San Francisco Call, Volume 87, Number 99, 9 March 1902 — FIRST BOATBUILDER ON THE PACIFIC COAST [ARTICLE]

FIRST BOATBUILDER ON THE PACIFIC COAST

/-y APTAIN DOMTNGUKZ MARCDCCI | / Is the pioneer boatbullder of the PaI /« ciSc Coast, and the first to establish' \Ls a shipyard In Ban Francisco. Captain Marcuod Is now retired from business and lives at bis pleasant home, 2011 Golden Gate avenue. He Is a wellpreserved gentleman, nearins his Beventyfiftn rear, above the medium height, of ¦tronc build and compact frame and has a larre head and mild, expressive eyes. His general features denote a man of energy, strong will power and a determination to succeed. Zn speaking of boatbuilding; In the early days, the captain said: "The contrast between then and now Is very great and no doubt It will seem amusing to shipbuilders of the present to know what kind of craft w« h&d In those days. Before coming to Ban Francisco I had worked as an apprentice In the shipyard of Mathew Van Duzen at Philadelphia, who was a very good man — one of the best. I began In 1X40. when I was 13 years of age. I was born in Venezuela and came to Philadelphia from that country. I arrived in San Francisco on September 18. 1849, on the steamer Oregon. She was built In New York, and was one of tire three steamers built for the Paclflc Mail Steamship Company — the Panama and the California being the others. There came with me Jacob Albertson, a boatbuilder; Jacob Price and William Kendall, ship joiners; Hugh May, Joseph Alderman and Nat Thompson, engineers, and Captain Isaac Warren. I came out with the intention of establishing a shipyard here, and was employed to put together a small sternwheel steamer which had been built in' sections in Philadelphia and shipped here on tne Oregon by George W. Asplnwall, brother of H. Asplnwa.ll of the Pacific' Mail Steamship Company. The day after our arrival we landed the material of that steamer and began to put it together. My shipyard, as it may be called, was on the beach Just south of Folsom street and east of Beale. the water came up to those streets In those days. "Well, to get back 'to the first boat," said the captain. "In about two months we had built that steamer— the first built

In San Francisco or on the Pacific Coast— and ehe was the first to run on' the bay from San Francisco to Stockton. Joseph Alderman put in the machinery, Price and Kendall built her cabin, Hugh May; was the engineer and Isaac Warren was captain. This boat was named the' Captain Butter, in honor of the man who first discovered gold in California. She wias 90 feet long, 18 feet beam and 6 feet hold. She had a single engine, 13%. inches bore nnd i% feet. stroke of piston, with an oldstyle firebox tubular boiler. She was a good, etroner boat, bat not very fast. The freight was carried in the- hold, and:. the boat was always heavily loaded on the up trip, but came back light, carryingVmly

passengers — miners from .the diggings coming; to town on business and pleasure. The charge was $30 for a ton of freight and the same for passengers. Miners from the 'diggings' paid their fare in gold dust, the purser keeping scales for weighing it I; paid workmen in my shipyard jy a day, but. the price soon afterward advanced to $16 a day, but the work was good. We got our timber where we could nnd itf-some-. times it floated down the bay and lodged at the 'Long "Wharf,* and later we Went across into the country and cut it with whlpsaws, as there were no sawmills here in the. first days of shipbuilding. : • "Tba next work," continued the captain, Vwas the steamer El Dorado. She was. sent from Philadelphia by the Pa-cific-Mall Company.. She sailed here, rigged as " a three-masted schooner, com- . ing through the Straits of Magellan, and arrived in November, 1849, 1 put guards and a cabin on her which had been made in Philadelphia, and, the machinery being placed, she was completed on the 1st ot January, 1850, and placed oh the San Francisco and Stockton route. She.hadonly one engine. Edward Thomas was the first engineer and A. B. Rowley, who afterward built the Alviso flour mill, was the'second engineer. I do not- reaiember the dimensions of this boat. My next boat was the keel of a small side-wheel steamer, sent out by the same company, and named the Georgians, She was 73 feet long, 16 feet beam and 4*4 feet hold. The keel was laid on February 22, 1850. 1 launched her with steam .up and she started on her trial • trip at once. . The

