The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 2, 1898, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 1898. DASHE D TO PIECES Sea Captains, Pilots and Lookouts Re- late the Stories of the Most Thrilling Shipwrecks on the Bar. HOUGH there is a common belief that there is little ad sailors nge in foliowing t acent to the regard Golden the San Francisco bar most dangerous in the world when great storms are he calling of a pilot in the waters Gate it is well known that as one of the arding incoming steamers and piloting ships in rough weather are two of the most dangerous services that the n affor g experie the of wept teems with the memo; distressing pictures of men vérboard, of ships swamped by mountain waves, and of ve T ished arrowin One h powe ai Boarding an ocean stean mparatively trifling fe water the gentle fon cks or a when the sez of being swept ssels tossed en to mere fic thin the past twenty years San Francis a score of disasters of the 1 nearly g deta ears the are countless Barber of the p| her all is we ships, when th m, and when the hearts of filed with the fear that they will never see the shore under her lec But in a cross vhen great br pilot takes his vay sides: of .the ship eviathans of the deep O while the little yawls wi 1 with ¢ coming In the story carry lashed to atoms on the rock f human ured b; 4 their inderou like > stories in their simplicity t flavor along the , or at some of the local bars of the shore—between s are n it “blows great gums.” a and of corks upon an angry otsam and jetsam by the fu harbor has full of sea and with a head- water~front, at the pilots dangers in our business,” said ilot association, a few days ago. 11, but the er is beyond imag- s er the masts of e rac in favor of the the ola sea-dogs are >at sailing vessel is a ora g 1t when she lies broadside on, when is almost g ana the swell is 1, with the wind in every direc- ers are dashing violently over her in his hands, for he runs the dashed into pulp against the The great ften remain comparatively quiet th pilots aboard are dashed vio- wave. sy or of wild nights on the bar there are lives snuffed out as if they were an angry flame. The appeals of cries terror have been voice- s rebellowings of the deep, the s have swept over them in the silence and mists ue s rocks ghts—and the record of their instant foss has story of their live ous than the adventures of pilots of tug boats. Though the dan- have much in com- > a drowning man, is likely rs in the vortex, or to lure them where tuz boats and ships alike shore. The experiences f pilots and masters of tug boats are interesting, and the nson STORY JOHN s the bhar a ¢ tell of Crusoe. Here t OF CAPTAIN} X SILOVICH. [« the horrifying scenes now nightmar wa & -fr the: v Wwrec Th the - Gald withia i reason -h N to-pull b alf an N ice ar fthe st id th jarer, capsized. up. by cres tremend( béach:. It w choppy: hreaking, ke Her; Coleard: h 20D, 16" the We e.. All afternoon thé seutheast, the weather was rain; ightful sea, n_ Gate station. wind, blow then the Aler d"ehe =k Pr d about ctically f the wildest nights they ever expe: as thrilling as those of the storm wrecked and all cn board, including sixte which rendered it relief party from the governmer beyond human aid. nced are some of them no question that one of the worst storms ever 1 this coast was that which raged during the after- noon of February 21, he American Zlizabeth was 1891, when three-masted ship totally wrecked, n f the crew and the captaln, were drowned. I remember it an: @istinctly and come back to me like a terrible a terrific gale was blowing from and thick, and there impossible for the life saving station to find el ‘or pull anywhere near the place where she was ship went to pieees near Rocky Point, ten miles from The lizabeth crossed the bar ing fresh. The tug Monarch first of which I was master. Captain of the Elizabeth, and for some strange the cost of the tow until his ve: When three the case began to look hopele: as:_well as for the Elizabeth, for the fury of the irted our haw almost as soon as we could were lost, boats were swamped and alone king. Her the hawser wa Br 1] -, UF's ke 1 T by After ed a L towing f w nd. 1 VET AT al “of i fter i stant lowered Thrée nie the tug. Reli the ‘captain’s vife z sed “the tugs wer urf, Whic blowing and-little headw life. boats tossi s m the rocks, ad-the Act attempted to save the ship she was in a ails were thrown aback and her shore, in an effort to wear her s passed on board and we tried when the line parted and caused Her yards