The San Francisco call., 1910-05-02
PIONEER MARINER
CROSSES The BAR
Passing of Capt. Lueder Hop
ken, Sole Survivor of the
Wreck of SchellehOp

| ALAMEDA, May Captain Lueder
Hopken. pioneer master mariner, resi-
dent of Alameda for AZ years and one
of the builders of the first streetcar line
between Alameda and Oakland. died
this morning at his home, $40 Santa
Clara avenue. He was a native of
Bremen, Germany, and was rs years
of age.
When a boy of II Hopken arrived in
New York. He worked his way to the
Pacific coast on a sailing vessel and in
1853, when but q years old, had risen
to the position of captain and piloted
his ship through the Golden gate, the
youngest master mariner to accomplish
the feat up to that time.
In 1871. while on voyage from San
/ Francisco to Callao in command OF the
/ bark Schellehop, of which he was also
I the owner, Captain Hopken and his
crew of Il men were shipwrecked. The
vessel drifted about for 109 days in a
waterlogged condition. All of the crew
died of starvation or else went insane
and drowned themselves.
RESCUED IN NICK OF TIME
The wreck was sighted by the
steamer Moses Taylor, bound from San
Francisco for Honolulu. A boat was
/ lowered from the steamer and sent of
to the wreck.
Captain Hopken was found lying on
the deck of the Schellehop in an un-
conscious condition. For four days
preceding his rescue he had kept him
self alive by tapping the dew chat gath
cred during the nights on the rigging
and works of the waterlogged bark.
Judge NJ Stuart Taylor of this city
was a passenger on the Moses Taylor
/ when that vessel sighted the wreck
He recalls the rescue Of Captain Hop
ken ViVidly. Judge Taylor was on his
way to Australia at the time.
L remember clearly the circum-
stances of the rescue of Captain Hop
ken" said Judge Taylor, although It is
close to 40 years ago since 1t took place.
When the boats crew from the Moses
Taylor, which was dubbed the Rolling
Moses because the steamer rolled con-
tinually in any kind of sea, boarded
the wreck they found Captain Hopllen
in what they thought was dying con-
dition. He was wasted almost 10 a
skeleton and was so weak that he could
not walk. I remember how he was
lifted into the boat and brought to the
Moses Taylor.
CAPTAINS AWFUL NARRATIVE
His story of shipwreck. starvation
and the deaths OF his mates, told when
he had regained some of his strength,
was awful and thrilling. The passen-
gers on the Moses Taylor took up a
subscription for Captain Hopken. We
landed him in Honolulu and l continued
1 on my way to Australia"
Captain Hopken settled in Alameda
in 1868 near what is now the corner of
Ninth street and Lincoln avenue. There
were but two houses in that part of
Alameda then.
Captain Hopken at one time owned
almost all of Alameda west of what is
now Sixth street. Nearly so years ago
Captain Hopken and the late Theodore
Meetz constructed the first streetcar
line between this city and Oakland For
90 years prior to the big fire in San
Francisco Captain Hopken was a. ship
surveyor at that port for Lloyds. His
old Office was at 321 California street.
Since the San Francisco disaster the
veteran mariner lived a retired life.
Captain Hopken was the inventor of
several contrivances which he had pat
ented. Among them was machine for
turning out sugar cubes.
Captain Hopken is survived by his
wife, Mathilde T. Hopken, and son,
Lueder c. Hopken.