. machinery was put In by -George K. Gluyas. She was named the Georgiana after ,the Georgiana Slough, which connects the ¦Sacramento with the San Jpaquin, because she was the' first steamer that went through that slough from one river to the other. - . • : ¦. ' • ."The rirst. trip was made in April, 1850. ¦' During: that season I built two sloops for. freighting on those rivers, and later on 1 built two other sloops with water tanks ,in them, to supply the shipping with fresh water, which was mainly obtained from Sausali to, there being many fresh springs in that vicinity. These sloops, our original water . company, ¦were named Clara and Emma. About, the same- time I also built the Blbop Klttura for the Sacramento trade, and in the fall of ; 1850 the Game Cock, "a Hgfit-draught . stern-wheeler, to run up to French Camp, on a slough ot the San Joaquin. ¦•¦' .-She was only. sixty feet long, sixteen feet beam' and three feet hold. | She Had no cabin. . I built the sloop G. W.^Aspin wall. that year and two email freighting- sloops for Macondray & Co. "Othership yards had bien established in this city and. the harbor, rivers and the bays were well; stocked with all sizes ot craft to 'suit the especial demands of the ' growing^: commerce. -' While the vessels ¦ were small, as you see by the descriptions . I give, It was because of our, lack of:facilities., and' as we had none": of the improved machinery/: of ' the . Eastern yards I think ; we did well.. ,:, ' ' - - "About.- this, time' ; there .wag an .opposition line; .on -the., Sacramento route, and things,' were", very ; lively. The-, rate iwas $30 .for a: ton of freight and- $30 for a passenger, and the. "boat's had as much as they could do In both freight and-pas-senger traffic, but the. down trip 'was usually light— only/ passengers, who-- were coming from the mines on "business, and pleasure — sometimes •- more ¦ for pleasure, for they spent money freely, in 'those good old • days. Finally r the - rate war" reduced the passenger charge to as low as $l,;nnd the same for a ton of frelghtl- But the 'war 1 did not last; long.' .The 'California Steam Navigation Company -was i. formed in 1851, and' bought -all of ' the" opposition steamers and consolidated them into one ,llne. Captain W. H.- Moore and " Captain J. G. . North , owned a few steamers and these were the beginning of that company. The members of this great company were Richard Jessup, .Captain ¦ James Whitney, Samuel Hensley, C. W. Gunnell, Captain

James Blair, General James Reddlngton, Benjamin Hartshorne, Captain James Seymour and William Norris. Captain Blair was general manager and Mr. Nor-: ris was. secretary of the company. This, combination, or trust, for it was a trust, controlled the entire' shipping business of the country, and realized millions of dollars. Yes, it was far. more profitable than the most productive gold mines of those days of gold. • , ¦ "In 1850 and 1851 the bay and rivers were full of boats," continued the captain. 'In 1S51 I built the C. M. Webber, another 'steamer sent out lnsectlons. ,A. B. Rowley was engineer and Captain Lamb waa in charge. I then, went to Philadelphia, leaving here in- May, 1851, returning in November. Within the next few months I built for myself and Captain William Kohl a sloop for the Sacramento trade. We named her the Bianca. Captain John Hutton was commander. She was 70 feet long, 18 feet beam and 6 feet hold. '• I next built a side-wheel steamer - called the Uncle Sam for ' Captain Turnbull and shipped her to the Colorado Hiver. She. was the pioneer boat in that river. • He was a Government contractor,: I believe. Early in 1853 I built the Pike for Captain E. J. • Weeks. She was built and launched in twenty-eight days. She waa then taken to the site of W. T. Garratt's brass foundry, where her-machinery was put in' by Gordon & Stein,- who then had a machine shop there.- . i "l.then laid the keel for" a side-wheel steamer for: Charles Minturn, ¦ which was the i first .ferry-boat built . In San i Francisco. ¦-. She was 120 feet long,' 24 feet beam .and 7'feet hold. George Coffee put in the machinery. The engine was low pressure. I launched her in .sixty, days from the day the keel was laid. She was strongly.and well built, and though; I paid $9 a day for laborers I could .not to*day duplicate that boat - for the same cost.' * She | was named the . Clinton and -ran; as ' a ferry to Oakland,: going '.up the- creek' as far as- San Antonio. : She lasted for many years and was as good work as I ever . turned' out; My next work waa the Louisa Harker for: John Ortley, , for the Alviso , trade. I also put up a - dredge for Mr."Mlnturn, the machine being In use at Stockton until ' a few years ago and perhaps yet. , '. My .shipyard at that time was at the foot of Third street.. In 1854 I built the Kate L. Heron for myself s.nd others. We put her in the -Stockton trade; also the Flora

Temple for - myself and Charles Me- ( Laughlin for. the Sacramento trade. She t was 130 feet long, 28 feet beam and 7 feet 1 deep. She was a- side-wheeler with one engine. . , , ; . i "In the same . year;*' continued Captain i Marcucci, referring to his memoranda, 1 "I changed the old brig Columbia into a i steam propeller, and towing boat for a l man named .'Holmes, who called her the U Abble Holmes. She was used f 6r water- . : ing ships and stored water in tanks lo- i •cated . at tne '¦ fast of Washington street. ' George >IC Gluyas' put in the machinery. < About this . time boat' building became ' dull, the rivers and bays being well sup- I plied, and I. went into the coal business, ' my office being on the south side of Mar- j ket street, opposite.: Sansome.. I did not > succeed and sold out. In May, 1856, I de- ' cided . to . try . my luck mining and started out tfor Shasta County, stopping '. at what was-called Horsetown. I worked ¦ ar hydraulic mining for' about two years : with no success, and returned to San ' Francisco financially stranded and with one of my hands crippled from a premature blast. I then concluded that I knew nothing about mining and would there- ' after work at a business- 1 knew something about," said the captain, smiling at ! the recollection of his sad experience. . "In 1S58," said the captain, - "I went to* * work at the Government yard at Mare - Island, on the old sloop-of-war St. Mary. '. Though I had met , reverses I knew the '. only way was. to go to fiard work again, which I have : always done, . and ; I • have : seen some discouraging times in my ¦ long : .career in this- city. In the ' summed of ,'¦ 1838' I quit working at Mare. Island, and began again at San Francisco. Here I laid thekeel for a sldewheel steamer 120 feet long, twenty-four feet deep and seven feet hold for Coffee & RIsdon. ' She had \' two high pressure engines, fourteen inches -. .bore, and two cylindrical tubular boilers. The engines ; were; built in -this i city by '.'¦ • Devoe &' Dinsmore. She was named the Princess, and . put ¦' In the -Sacramento trade in opposition - to j the California Steam 'Navigation Company. ¦ . VI, next -built the Rambler, a sldewheel *\ steamer of nearly the same dimensions, for Mr. Lunnerton. She .was put in : the Petaluma . trade. ... She . carried.- one single . high pressure engine, of the same size as 1 that of. the Princess, and which was aiso built by Devoe & Dinsmore. In the early days of mining the principal freight was,

