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During
the Russo-Japanese War, in 1904, we chartered the cargo steamer "M. S.
Dollar" to carry a cargo for the Russian Government from San Francisco
to Vladivostok.
She
attempted to go through La l'errouse Straits but found it blocked with
ice so there was nothing left to do but attempt to go through the
Straits of Tsugam. It turned out that the look-out on the north end of
Hokkaido had seen the steamer try to go through La Perrouse and turn
back, and notified the gunboats guarding Tsugaru Straits to be on the
lookout for her.
She
stayed far enough out so that her smoke could not be seen, and during a
dark, stormy night she started to run through although the Japanese had
stationed two gunboats at each end of the Strait. Remarkable as it might
seem, with all lights out, she passed through without being seen. The
Straits are twelve miles long and three miles wide.
The
captain was to get a substantial bonus from the Russian Government if he
should arrive safely in Vladivostok, so he was pacing the bridge trying
to figure out what he would do with all this money. His castles in the
air came to a sudden termination by the appearance of a search light
sweeping the ocean: After passing backward and forward it rested at last
on the ship, so that she was discovered. The light was kept steadily on
the ship until in half an hour's time a cannon boomed out of the
darkness, as a polite invitation to stop, which was promptly done. After
waiting some time a boat came alongside and a demand was made to lower a
ladder, when an officer, of what turned out to be a Japanese man-of-war,
that was going up the Sea of Japan and not looking for them, came on
board followed by officers and armed marines. He asked the captain the
name of the ship and when told, passed the word down the line, "M. S.
Dollar," and each officer repeated it as they had heard she was bound
for Vladivostok,
They
took charge and took her into Hakodate where an examination of the
ship's officers was held, but the captain was the only man on board who
knew her destination and he would not tell. All they found was that the
ship's papers showed that her destination was Moji. All is fair in war,
so on general principles they decreed us guilty, and ordered her to
proceed to Yokosukfc, near Yokohama, to be tried by the prize court. To
show how complete and efficient their secret service was, my son Stanley
arrived in Kobe that night and knew nothing of the capture until an
officer placed him under arrest, stating that the next day he would be
taken to the prize court at Yokosuka.
When
taken before the court, the judge said: "You got a letter at the Kobe
post office from San Francisco: I want to see it." Stanley handed it to
him. and, after reading it, the judge had a hearty laugh and said: This
letter is from your father and he tells you this vessel is going to the
Orient; the Orient is a very big place. Your father must be a very
astute old gentleman; I would li;ke very much to meet him."
The
captain stuck to it and would not tell where he was going and the judge
said he would imprison him until the end of the war, so Stanley advised
him to make a clean breast of it, which he did. The captain was then
released, and the ship and cargo condemned.
Stanley asked the commandant of the Navy Yard if lie could take a
souvenir off the ship as she was named after his mother. He replied,
"Yes, with pleasure; what would you like?" In a joke Stanley said, "The
ship's anchors and chains." The commandant did not see the joke, but
said quite seriously, "Oh, I could not allow you to take them," Stanley
then said, "Well, would you allow me to take a silver sugar bowl which
has my mother's name on it?" His reply was, "Oh, yes, you can take it
with pleasure "
So,
for the time being, that ended our connection with this fine vessel. We
had her insured against loss from war risk for $180,000,000, which the
insurance companies paid.
The
year 1906 was the memorable year for all San Francisco people, as in
April we had the earthquake and fire that destroyed the city. I arrived
in Kobe April 18 and found two of the hotels had been burned, so it
seemed impossible to get a place to sleep. About 10 o'clock p. m. I
managed to get to a friend's house. He got up and prepared some supper
for me, and during the course of the conversation he said a cable had
come in stating that San Francisco had been destroyed by an earthquake
and fire, and, as all communication had been cut off, no further
information could be obtained.
The
next day I went to Yokohama and still could obtain no information.
However, three days later. I received a cable stating that our office
and contents had been destroyed and that we had opened an office in
Oakland. This information I posted so that Americans could know that
Oakland was intact, as a wild rumor had been circulated that it had been
overwhelmed by a tidal wave. All this did not relieve my mind much as I
was on my way to Tokio, where the steamer "M. S. Dollar" was to be sold
by the Japanese Government, and since every bank in San Francisco had
been destroyed I was perplexed to know where I was to get the money to
pay for the ship if I bought her, However, I arranged to get the money
in London if I could not get it in San Francisco.
