The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-19

lake towns, and the lonely cabin boy is
a Turkish noble Of the highest rank.
Bucknam has never forgotten the couple
who befricnded him, and whenever he
has an opportunity in the midst of his
rowing career he visits them. For their
part, they arc proud of the way the
waterside wastrel has turned out,
When he was 16 years old, Bucknam
sailed from New York as quartermastcr
of schooner bound for the Pacific.
AT Manila the captain and males died
Of cholera, and Bucknam went before a
special board TO be examined for mas.
tcr's certificate, he being the only man
aboard the vessel who had studied navi.
cation He passed the test without any
difficulty, and was made captain at
II, To prove his efficiency, he brought
his ship home
Early in the nineties, lie was in COM
mand of steamship that sailed from
Tampico for New York, laden with
hemp and silver. Twenty-four hours
out Of Tampico, he struck sunken
wreck and smashed his propeller 10
flinders. Bucknam called for volunteers
to return to the Mexican port in the
longboat and cable New York for n
tug. The mate and three men started
on the errand and performed 1t without
incident. But in the meantime, the
unmanagcable ship had been drifting
about at the viii of tho winds and
waves, and it required search OF
twenty days on the part of the rescuing
tug to find her.
In tow of the ting. the steamship
made Key West. It was assumed. of
course, that she would have to be drv-
docked before she would be fit for
sea again. But Bucknam baked at the
idea OF paying out money for what he
thought WASH t necessary So be shift,
ed all his cargo into the forward com
partments, which had the effect of set.
ting her by the head aud elcvatinc the
stern. Finding that the stern was not
sufficiently high in the air to enable
him TO get at the propeller shaft. he
stone ballast, and hitchcd her TO the
stem Of his ship.
Unique Feat at Sea.
This had the desired effect, and
Bucknam went ahead attaching the new
propeller he had ordered to the end of
the shaft, An admiral of the United
states navy, who happened 10 be at
Key West at the time. witnessed the
operation, and characterized it as one
Of the cleyerest Of its kind he had ever
heard Of. Indeed, it is said that Buck.
nam was the tIrst man 10 put propeller
on a ship without docking her. After
he had finished the fitting of the pro
peller and reshiftcd his cargo, he started
Tor New York.
BY an irony of circumstance. though.
inc shaft had been twisted at some
point In the middle of the shaft. pit.
ana 1T pounded so that most of the bolts
III thc null were loose when the vessel
arrived here. AS result. she had to
be locked, after all The insurance
agents age and others were indignant at
Bucknam because he had not dockcd her
In the first place, and extended Iitiqa
ton between the owners and the dis.
gruntled parties followed, But the feat.
on the whole, was regarded as a feather
IN Bucknam s cap
Shortly before the world s fair al Chi
cago, IN 1893, Bucknam went TO that
city and built the whalc.back Columbus.
OF winch he was captain, while she was
on exhibition at the fair. Later he
went to the Pacific coast and built the
whale back Sidney In 1895 he became
u mate in the Pacific Steamship com.
pany's service. and two years later was
made captain of the island at Naos
at Panama. IL was there that he met
Ledbetter. who has been his aide In
Constautinople for the last two wears.
lcdbetter at that time was captain
of the Bolivar. the little tender that
piled between Naos and Panama. There
were not many Americans in the 18th.
mlan town IN those days-that is to saw,
the kind of Americans with whom Buck.
nam cared to associate-so he and Led
better became great chums.
Just Little Invention.
While at Panama the future pasha in
vented an ingenious instrument, of
which, for some unknown reason, little
has been heard. 1t consisted of an
electrical device by which compass
automatically traced on chart the
route. vessel was taking. Bucknam
tested 1T at Naos a number of times.
IN the presence of others, and it always
worked well. About 1900 he was trans
ferred from Naos and became mate of
the City of Pelin, then the Pacific
Steamship company's new rans-Pacifc
liner.
1t was not long after his assignment
to the steamship that Bucknam re
ceiycd an offer from the Cramps to be-
come their nautical expert, In this po.
sition he came into frequent touch with
naval officers of this aud other coun~
tries, and his knowledge of naval sub
jects was broadcncd to an extent that
made him an authority, He was com
mandcr of the new battleship Maine
on her trial runs, and, when the Turk
ish cruiser MedUdia was finished, he
was sent to Turkey under three
months contraSt to train her Moham-
medan crew.
Just how IL happened, nobody seems
to know, but undeniably the Sultan took
fancy 10 the American sailor. The
Turkish fleet, since the day Of NAY
arino, had been a thing to joke about.
This state of affairs was not altogether
agreeable TO patriotic Turks, who could
remember the time when their galleys
of war were the scourge Of Mediter
ranean Europe, and Abdul Hamid
seemed TO feel that in Bucknam he
might count on force of regeneration.
He Pleased the Sultan.
At all events, the sultan sent for
Bucknam and asked him if he would
take the post of naval adviser to the
Porte. Bucknam considered the mat
ter and finally told Abdul IIamid that
he would Bucknam was practical and
the salary offered him was nothing
short of princely. But he stipulated
that he was to have a preliminary leave
Of absence in order that he could 90
home and marry a girl in San Fran
cisco. The sultan assented and Buc/
nam married the young woman, school
IN