The San Francisco call., 1910-10-06
LAUNCH and
SCHOONER
HOBNOb
harbOr Commission Skipper De-
cIares He Saw Powder
Craft on Visit
FINGER OF SUSPICION
POINTED AT VESSEL
Burns Talked With Engineer of
Peerless. but Got Short
Replies
MYSTERIOUS KATE WAS
SOLD ON SEPTEMBER ii


The Call directed attention a few
days ago to the power schooner Kate
as the vessel that might have taken
The explosives used in wrecking the
office of the Los Angeles Times from
this port to san Pedro A statement
made yesterday by E. J. Burns. cap
tain Of the harbor commission launch
James y. Gfllett Jr.. lends strong color
TO the belief that the Kate figured in
the dynamite plot. Burns is one of
the few men that saw the Kate. Burns
also saw the launch that was tenn
porsrily the Peerless" alongside the
Kate, and his story closely connects
the launch that got the dynamite and
Inc schooner that sailed a few days
later. ostensibly for Galapagos island.
Burns also held a brief conversation
with the man that operated the Peer
less and his description of that in
diFidual tallies with that of one of
the men TO whom the powder was de-
livered a Giant.
NoORED IN ISOLATION
The Kate lay for week or so in
Mission bay said Burns yesterday. lin
2 little blight between the Union oil
company's wharf and the Hooper lum-
Der company's slip. I noticed that the
vessel was Quitting for trip and I
wondered at the time why it was
moored in such an out Of the way place
] saw the Kate on Thursday after
noon. September %, coming from the
direction Of Bay Farm island. l noticed
inat It was very fast and supposed it
81 IS on a trial trip. / remember SAYING
a. the time that it was steering
t1nny course. The Kate was out again
the next afternoon, and I saw it again
coming from the same direction. It
was that same afternoon, September %.
the day the three men received the
lynamite, that I saw the little launch.
When I first saw it it was alongside
tae Kate I knew the launch, had seen
= often. and when I saw the picture in
the paper Of the Pastime I recognized
X as the same boat.
LAUNCH RUN CARELESsLY
I saw the launch again on the Sat
urdaT- Il was coming over from the
direction Of Oakland There was only
one man on board. and. while he prob
ably knew something about q gasoline
engine, he was pretty ca Eeless. to saw
the least in his handling of the boat.
There was strong tic running. and
he crossed the bow OF the Sonoma so
close that I thought the tide would
carry him against il. He headed over
toward Butchertown. I say him later
at Hunters point. From there he went
in toward Sixteenth street. where the
Kate was moored. remarked to some
body that he must be out planting duck
blinds.
The Kate cleared at the custom house
september %. The vessel was cleared
by 4. Adolphson and the name of the
master was given as Captain Engdau.
-Neilher agent nor master is known at
tne custom house or in the shipping
world.
KATE SOLD IN SEPTEMBER
The vessel was believed here to be
owned by Victor Primrose of San
Diego The latter told The Call repre-
sentative in San Diego yesterday that
ne sold the schooner Kate TO Captain
NJo ohn Osterhaus about September ! OF
this year, and said that Osterhaus left
here with the Kate September II for
san Francisco. Primrose. declared he
Knew nothing further about the vessel.
At the merchants exchange last night
all knowledge OF Captain Osterhaus
was denied.
sa mon ship Levi G. Burgess on Sunday
morning. September 20, says he saw a
power schooner going out through the
heads he was on the deck of the
Burgess looking for some of his own
launches that he expected out to the
ship His description Of the schooner.
which was well over toward the Marin
shore, would fit the Kate although at
the time Crowley thought il was a fish
Ing vessel.
Wren 7 ran my launch into the float
between Howard 2 and 3 at quitting
tine the Pastime came in too. The fell
low that was running It. the safe fellow
rad noticed before. tied up his boat in
the corner. I met him on the bulkhead
and told him IL he was going to tie up
for the night that he had better find an
other berth, as the dredger might be in
there LATER IA
oh, I'm only going to stay an hour
or So
LOOKED LIKE COLLEGIAN
He walked away toward the ferry.
] had q good look at him and would
have taken him for a college man. He
was thickset and very athletic. He
weighed. should judge. about $50
pounds and was about my height. feet
inches. His shirt sleeves We're rolled
tp above the elbows. His arms were
covered with a fresh coat OF tan. He
was clean shaved and wore a suit of
white and black bib overalls. He had a
dent in one of his eyebrows. think it
was the left side. The lower part of
his eye was drawn down as If it had
been burned or operated on. The eye
was very large and stuck out in Pc.
GUITAR way. 1t looked to me like glass
eve. Tn not sure about that, but do
know that / would recognize him If
saw him 10 years from now"
The Kate cleared for Galapagos ISL
and for a cargo Of turtles. vessel
of its size would have had little diff
Guilty in running into San Pedro with
out attracting attention and discharg-
ing 2 quarter of a ton of freight 1t
would also have been possible for the
vessel TO have stood off shore and
given ar imitation of a fisherman dur
ing the interval between the landing
OF the freight and the blowing up OF
the Times Office
II would have been just as simple for
the vessel to have returned to San
Pedro on the night of the explosion
ard taken off the -dynamiters. The
Noyage for Galapagos could then have
been resumed. With all on board stand
ing in on the plot, the vessels log
could have been so doctored that upon
the return Of the Kate all on board
would have the ships records to- prove
that they were out under the southern
cross Al the time the EXPLOSION took |