Revenue Cutter Bear and Whaling Bark Alice Knowles Making Port -- November 5, 2018

San Francisco Call, November 12, 1899

This drawing is from the 12-November-1899 San Francisco Call. William A Coulter did many maritime drawings for the newspaper.

Revenue Cutter Bear was built as a sealer in 1874. In 1884, the United States Revenue Service purchased her to serve as a revenue cutter in Alaska. She served the Revenue Service and the Coast Guard as a cutter on and off until 1943. She paid yearly visits to San Francisco for refitting and replenishment. While there, she helped with recovery operations after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. After WWII, she was refitted to serve again as a sealer, but didn't sail much. She sank in 1963 while being towed to Philadelphia to be converted into a restaurant.

RETURN FROM A YEAR'S CRUISE IN THE ARCTIC

The Bear and Alice Knowles at Home

REVENUE CUTTER CHANGES

THETIS WILL NOW ACT AS A RECEIVING SHIP

A Good Catch Made by the Whaler. Smart Run of the Ship Columbia. A Drunkard's Double Escape.

The revenue cutter Bear and the whaling bark Alice Knowles both got home from the Arctic yesterday. The Bear stopped at Seattle on the way down. On her way down from the Sound she ran into a heavy southeaster and for two days was hove to. A thunder and lightning storm played around the cutter while she was hove to, and a number of the crew I got electrical shocks. The officers say that many an electric storm has been their portion in other parts of the world, but this is the first one they ever experienced on the coast of California.

While the Boar was at Nome the people were very much exercised over the non-arrival of the steamer Laurada. She had many passengers and a full cargo of provisions aboard and was long overdue. The news of the wreck of the vessel was known here, but not at the gold fields. The Bear made an extended search and found the wreck on St. Georges Island. The crew had got all the ship's stores, all the passengers' baggage, about fifty tons of cargo, 500 sheep and several steers ashore. All the passengers were landed and many of them went to Nome on the Cleveland, while the women came back home on the Corwin.

The story about chasing whalers and firing shots after them because they had liquor aboard is laughed at by the officers of the. Bear. They say that a few Indians were arrested for illicit distilling, but no whalers were chased. Quite a number of criminals were picked up along the Alaskan coast and transported to Sitka, but the tales of their crimes were told long ago in The Call. The Bear, in company with the McCulloch, will go from here to San Diego and winter there.

The Alice Knowles had a successful season in the frozen north. She brings back 560 pounds of whale-bone. 470 barrels of sperm oil arid 430 barrels of whale oil. There were no casualties during the cruise.

There will he a number of changes in the revenue service during the next few days. Captain Frank Tuttle, now !n command of the Golden Gate, takes the Bear, and Lieutenant Jarvis, who brought the cutter from the north, goes East. Lieutenant A. Buhner of the Thetis takes the Golden Gate; Lieutenant C. S. Cochrane, of the Thetis goes as navigating officer of the Bear. Lieutenant H. Ulke of the Bear goes to the McCulloch and Assistant Engineer J. I. Bryan of the Thetis goes to the Golden Gate. The Thetis is to be brought over from Sausalito and anchored in the cove between Meiggs wharf and Black Point, where she will in future act as a receiving ship.

Two of the overdue fleet got in yesterday. The Arcata and South Portland from Coos Bay had a hard time of it and were S4 hours making the run, or nearly ; a day and a half longer than usual.

J. Sullivan of 447 First street was twice treated at the Harbor Hospital yesterday morning. At 6:00 a. m. he was brought in from the corner of Bryant and Second streets suffering from alcoholism and several lacerated wounds. He was fixed up and left the hospital. An hour later there was another call from Bryant and Second streets for the ambulance and it was Sullivan. again. This time he had a fractured skull and may die. Late yesterday afternoon he was removed to the City and County Hospital.

The ship Columbia arrived at Tacoma yesterday, having made the run from San Francisco In the splendid time of five days