Page 24 - RedWhiteFleet_interiors_Sep10

raised and the success of the event led to the formation of the RIGHT: Crews of three men steer
Whitehall Boat Club, which organized the same race every Whitehall boats rigged with sails
Fourth of July for the next decade. Over those later years, during one of the Fourth of July
Tom was a regular entrant and won many of the ten-mile races that took place annually on
San Francisco Bay in the late 1800s.
races, gaining bragging rights for having the fastest boat and
being one of the cleverest helmsmen. FOLLOWING PAGES: Howard
As his business grew, Tom employed his two younger Street Wharf was a hive of activity
half brothers to help run the operation and named it Thomas in the early 1900s. The arrival of gas-
powered boats (such as those seen
QUARANTINE TROUBLES Crowley & Brothers. He found additional quarters at Meiggs at the bottom of the frame) helped
Crowley’s competitive nature got his water-launch Wharf, where the Marine Exchange was located, which fuel a surge of growth in the Crowley
service in trouble with the authorities on August 21, allowed the brothers to be among the first to hear of incoming business, to the point where brothers
1904. As he was operating the Guide, he got too ships. The brothers not only had to be excellent rowers and Tom and Dave were able to set up a
close to the Emily F. Whitney while the vessel was still sailors but also keenly aware of tides, winds, and ships, so they bunkhouse at the wharf for their crew
under federal quarantine orders to protect against the could latch on and get a ride out against a tide. Crowley set (visible in bottom-left corner).
spread of diseases.
According to the San Francisco Call, Surgeon up shop in a small wooden shack on the Vallejo Street Wharf,
Cumming, head of the quarantine service, gave chase where he ate and slept so he could quickly reach incoming ships.
in his motor launch and Crowley was brought with his
crew to Angel Island. Crowley pleaded with the author- BANKING ON POWER
ities that his proximity to the Whitney was due to a
“temporary derangement of the optic nerves,” which In 1897, Crowley realized that gasoline engines were the
prevented his seeing the yellow flag. He promised to future of taxi services and that in order to stay competitive,
abide by the quarantine laws in the future. His promise he’d need to build a new generation of gasoline-powered
was noted, but before restoring his freedom, “the boats. Gas-powered launches would afford him greater range
doctors gave Crowley what in quarantine circles is
known as the ninety-seventh degree.” They took away and speed to reach ships and, best of all, he would no longer
his clothes, boiled them in disinfectants, and then be at the mercy of the winds and tides. Crowley invested
dried them in a fume-filled oven. In the meantime, the his earnings back into the company during the early 1900s
two attendants gave Crowley an anti-plague bath, and bought two gasoline-powered launches: a forty-five-
as they did the other crew members. On leaving the
quarantine-station wharf, Crowley said farewell to foot vessel called the Crowley, and the Spy, a twenty-eight-
Surgeon Cumming and said, “I’ll remember, doctor.” foot boat with a nine-horsepower engine. He went on to
buy several gasoline- and steam-powered tugboats as well.
The Crowley brothers made a down payment to the boat-
ABOVE: The Emily F. Whitney came into San Francisco Bay in
1904 under quarantine. Crowley approached the ship in search of building company John Twigg & Sons to start building a
business anyway, incurring harsh discipline from the authorities.

24 • Red and White Fleet