The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-23 00:00:00

ALLEGED HORRIBLE MURDER ON

BOARD SHIP.

ATTEMPTED BRIBERY OF A MEDICAL MAN.
The greatest excitement prevailed last night in
the neighbourhood of Limehouse, in consequence of
the statement that a seaman, named William Curtis,
had been murdered on board ship, under circum-
stances of extraordinary barbarity. The young
man in question, who was only 19 years of age, was
steward on board the ship Martha Pope, which re-
cently arrived in the West India Docks with a cargo
of logwood from Belize, Honduras. Upon the ar-
rival of the ship in the dock application was made
to an undertaker to bury the body of the deceased,
who was stated to have died coming up the river.
Ultimately, however, Dr. Giles was called in to give
the necessary certificate, and that gentleman in-
sisted upon a coroner's inquest being held, as not
only did the condition of the body convince him
that deceased had met his death by foul means, but
it was stated to him that deceased, while dying
from starvation and exhaustion from repeated flog-
gings, had been jumped upon.
Mr. H. Raffles Walthew, the deputy coroner,
opened an investigation into the case last night at
the Lord Hood Tavern, Limehouse.
The first witness wns
Captain Randall Stone, who was cautioned that
a most serious charge was about to be made, and
that if he felt himself likely to be implicated he
need not give evidence. He said that as no
charge had been preferred as yet, he would
prefer being examined. He said that he was
captain of the ship Martha Pope, and that while at
Belize one of his men ran away, and that as de-
ceased had begged a passage to England he shipped
him as steward. Witness had on several occasions,
during the voyage home, to punish deceased. He
had also to punish others of the crew. The first
occasion on which he struck deceased was a week
after leaving Honduras. Witness, while lying half
asleep in his cabin, saw deceased enter the state
cabin and endeavour to force the locks of the
drawers. Witness gave him a blow on the side of
the head with his hand. No one saw that but him-
self. On subsequent occasions he had corrected de-
ceased with a piece of whipcord no thicker than a pen.
By the Jury—He was bound to enter in the log
book every time he flogged the deceased. He had
not done so.
By the Coroner—He did not offer any person L 7
to withhold or alter evidence in this case. He
would swear he did not.
Dr. W. Giles, 1, Canton-place, East India-road,
said—l was sent for by an undertaker to go on
board the ship Martha Pope to see the deceased.
From the marks of violence I saw I prohibited the
burial of the body without an inquest. The whole
anterior surface of the body was covered with bruises
and wounds. On the left leg there was a gaping
wound an inch long and half an inch wide, evi-
dently recently inflicted. Thcro was a wound on the
forehead and another on the right leg. The fore fin-
ger of the left hand had been all but cut off by a
blow. All the wounds appeared to have been in-
flicted with a rope an inch thick. Such dreadful
wounds could not have been inflicted through cloth-
ing. In my opinion the deceased must have been
laid on the deck naked and lashed while exhausted
from want of food and from ill-treatment. While
extending his hands and legs in his agony to pro-
tect his body the wounds in the legs were received
and his finger nearly broken off. If I could state in
evidence the facts which I have heard, but which,
of course, are inadmissable, I could more than sub-
stantiate the accuracy of my inference as to the
manner the injuries were inflicted. I have made a
post-mortem examination, and find that there is not
a particle of fat in the body. There were most un-
usually extensive adhesions of the pleura. The
stomach lay flat in a way I had not seen before, and
showed, with other circumstances, that deceased
had been for a fortnight without food. The eyes
were red and the lips parched. The ship was out
49 days. The pleurisy had existed a month, and
in my opinion resulted from exposure. I believe
the deceased died from a shock to the system, re-
ceived while in a state of prostration from ill usage
and ill treatment.
By the Coroner--I was offered 7 by the captain
not to give any evidence that would criminate him
or any other party, " but to blush over the thing."
I indignantly refused the bribe.
The Coroner said that he should adjourn the
Court for the examination of other witnesses.
The jury asked the Coroner that Captain Stone
should be held to bail.
The Coroner said that as no verdict had been re-
turned he had no power to interfere in the matter.
The body of the deceased, when viewed by the
jury, presented an appalling spectacle. There was
apparently no flesh, and the skin hung upon the
bones, and was Covered all over with bruises and
wounds Et w43i9nr sickening to behold.