of course, supplies for the mines, but by this time the kinds of freight had largely increased. "In 1860, with my yard again at the foot of Third street, I built the lumber schooner Fannie, and, later, the barkentine Monitor for the lumber trade, also the sternwheel steamer for Captain Mills for the upper Sacramento trade, and sev-eral-barges for that trade, which was now being opened up with considerable activity. Another " vessel was a sidewheeler for Pope & Talbot named the Cyrus Walker. -Captain Bullene put in the machinery and took her up to Puget Sound to tow logs to the lumber mills, which were then being established at points on the coast convenient to boatbuilding. I built in 1865 the Reliance for the /Alviso Transportation Company, which was composed of James lick, A. B. Rowley and others. She was a propeller, 120 feet long, twenty-six feet beam and nine feet deep, with one high-pressure engine. * The engine and the two boilers were built In this city at the Paclflc Iron Works. I next built the Pioneer, a sternwheeler, for tne Sacramento trade. The engines were built by the Globe Iron Works at Stockton, and the boilers by the Coffee & RIsdon Works df this city. The Pioneer was built at the foot of Second street, on the Tichenor ways property, for I had then moved my shipyard to this point. In those days we moved our shipyards to the most convenient point on the waterfront, or at any point. wher,e a man wanted -a boat built. We had no modern machinery for launching a boat, and the launching was done by workmen pulling at the /ropes. In 1868 I built the Santa Claus for Goodall & Perkins— she was a propeller with twin screws, 130 feet long, thirty feet beam and ten feet hola. The engines were built by John Lockhead of this city. ' ¦ "In the same year I built the Brisk for Banker W. C. Ralston. Lockhead also made the machinery, including a Lockhead patent boiler, which was not a success. As there was not room enough to put In an old-style boiler, I hauled her out, cut her In two In the middle, and put In twentyfive feet to lengthen her.. I then- put in two tubular boilers, but— she was never very brisk and belied her name," said the captain,' smiring. "In 1869 I built the Vallejo for the California Pacific Railroad Company to run. to Vallejo. She was a propeller, 130 feet long, 28 feet beam and

8 feet hold. The machinery waa built br the RIsdon Iron Works of this city. 1 also built about the same time two freight barges for the same company. I also built* at Stockton the Mary Garratt for the California Steam Navigation Company. And now," said Captain Marcucci, "from this time, 1869 to 1877, I quit boat building and was engaged in other business. In 1878 I left the city again for the East and went to -Venezuela to sea my mother. I. returned here In the early part of 1S79, and at the request of W. T. Garratt took the position of superintendent of the California Steam Navigation Company's line and subsequently became one of the directors and vice president of the company. I held this position for about two years, when, owing to a com-, bi nation against Mr. GarratVs lnterestSTV which I represented, I was squeezed out. ' But very soon another combination was made, Mr. Garratt again got control ana I was reinstated. "Well," continued the captain; "in 1S8> the California Steam Navigation' Company and the San Joaquln Improvement ¦Company consolidated, and formed the California Navigation and Improvement Company. In this new company I waj given a subordinate ' position. The naxt year this company bought out our Interest and I was again out of business," said the captain, smiling at the many changes of the current. "In 1S90 I made the plans for the Dauntless and the Captain Weber for the Union Transportation Company of Stockton. This was my last boat work. "In December, 1S20, I was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to the position of assistant inspector of hulls of sieam vessels for the port of San Francisco. I resigned this position on the 1st ot January, 19oo, two years ago, because of my advanced age. I will be 75 years old on the 23th day of April next. I have retired from all business, and, though I take good care of myself, I feel that my body is growing weaker as age advances. While my life has not been one of great adventures, I ' have had many reverses, but I never gave up. : 1 always depended upon myself, believing that by hard-work one must succeed. I have seen San Francisco grow, from a small town to Us present size, and the boat building industry Increase from the primitive shipyards, with their crude materials, to its present dimensions. It is • a long, .long time in one's Hfe," concluded CapAin Marcucci.,. changing his musings of tna past to th* future,. as he again referred to his retirement from an active .and busy life. j.M. SCANLAND.