Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-04-21
SKIPPER SOLVES
Light PROBLEM

people of THIS city would take a
friendly tip from me-" remarked
Captain Charles J. Campbell, veteran
skipper, president of the "gingerale
board and a well known figure in
shipping circles as the head of local
chandlery. ...y..
There need be no bother over the
mere matter of another electric COM
pany striving for franchise, with a
remedy right at Honolulu's front
door" added the erstwhile vessel
master in laying aside his evening
paper, to fill an order for fifty faith
ems of cable and several tons ships
stores. f. ,.
''The lighting Of great city is a
complicated problem and one that few
seafaring men would tackle, yet in my
time not only gave big city plenty
of light at night, but ] made name
for myself and also amassed fortune
which later lost in the stock mark
ct, said the skipper, reminisceftly,
as he glanced over the waters OF the
Earbor where the lights of the ships
at anchor twinkled.
at was largely by chance that Lac
complished this feat. 1t was when /
was master of the little coasting
steamer, Honey Boy, running from
Aspinwall to points along the coast
of Central and South America 1t was
at the time of the uprising OF Juan
Capristo in Salvador. / dropped
anchor in Acajutla one afternoon and
found the town literally in tears. The
rebels had been there and had destroy
ed the lighting plant and had also car
ried off all the yaluables they could
find, which wasn't much, as every
thing had been hidden.
Like all Central American cities,
the people loved pleasure. Without
lights there was no chance to enjoy
themselves, and it would be two
months before another steamer could
bring candles and oil and other light
producers. Well, sir, got to studying
over the difficulty and then / went to
the alcalde, or mayor, and asked him
what he'd give IL I'd furnish the town
with light Ne fell on my neck and
offered me all the money in the treas
ury, which consisted of about 81. SO
American money. said all right and
ordered him to gather all the bottles
in the town and bring them down to
my ship. / had them all taken below
and then / called the chief engineer
and explained my idea. Say, he
thought IL was great
I'm about two hours sent the sail
ors ashore with the bottles, and every
bottle glowed and threw off light like
a lamp. Then ] had these glowing
bottles strung along the street and
set around the cafes, and it was
brighter than ever before. )
Il also assured the people that these
lights would burn indefinitely and
that it wouldn't cost anything to main
tain them. They hailed me as their
savior, and brought me presents of
gold and jewels and all kinds of rare
and costly articles, until my vessel was
a regular treasure-house.
II looked over the scene and felt sat
isfied.
What was it that | used? Well, it
was simple. You know that those
tropical waters contain so much phos-
phorus that at night they're fairly,
ablaze. ! merely had the engineer
start the pump and / filled all those
bottles with sea water. The phos-
phords furnished the light
Those people still talk OF the Yam
kee skipper who saved them from utter
darkness, and | have since heard that
they erected statue in my honorsi in
the public square ..."- u
Add Twenty Freighters to Line
z. ]. NJ. Nash, special representa-
tive OF the Royal Mail Steam Packet.
line. has announced that his company
has just purchased the, Nelson steam
ship line, with a total of twenty
freight and passenger vessels, hav-.
ing an aggregate gross tonnage of.
100000 tons The Nelson line operates
between London and Liverpool and
the Argentine, and is the third line
to be taken over by the Royal Mail
the others. being the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company and the Lam
port & Hold line. The absorption of
the Nelson company gives the Royal
Mail Steam Packet line $40 vessels.
with a total gross tonnage of 1,7o0, 900
tons. ..........
Two Packets Kept Company "
Both at sea twenty-one days the
Matson schooner Muriel, Captain Hell
lingsen, and the bark r. P. Rithet,
Captain Nilsson, also flying the Matson
house flag, reached the Golden Gate
from the Hawaiian Islands ports. The
Muriel came from Mahukona and the
Rithet from Honolulu. Both wind
TANNERS were sugar laden. During
most of the voyage the vessels
were in company, and it is said that
as the result OF the race Skipper
Nilsson purchased for his friend, Cap
tain Heilingsen, a princey, square
meal in a bohemian restaurant and
also supplied cigars at half dollar
per. .....
Kauai Sugar Report .
Purser Akau in the lnterlsland
steamer Kinau reports the following
sugar at Garden Island ports: X. >,
NJ, 2150 bags; W., 200; G. & R.
1895: X p II 600. Mob, 1886;