“City Of Papeete."

Sad Fate of Once Well-Known Three-Master.

THE American three-masted topsail schooner “City of Papeete”, once well known in Central and Eastern Pacific, has ended her long career.

Recently, Mr. Oscar G. Nordman, of Tahiti, sought to obtain some relic of the little ship—a bell, a name board, or something of the kind—to adorn one of Papeete’s parks, so that residents might still keep alive the memory of her association with Tahiti. He even tually got into touch with the “City of Papeete’s” present owner, Mrs. Vivienne

C. Chadwick, of Marinita Park, San Rafael, California, U.S.A., who replied as follows: “I regret that I cannot send you any momento of the ‘City of Papeete’; un fortunately the little ship had been com pletely stripped before we bought her.

The best we can do is to give you a snapshot taken a couple of years ago, when she had been retired from the service of the Union Fish Co., and towed into shallow water in Richardson’s Bay, San Francisco.

“When we went to see the ‘Papeete’ we found her completely submerged at high tide. Nevertheless, we bought her and began to clean her up. We had her pumped out and moved to shallower water, high and dry. Then we cleaned, repaired, and painted her, and fitted her up for week-end use. She was no longer seaworthy, of course, and had suffered considerable damage at the hands of vandals, while lying aban doned.

“We enjoyed the ship immensely for a couple of seasons, and then she be came involved in a lawsuit, by reason of the ownership of the mud-flats upon which she was lying. There was a

good deal of trouble about it, and we were obliged to move her again. This time she was put up in the shallows of San Pablo Bay, but too far from shore for us to watch her carefully, with the result that vandals broke in and robbed us of all pictures, orna ments, furniture, equipment, etc. They even smashed her refitted windows and damaged the interior.

“Now the poor ‘City of Papeete’ is once more deserted. She was a lovely little packet, and we have been most disappointed that our efforts to give her a happy finish to her days have met with disaster. It is unfortunate that some people do not love ships!”

The above illustration has been re produced from the photograph sent to Mr. Nordman by Mrs. Chadwick'. The schooner originally was built in the 80’s at San Francisco. In the period when full-rigged ships, barques, and barkentines skimmed over the Pacific, she was commanded by M. Berude, with Mr. Lunn as second in command. Ac* cording to the records, she was 360 tons gross, and 50 metres long, with a beam of 10 metres.

Mrs. Johnson, wife of Mr. W. H. (“Tavua”) Johnson, of Suva, Fiji, died in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in January. She had lived in the Colony over 40 years.

Mr. Colin C. Marr, of the Department of Agriculture, New Guinea, recently married Miss Marjorie Thomas, of Rabaul, at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, New Farm, Brisbane.

Tall sticks at rest—the “City of Papeete” an chored in a quiet bay at San Francisco.