The
Japanese had used her as a troop ship during the war, after which she
was put up at public auction and I bid her in for $55.000,000. She was
turned over to me at the Naval Station at Sasebo. I got a few men and
stores enough for one day to take her to Moji where I intended to load
her and fit her out. After leaving Sasebo it got very foggy and we could
not see the length of the ship. I remained on the bridge
until after 11 o'clock. It was a wet, miserable night and the captain
advised me to go and lie down. I told him I had some kind of a hunch
that something was going to happen; however, I went and laid down with
clothes, boots and all on. I had only been turned in an hour when the
captain wakened me and said there was something strange and he wanted me
to come on the bridge. It did not take me long to get there as the
thought flashed through my mind that this something was going to happen.
When we got back on the bridge he said he had seen a reflection on the
sky which looked like a rocket and it was dead ahead. We immediately
took soundings but could not get bottom. Just then another flash
appeared, which we both decided was a rocket. We checked up on our
course and found it would clear an island by ten miles, so that this
must be a vessel in distress out on the open China Sea. We had no
rockets to answer, but made a flare-up of oakum and oil. This brought a
reply as we immediately heard a steamer's whistle, indistinctly, in the
distance. We soon came up near to where she was, but it was so foggy and
dark we could not make her out. When daylight came we found her to be
the German mail steamer "Roon." She had gone ashore on the island, which
we both thought our courses would clear by ten miles. The current had
set both ships off their courses. Fortunately for us, she went on for if
she had not we certainly would have landed in her place. We lowered a
boat and went cautiously to her, as there was a considerable sea, but
the captain told me he had two hundred passengers and his No.1i hold was
full of water, so I arranged with him that I would take them all on
board and we would try and pull bun off. I also told him we only had one
day's provisions for our own crew of twenty men and that we had no
bedding, so he supplied us with the necessities. We had a hard job
transferring all the passengers on account of the heavy sea and the
blinding rain storm. They were a woe begone lot, all cold, wet and
miserable.
We
pulled on the "Roon" for half a day, and could not move her as she had
settled down forward on a pinnacle rock. I advised the captain to flood
his after hold and tip her up off the rock but he said it was a very
valuable cargo and he did not like to destroy it.
AN IMMENSE PANEL ON OUTER WALL, TEMPLE OP
BARABOEDOER—SHOWING CARVINGS AND BAS RELIEFS
We
arranged to take the passengers to Moji and telegraph for a German
man-of-war that was at Kobe to come and help him. We got to Rockuron
quarantine station just at dark and the officers would not come on
board. So we lowered a boat and I went ashore, which was such a breach
of etiquette that I was arrested by soldiers as soon as I put my foot on
shore. They started to march me off to the guard house, and while I
could not talk to them I made signs vigorously that I wanted to go to
the commandant's house. So they took me there and although he talked
English I certainly had a cold reception, but I explained to him about
the condition of the two hundred people on board, many of them women and
children.
I
made no headway until I told him Count Hyashi, Minister to Spain, was on
board. That caused him to come on board, but he reminded me that I was
still under arrest. I told him I did not care what he did with me so
long as he allowed the people to proceed to Moji. I got the ear of the
Count first, then he interviewed the Commandant, with the result that
after five minutes talking in Japanese the passengers and myself were
allowed to proceed to Moji. We arrived there about midnight, but the
quarantine officer had telegraphed ahead and the chief of police was
waiting with boats and took care of every one in a very satisfactory
manner. I wired for the man-of-war to go to the "Roon." He got there the
following day, but failed to pull her off and a storm coming up he was
compelled to pull out. The captain of the "Roon" later took my advice
and flooded his after hold, and she backed of herself and proceeded on
her own steam to Nagasaki where she was repaired.
The
year 1907 was an eventful one. The early part of the year business was
fair, but the latter part was about as poor as it could possibly have
beer., as we had a genuine financial panic. The banks stopped payment
and resorted to the use of Clearing House certificates in the place of
gold and currency.
Affairs got to the point in the coastwise trade where it was impossible
to get a new dollar for an old one. As a result a great fleet of vessels
was laid up in San Francisco Bay, amongst others being many of our
coastwise steamers.
In
the early part of the year we remodeled our China business. While it had
been, in a measure satisfactory, and we had been making money out of it,
still it was not in such shape that we could extend and enlarge it as we
had hoped to do. Therefore, in the reconstruction, all this was planned.
At that time we had a small office in Sezchuen Road, Shanghai. We
afterwards moved to more commodious offices on the corner of Sezchuen
and Nanking Roads, and at present are located in large new offices on
Canton Road fronting the Bund.
As
stated, this was a year of financial panics, but fortunately we had been
prepared beforehand, so it did not affect our business to any great
extent. |
