Two Collier Captains Raced Into Seattle for a Hat—and Arrived With Milk Cans

The recent race from San Francisco to this city between the Spartan and Germania, mention of which was made in Monday morning's Post-Intelligencer, has created more interest on the water front in that line than any race for years past.

The funny part of the whole affair is that both captains were piling on canvas trying to see which would reach port first, not knowing that a number of bets had been made in this city on the outcome and that a fine hat was awaiting the winner. The story of the race, as told by both captains, is as follows:

The Germania left San Francisco early on the morning of February [date obscured], and the Spartan left two hours afterward. The Germania took the course north of the Farallon Islands, outside San Francisco, and with the two hours' start had about twenty miles the advantage. The Spartan, when she came out, did not have the same wind as the other boat, and was compelled to take the course south of the islands. They kept pretty close to each other the first day, but after that saw nothing of each other until coming up the Straits. Both vessels were sailed for all there was in them, however, and the first mate of the Germania said yesterday: "We packed the linen to her until the water was in over our lee rail."

Capt. Pearson, of the Germania, thought the Spartan beat him in past the cape, but by comparing notes with Capt. Polite at Shipping Master Garrison's office it was found that the Germania was in first, and had the captain kept the linen on and not been heading up flash lights, he would have won the hat put up by the winner by X. H. Martin, agent of the Black Diamond company in this city. When Capt. Polite sailed in past the cape he made for Neah Bay, looking for a tug, but, not seeing any, kept her off east by north and came up the Straits at a fifteen-mile rate. The next morning Capt. Pearson came on deck at daylight, and, seeing the Spartan sailing ahead, gave the command: "Give her the linen; there is the Spartan on the south shore," but the command was too late, for the tug Holyoke came along and towed the big ship in ahead and anchored her to the inside city buoy. The Germania was towed in by the Discovery, a much smaller and slower tug than the Holyoke.

Capt. Pearson, of the Germania, says he is thoroughly satisfied to arrive so close to such a fast ship as the Spartan, and his friends along the front think he would have been the happiest man on earth if he had known he was ahead of the Spartan and could have caught the Holyoke first. Both captains met on Monday and went arm in arm down the bunkers to their respective ships, each with a five-gallon can of milk in his hand and both happy to know that they had arrived safe.