were still aback and we as there was a strong ebb-tide. , and a terrific gale was coming some of the sails had been furled round we were able to make a her off shor: ‘We were in seven vater. We signalled the tug Re- , but the terrific force lizabeth' to the four fathom bank, as run up. s were flooded by violent seas rd and his little son swept from the captain being seriously in- itter, but it was swamped and lung to the bottom and were picked That tug’s dingey also rescued hildren. Before the storm in- ywing life boats through the breaking furioysly on the urricane, the sea was sharp and could be made. With hawsers and seas flooding every deck it was a scene never to be forgotten. No boat courd have survived beyond the heads. Just at this time an enormous sea threw one of the lifeboats partly under and athwart the bow of the tug and the keeper shouted, “Cut the tow line.” When the storm was raging with the greatest violence the bunker plates were lifted and the bunkers filled with water, which came over the fire room floor and almost up to the furnaces. Darkness crept on as the swelling ocean rolled high and it was impossible to catch sight of men or boat. It was by a supreme effort that the crew kept the life boat off the rocky lee shore, toward which the fierce tempest, the strong eddy and the heave of the sea were driving her. At this moment, while making our way into harbor to undergo repairs, we extended a line to the life boat trying to save her crew. One of the great difficulties of the night was the in- tense darkness, and the rain was so blinding that nothing could be seen on the surging bosom of the tempestuous sea. Whenever I think of the way the Elizabeth was pounded to pieces, whenever I again recall the roaring of the gale and the deep thunders of the sea I say to my- self that it disaster which forever lenced seventeen lives and left the Elizabeth a total wreck on a rocky shore. The most tempestuous venture I ever experienced was some years ago in the storm which nearly swamped the ship Roos. I was piloting this ship cut of the heads and the pilot boat Lady Mine was following us to take me off and back to shore. Suddenly the gale became so heavy that it would have blown any man out of the water and swamped any boat that might have been launched. The ship plunged like a thing of life and shivered every time she was struck by the mountainous seas. From my posi- tion in the pilot house I could see the spray dash over the masthead of the Lady Mine. Captain Boyd, who was on the pilot boat. says he could not see our ship at all and he felt that those on the Lady Mine had all they could do to keep from foundering in the mighty seas. The fury of the storm increased from hour to hour and gave no promise of abating till late in the night. We put out to sea and the only way I got back to San Francisco was to wait until the calm the next day, during which the pilot boat had no trouble taking me aboard. I have heard a great many stories of gal choppy seas and all that, but I will match the furious breakers which dashed so wildly over the masthead of the Lady Mine against an thing I ever read in stories of the sea or heard told at the hearthstones where old tars gather and narrate ex- periences of the deep. Sandy Hook pilots have to contend with wind and ice and frost and snow. We are exempt from these compara- tivel nl terrors, but we have some of the most terr! and southwesters that can be imag- that its extent is so vast STORY OF CAPTAIN G. E. WALLACE. h: ic southeasters ined. The trouble with our bar is that the area of all American bars is insignificant in com- parison. I think one of the worst disasters that ever came under my observation was the wreck of the Caleb Curtis on the 11th of April, 1867. She foundered on the bar and all were lost, among them Captain John Shan- der, Aurelius Buckingham, Harry Van Ness and seven others.. This was a terrific southeast storm. The fury of the elements was so great that nothing could withstand the wind. After the storm had apparently reached its maximum the sea sud- denly grew heavier and the velocity of the wind greater. It was thus, amid the deafening roar of the waves and the soughing violence of the veritable hurricane that the Curtis and 211 on board went down despite everything they could do. The memory of hat terrible catastrophe of the is enough to give this coast a record, even if it has the name of being a pacific region. Some of the most interesting stories of the dangers of the bar in stormy weather naturally come from the govern- ment