S.S. Pioneer
On the morning of June 20, 1900 in Peking, German diplomat Klemens Freiherr von Ketteler was shot at point blank range by a Manchu soldier avenging Ketteler’s murder of a Chinese boy. Empress Dowager declared war on all foreign powers the next day.
Meanwhile, 800 miles away in Ichang, Captain Cornell Plant set out to make history that same morning. The ship under his command, s.s. Pioneer built by Messrs. Denny of Dumbarton, departed Ichang and made its way through the Three Gorges to Chungking, becoming the first merchant steamship to ply the Upper Yangtze unaided by trackers.
Captain Plant’s triumphant arrival in Chungking seven days later served a more pressing purpose – the evacuation of 90 foreigners seeking refuge from Boxer violence in Szechwan. As a token of their gratitude, the group bestowed Plant with a gold watch chain and wrote:
“The passengers on board this vessel feel that they owe you a debt of gratitude for your unwearying kindness and courtesy, and your care for their comfort on the occasion of nearly 90 passengers availing themselves of your services to remove them from Chungking. To provide as you have done for them, was a difficult task, and the way you have done it has won general admiration. We beg your acceptance of a slight souvenir in the shape of a gold watch-chain, and would express a sincere wish for your own happiness and that of Mrs. Plant, and also hearty success to the good ship Pioneer in her future voyages…”
The group also gifted gold medallion pendants to Mr. W. Pederson, 1st Mate, Mr. G. W. McMillan, 1st engineer, and Mr. Gosten, 2nd engineer.
The good fortune of Plant’s celebrated journey on June 20, 1900, did not extend to Plant himself. At least not immediately. After his remarkable navigational feat, s.s. Pioneer was commandeered by the British Government who staffed the vessel with its own men and outfitted it with artillery for use as a gunboat – renamed H.M.S. Kinsha, leaving Plant to find new employment. See French Navy post on this blog for a glimpse of Plant’s next assignment.
Names of the passengers who thanked Plant: M.F.A. Fraser, T.D. Moorhead, H.T. Hancock, J. Holton Bush, J. Wallace Wilson, Richard Wolfendale, Spenser Lewis, O.F. Hall, J.O. Curnow, R. Edwards, R.J. Chard, Mrs. K.E. Moses, Mrs. W. Hyslop, Joseph Beach, Miss L.A. Brooks, Miss K. Brimston, Mrs. M. Ririe, Dr. Henry, F. Newman, H. Martin Hare, H. Olin Cady, Karl Tochtermann, Dr. Laville, F. Allshorn, R.C. Groves, R.B. Ewan, H.C. Ramsay, Norris E. King, Tom Gear Willett, E.C. Williams, M. Kristensen, W.N. Fergusson, Miss Nell M. Decker, Ella Manning, Mary Ririe, Dr. Killam, R.J. Davidson, Isaac Mason, A.H. Barham, A. Holland, Jas. Hutson, Wllm Laughton, Wllm S. Strong, Herbert Parry, Geo. F. Row, Miss A.H.M. Beschmidt, Miss T.W. Ramsay, O.W. Lund, J.F. Peat, W.E. Manly, M.A. Foster, Mary Ketring, Willie Ririe, Baby Ririe.