The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 6, 1902, Page 1

-—ull. | to be taken from | P ———— ' VOLUME XCL-NO 37. SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY, JANUARY ‘6, 1902. PRICE FIVE CENTS. FRENCH BARK THAT WROUGHT WALLA WALLA'S DOOM _ARRIVES, BROKEN OF BOW B AND SHATTERED OF HULL, ~.L.“WITHOUT ONE SURVIVOR FROM THE LOST STEAMSHIP BARK THAT RAMMED STEAMER TOWED INTO PORT. HE arrival last evening of the French bark Max in tow of the steamer Acme and the revenue cutter McCulloch has scrved in some degree to dispel the mystery surrounding the frightful collision which resulted in the loss of the Walla Wella. The bark is greatly damaged at the botw, and when found was drifting along the coast, the heavy seas threatening at times to fill and submerge her. The vessel brought no persons who were on the Walla Walla and the officers and crew manifested an extraordinary reluctance to ca tragedy. The Max was placed in quarantine and no communication with her was permitted last night. The steamship Pomona arrived yesterday with a large of the passengers, officers and crew who were on the ill-fated Walla Walla at the time of the collision with the Max. Nothing further has been learncd of the other wiss- el b SRR, CHRD R BBOARST TME DEFEANCE Disabled Vessel Max Is Found Drifting Helplessly Along the "Northernl Coast With Bowsprit Tk Away and Bow Crushed and Shattered and Is Towed to This Port by the Revenue ; Cutter lVIcCuHoch and b ¢ ITH bowsprit torn away and bow crushed, the bark Max, 3“?‘ the Frenchman that sent the Walla Walla to the bottom ‘,'3_. of the oeean, was towed into port late last night. Riding \ 4 the sea in tarmdem fashion, the steam coaster Acme and the McCulloch rolled outside and into the harbor, where the cutter the battered bark tugged of the Walla Walla. was sighted ye sterday afternoon, shortly aftq1' 3 o'clock, about ten rthwest of Point Rey ived without a single survivor s, a rumor ran round the city that she had picked up some of the wrecked passengers and crew of the Walla Walla. 1 miles outside the Heads Captain Robert Benoist of the Max gave formation to the contrary. any survivors aboard®” was shouted .from The Call tug e answer came back over the waters that none were picked up. “Are you badly "damaged?” was next asked Captain Benoist. Our bow is shattered.” ugh megaphones the conversation was carried on, the bark rolling er rent nose shipping water whenever a heavy wave struck well “Yes, we are in a bad way. Crew of the Max Returns No Complimentary Answer. id you spring a leak?” then lost in the wind. Captain Benoist speaks English, ’ He said the bark was not leaking. Cap- idquist of the Acme had a different story to tell. 1 the megaphone was brought into play. was asked of the Acme’s skipper. “We did,” said Captain Lundquist in a jubilant tone _ “We found her “rench accent. “Who picked the Max up 2 A surly “No” followed from the skipper and - ~ seven miles south of Point Gorda and she was having a hard time of it. She was beating about’ aimlessly, all sails set. _She was leaking.” Lunquist was the first to sight the damaged ship. He .gave a rope to the Max about 11 0’clock Saturday morning off Point Gorda, about eighteen miles from the scene of the accident and seventy-six miles north of Point Arena. Then came the Acme’s tow southward. work at the best. At 9 o'clock yesterday morning the McCulloch, which left here Friday afternoon, picked up with the Acme and her salvage and gave a helping haul. Two hawsers were attached to the bark from the Acme and one from the McCulloch to the coaster. Vessel Shows Plainly Ruin Wrought by Collision. Slowly riding the heavy sea the Max, with sails furled, looked the disabled ship she is. ~ Great interest attended the approach of the tug, with reporters and artists aboard, and the crew, gathered on deck, often shouted back an- swers addressed to the captain. French and English and the mixture of both were yelled over the water. ; The forward part of the vessel was apparently twisted out of shape and the bowsprit was lacking. - The vessel seeme to have butted her nose against an iron wall, the result being a smash such as follows the impact of hard- boiled egg on a table. Although the ship was in ballast and her ordinary sea line was six feet out of water, the damage extended to a point no less than three féet from the water. The jibboom was cut off and with it the dolphin striker and the figure-head. All of the rigging that connects the jibboom with the foremast was lacking and its loss showed that the collision which sent the Walla Walla to the bottom narrowly escaped sending the Max to the same place. : The ship seems to lack the gigantic strength required to sink a vessel of the tonnage of the Walla Walla, and there is nothing about her to suggest that through her many lives have been sacrificed and ‘many a happy home has been made desolate. It was a hard pull and slow 4 the Steamer Acme. The first news that the Max was making San Francisco was brought in by the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company’s steamer George W. Elder, which ' arrived from the Columbia River yesterday. The Max was spoken off the Mendocino coast and signaled that she had been in collision with an unknown steamer. Just about that time the Acme and the McCulloch showed up and took the Frenchman in tow. “We had pretty heavy weather after leaving Astoria,” said Captain “Clem” -Randall of the Elder yesterday. “Off the Columbia River it blew a gale, but nevertheless we were able to lay. our course. At 10:50 a. m. on January 5 we ran a-ross the French bark. She had her bowsprit carried away and -her bow, as near as I could see, was stove in both below and above the water line. She was a complete wreck and nothing but her water-tight rompartments were keeping her afloat. She was low in the water and when I signaled them if they wanted assistance there was a slight hesitation and then came the answer, ‘All's well” When we saw the Max she was eighteen miles northwest of Point Reyes. It looked to me as though the bark had run plumb into the steamer, but what course he was steering and what reason he had to be on that tack, bound inshore. is a mystery to me.” The Max dropped anchor in the quarantine grounds between Lime Point and Alcatraz. Early in - the cvening a strict patrol was estab- lished and all approaching vessels were ordered to keep 100 yards away irom the line. This quarantine was rigidly maintained duriag the night and all ef- forts to communicate with the vessel were unsuccessful. Abou 11 o'clock the patrol boats were withdrawn, but a quarantine officer was placed on board to warn all trespassers away. Lights were burning in the after cabin, but even the distress signals of a launch were allowed to go unheeded. The vessel will pass quarantine some time this morning. Her ar- rival after sundown and the peculiar circumstances that brought her to this port, together with the issues involved. apparently made these precautions necessary. Upon the report of the captain of the Max to the French Consul will depend in a great measure the liability for the disaster. Max was at fault the vessel will be libeled. 1i the captain of