observation stations, where Uncle Sam’s eagle-eyed marine wdtchmen keep vigil during perilous as well as calm weather. John Hyslop, one of the best known ob- servers on the coast, tells an interesting story of the wreck of the wrecking hooner Samson, which was stranded and destroyed by fire January 4, 1895, near Point Bonita at which time the crew of the Reliance, gunction with the Fort Point life saving station, braved one of the worst seas ever witnessed in the vicinity of the Golden Gate. - Keeper Hyslop's story is as follows: It was during a midnight tempest which the govern- ment report says passed the mark among big storms. It was a gale surpassing in intens- ity any storm of recent years. LOOKOUT HYSLOP'S When Lifeboat Keeper Hodgson appealed for aid the tug Reliance bravely responded despite the dan- gerous weather. hortly after the steliance left the Fort Peint station with the lifeboat in tow the storm proved so severe that neither the master of the Reliance nor the keeper of the station deemed it wise or incumbent on them to venture further while darkness prevailed. Turn- ing back a little distance to await the approach of daylight, they again steamed out, with a tremendous tempest raging at their back and a lee shore of the most terrific character ahead. The schooner's boat containing the shipwrecked men was so close in shore when discovered that mot only cour- age but sound judgment and excellent seamanship were required to reach it and rescue the crew. This was all accomplished amid the crashing of the elements and the constant boarding of heavy seas. Keeper Hodgson took STORY OF CAPTAIN T. H. BARBER. sea acting in con- a wonder we were not all lost in the terrible - AGAINST THE GOLDEN GATE his lifeboat in among the rocks close to the Samson, to make sure that there were no others needing assistance. Throughout all that tempestuous night it “was all that . skillful officers and brave men could do to preserve their own lives as well as those of the persons they were out to rescue. The Samson was lost after a long and perilous record in the vicinity of the wrecked steamship City of New York. She had remained at anchor near the New York through the stormy season, though the master of the Samson con- sidered the place unsafe, owing to the rocky bottom and the high almost perpendicular cliffs abutting the shore close by. On January 3 the wind, which had been light from the southeast for two or three days, increased greatly, with every prospect of growing stronger. The Samson, though heavily anchored and also moored at the stern, soon felt the force of the gale to such an extent that it was considered advisable to let her swing free at her an- chor; early in the forenoon her stern moorings were cast off. Between 10 and 11 o'clock she was tugging fiercely at the single chain and rolling and pitching so violently that a second anchor was let go. Up to this time the crew seemed confident that they were not in much dangen, but an hour later the schooner began to drag her anchors, and, as she was not provided with motive power, all hands realized that they were in great peril and helpless. So the signals of distress were set. I shall never forget those signals. An old and well whipped American ensign, two and a half by five feet, was hoisted on the mainmast while a gray blanket and a white sheet below it were shown on the whip of the der- rick, which stood forward of the foremast. These signals were not seen, owing to the blinding rain, but a boat was sent to appeal for aid. Signals were given by the lighthouse wharf siren and it was not long until the Re- liance was on the scene. With the descent of darkness the storm grew heavier, but the crew of the Samson, in- stead of taking to their boats while they could, simply set anchor lights and remained at the mercy of the gale. When Captain Silovich arrived the storm was picking up the tops of the seas, filling the air thick with spoon drift, and the darkness was so intense that nothing could be dis- tinguished a ship’s length ahead, while the tug had all she could do to hold her own windward. ‘While all this was going on the gale ashore turned to a hurricane. Lighthouse men had to crawl on their hands and knees to avold being blown over the bluff. With every heave of the sea the doomed vessel dragged a little nearer to the rock-bound shore and at half past 3 her disheartened crew set to work to get their boats afloat, the first one launched being a small yawl. Divers James Dolan and George Baker got into the yawl, which at once broke adrift