwardly the Wayfsrer resembles
any other '1imejuicer" on board.
however. the windjammer suggests
naturalist's workshop rather than
Liverpool ship loaded with coke and
pig iron. The bulkheads in forecastle
and cabins are decorated with gaudy
beetles and butterflies, stuffed birds or
brilliant plumage and other odds and
ends When the Wayfarer left South
Shields the only natural history speci-
men on board was black cat.
When about 100 miles off the coast
of Brazil the lookout reported "a ca
nary bird on the starboard bow" A
few minutes later half a dozen linnets
were singing on the main yard. other
birds appeared Some perched on the
spars and rigging Others. exhausted.
f-7 I,rr of
the crew selected a pet or pets. ac-
cording TO his taste, and what the sail
ors didn't want the cat ate. Next day
more birds appeared. accompanied by
a large number Of gorgeous butterflies
and beetles.
Cape Horn weather killed all the
birds. The sailors skinned their dead
pets, stuffed them with Oakum in
shapes as nearly lifelike as possible
and have the remains to prove their
tale Of the feathered invasion. 1t was
of Cape Horn that the six albatrosses
were killed. They were not shot with
crossboyvs. but were tempted with fat
pork, concealed in which was a fish
hook attached TO a stout line. Every
man on board has a tobacco pouch
made from the feet of gooneyS caught
of the California coast.
On the second night after leaving
South Shields. the ship. then off the
north Of Scotland under full canvas,
was struck by a sudden gale. This
was long before the Staying of the al
batrosses. All hands were sent aloft
to shorten sail. Suddenly a shrek
sounded above the storm, and George
MacKettreck. d young, able seaman,
fell from the main topgallant yard and
disappeared in the pitch dark waters
alongside. The ship was brought to-
but nothing was seen of the seaman. A
terrific sea was running. McKettreck
couh not swim. and was weighted
down with oilskins and sea boots. He
was a native of Ireland 20 years old
Waterspout Hits Ship and ColIapses
According to report made to the
photographic Office yesterday by Cap
tain Macdonald Of the oil steamer w
s. Porter the tanker was struck March
90 by & waterspout. The ship was un-
harmed, the waterspout collapsed. 1t
was first seen on the port quarter
about a mile distant travelling toward
the steamer at speed of about 10
miles an hour. AS Ii approached the
ship Captain Macdonald footed vigor-
ously on the whistle and he believes
that this took all the starch out of the
liquid pillar, for it passed over the
jarring the ship and then collapsed.
siberia VIII Sail Today
With a king" in command and a
queen among the passengers the Pacific
Mail liner Siberia, Captain Adrian Zee
der. or the king, as he prefers TO be
called. viii sail at ] O'Clock today for
the far east. Among the passengers
will be former Queen Liliuokalani. who
has been in Washington pressing her
claims against Uncle Sam and who is
going back 10 her island home 10
await results.
There will also be a number of tea
men on board, going out to take their
pick Of the new crop. Among the tea
men viii be L. i. Pole. Z. j. Cowan,
Otis A Poole and George :. Beebe-
". J. Crittenden. who is a brother of
another passenger. T. Takahashi of
the Mitsui company viii be a passen-
ger as far as Honolulu TO meet the
Japanese naval squadron, with which
he will return to this port. The ST.
beria vii carry about $500 tons Of
on account of the tide the Siberia
VIII leave her berth some hours be-
fore sailing time and will take her
departure at 1 o'clock from the end
Of the wharf
UmatiIIa Carries Many Passengers
The Pacific Coast steamship COM
pany's Umatilla. Captain Thomas
Sound with 80 passengers and fun
cargo Among the passengers are
Der Of miners. A II. Kress, recently
appointed experimenting engineer for
the company at seattle, was a paSSen-
ger on the Umatilla, accompanied by
his wife.
GunpOwder for Salvador
The cargo Of the Pacific Mail liner
Acapulco, which sails tomorrow for
Panama and way ports, will include
200 kegs of gunpowder for Salvador.
The explosive is not consigned to the
government and may be intended for
the revolutionary party but is more
likely for blasting purposes in the
mines
Charges Against Barge Officers
Complaint was made yesterday 70
Surveyor Of the Port Woodward that
three barges belonging to- the Cali
fornia navigation and improvements
company had been allowed to remain
in Mission bay at night without dis
playing light signals. The company
is open to nne Of $500 for each
barge
oiIer on Steamer Injured
p " Houghton. an oiler on the
steamer Roanoke. which is being over
hauled at the Risdon iron works fell
through an open hatch into the yes
sel's hold yesterday afternoon and sus-
tained a fractured skull and internal
injuries. He is under treatment at
the Potrero emergency hospital. where
small hopes OF his recovery are enter
tanned
Water Front Notes