EXHIBIT V.
[In the matter of the seizure of the schooner C. H. White by the Russian Government.]
State of California, City and County of San Francisco, ss:
On this 19th day of November, 1900, before me, William T. Hess, a notary public in and for said city and county of San Francisco, State of California, duly commissioned and authorized by law to administer oaths in said city, county, and State, and not interested in anywise in said claim, and not being the agent or attorney of any [Page 248] person interested in said claim, personally appeared James Boyes, personally known to me to be a credible witness, who being first duly sworn, deposes and says:
My age is 46 years. I was born at Hull, England. I arrived in the city and county of San Francisco in 1870, and have been a duly naturalized citizen of the United States since 1876. My residence is now, and was at the time the events took place in regard to which I am testifying and deposing, No. 629 Broadway, San Francisco, Cal. My occupation is now wholesale shipping butcher; my occupation at the time the events took place In regard to which I am testifying and deposing was wholesale shipping butcher, but I was then and prior thereto and subsequently thereafter interested as managing owner of sealing vessels, and otherwise interested in the sealing business. I am not interested, either directly or indirectly, in the said claim, nor have I any contingent interest in the same. I am not the agent or attorney of the claimant making the above claim, nor of any person whatever interested therein. I will not be entitled to receive any part of any sum which may be awarded under said claim to said claimant.
I know the said schooner C. H. White well. The vessel was built in 1887 by C. H. White, a shipbuilder of San Francisco. She was then well worth the sum of $15,000, having cost that much to build. I, with William Bent and others, purchased the schooner C. H. White from the said builder in 1888, and we fitted her out for hunting seals at a total expense of $13,000. I was managing owner of the said schooner until 1891 or 1892, when we sold her to the Eagle Fishing Company, and I know that in the spring of 1892 the equipment was worth, for the purpose of sealing and fishing, all it cost us when new, $13,000, for we had kept up the equipment in as good a condition as new, and the schooner was then, in 1892, well worth what it had cost to build, $15,000; and I examined the said schooner C. H. White, and its outfit and equipment in 1892, just before she cleared for the voyage in the North Pacific Ocean, during which voyage she was seized by the Russian war cruiser Zabiaca; and I know her value, and also in a general way what the Eagle Fishing Company expended upon hera to fit her out and man her for said voyage; and her value for the purpose of sealing and fishing was not less than $35,000 at the time she was seized as aforesaid.
Notary Public in and for the City and County of San Francisco, State of California.
- The word “here” has been corrected to read “her,” as above noted.—W. T. Hess.↩