and was swept leeward in the darkness, since which time nothing has ever been heard of the men or the slightest fragment of the yawl When daylight appeared the tug and the lifeboat began the search for the schooner or her crew. Every eye swept the expanse of waters, but the dense mists and blinding sheets of rain were almost impenetrable to the vision Finally some of the crew were discerned in a boat near the shor fie 1y battling to keep their boat away from the rocks. They were almost worn out after their long contest with the storm. It was plain to be seen that the rescuers had a vperilous undertaking, but it was equally plain that unless they acted promptly the boat of the crew would be dashed to pieces on the rocks and all aboard drowned. The Reliance, therefore, boldly drop- ped further inshore, and the lifeboat cast off with the purpose of drifting to the ship- wrecked men and tak- ing them in tow. Lines were carefully thrown at the moment when the tug was close aboard and the eight- een men of the crew were saved without mishap. Just after the lifeboat cast anchor in the vicinity of the ship- wrecked sailors a tre- mendous sea rushed to- ward her and threat- ened to pitch her upon the rocks, but the ca fortunately strain. I have seen a great many of the se t storms that have ever been witnessed on this coast, and I am of the stood the opinion that some of the more notable ones will rank in violence and dangers to ships with any in the world. This is because the bar is large and very shallow, being but five fathoms for a great dis- tance. One of the most violent tempests in local history was that which destroyed the pilot boat Relief and her crew in March, 1863. The pilots had got away from the boat but the crew was nct able to escape. The moment of the disaster was one of the most memorable in the nistory of high seas out here. Billows were rolling as high as moun- tains, seas were breaking and the elements wcre strangely at war. At the fatal moment a heavy sea lifted the Relief almost out of the water and turned her over backward. That settled it, and the whole disaster was cver in a moment. This cccurred about six miles from the Cliff House on one of the most dangerous places on the bar. Another wild night was the time when the pilot boat Comamodore T. H. Allen was cut in twain by the big ship Sir William Wallace. This was many years ago. Captain Earcer had a hard time getting away. It was a strange sea. One moment there would be a comparative calm, followed the. next by sharp squalls and blinding rain. Nobody was lost, but it was a most exciting event. The disaster occurred about 9 p. m., and there was very little time for any delay. As soon the officers saw that they had been done for there was the quickest launching of boats on record. It was as bad as the wrecks of the year STORY OF CAPTAIN GEORGE.SCOTT. 19 et —————— e ——— 1859, when several big schocaers were lost on the rocky coast. Then thete was the strange experience of the _ship Bremen. It was aboat 1880 that she was driven ashore on the sorith side of the Faral- lones Islands and was a ¢total loss, though some of the crew were saved. / The escape of the cap- tain was one of the m st miraculous of all the events aone will hear a’ong the water front when tars tell tales of the sea. When the wreck was driven ashore the ciuptain was spry enough to drop from the jib boom on to the rocks near where the fog sirerc was located. It was at this moment that the, attendant of the fog sign: apparatus was .bout to blow a warning to the distressed sailors to show them where they were. “Just as the man was about to sound the fog signal-th's captain of the wrecked ship ap- peared on a huge rock in front of the station, frightened *he keeper almost to death. You needn’t blow the thing now,” shouted the ‘almost exhausted captain. “It's all over with the Bremien er that year was the loss of the which foundered on the west hore of the Farallcnes. All who escaped got: ¥ by jumping from -the jib boom on to the - tting out of range of the seas as s00n as possible. . OF course all the experiences I have ever had = will ot compare in some respects with my work" in helping to tow the wrecked Elizabeth, when the was so fie F that line after line was parted. As the story. already been ed by Captain Silovich I. . add that a man might work among wrecks and fight with wind and wave for many . - ear before he would ever get into such. a: dis- - as that again. e The Sailors Cut the Hawser Just as the Helpless Ship Rose Above Them. ce. and the seas so heavy .'!