The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-07 00:00:00

AMERICAN CAPTAINS AND BRITISH

SEAMEN.

Another case has occurred at Sunderland of a
murderous attack upon British seamen by Ame-
rican captains and their chief officers, and as they
sailed away ere they could be overtaken by British
justice, the facts have been seat to Lord Clarendon
for submission to the American Minister.
The following is a copy of the depositions made
by the men and forwarded to Lord Clarendon :
"George Telford, of 13, Meling's-rig, Sunder-
land, North Sea pilot. —On Friday, at 11 a.m.,
I was engaged by Charles Brookman, the mas
ter of ihe John U. Brookman. barque, of the port
of New York, and then lying in the roads, laden
with a cargo of coals for New York, to pilot the
vessel to the Downs or the Orkney Islands. About
3 p.m. I went on board the veael :n company with
the master. We took a coble and two coblemen.
There were also three British seamen, who had I
believe agreed to join the vessel, as the crew was
short of hands. Captain Brookman told me he was
two hands short, even with the three men. The
vessel is about 500 tons. There was also a Jew on
board, who had got the three seamen. When we
got alongside, the Jew and the three seamen, the
captain, and myself, all got on board, leaving the
two coblemen in the cable. I put my things iutothe
cabin. The Jew came into the cabin and received,
as I thou;ht, 91. 10s., his charge for getting the
men. The Jew went into the coble. One of the
three men said that tho ship was short-handed, and
they did not wish to proceed. This was said to the
eaptAin. The captain, without saying a word,
kno led the man who had spoken down. lie used
his fi t. He said to the man, D-- your eyee, go
to your work.' The captain then seized a small
axe, when I got hold of the axe and got myself cut
slightly. I got i out of his hand. He then seized
a hammer and f-lied another of the three men
down. I went aft and called the coble to the side,
as I was determined not to go in the ship. When
I looked round I saw one of the three men in the
water. I called the coblemen to take him in ; they
did The captain said to me that he would not
allow the cable to coins alongside to take me in. I
called them to come under the stern ; they did so,
then slid down a rope and got into the coble. When
I last saw the deck of the vessel the other two sea-
men were lying on the deck wounded and bleeding.
I was afraid of my He, and would not go in the
ship. The captain was assisted by time mates ie
the ill-usage to the two sailors. Two of the mates
had etch a belaying piu in their bands. I don't
know the names of the two seamen ; I never saw
any of the three before I saw thtm in the beat.
" Peter Mitchell—l am 19 years of age. I
came up from Aberdeen to this pert on the 29th
inseant. I was on Friday forenoon shipped by
a Jew for the John Brookman, at 31. a month
wages. I got 30s. in advance. Another seaman,
named Alex. Irving, was shipped at the same time.
I did not see the third man shipped. The captain
was in the Jew's shop at the time I was shipped. I
went on board, as the pilot has already stated.
Mere we star ted from the dock the captain told
us lie would get two other hands in additio.nttotuhse
three. When we got on board
cabin and I at first followed, and then went forward
to I came our,
to Vto louse on deck. In a short time
e down. 1
and then I saw the captain knock. Ihrivim
Irving wentin o
I saw
saw him strike Irving with it. Irvingf he
him bleeding from the back of the head.gotssmelana:idwthhoersee
saw the captain with a weapon in his hand,6,.ell. and 1
up.l
sa
llv wentthe int to
matey
se
name did not know. Saw the mates knock that
him
man down, and sew one of the mates strike
when down on the face with a ballast shovel.
went round to the other side, and the captain
.came
strikingothe side
theef the
rvcri
I
overboard. am no
belaying pin. I then jumped
life be.
switnintr, but I wa,l afraid of my Anataken
if picked up by the
up to me and was about to strike me wilt a
inert
rienintahi: eccolboit,l3. boalrdle.
left
lallwmasy
clothes on board,
and the :,hip sailed with them."

STAT & OF TRADE.

MANCHESTER, Nov. 6.

There is no abatement of the commercial depres-
sion, and we have still to report a flat and exceed-
ingly inactive market. The prices of cotton I to id.
per
lb.
below the terms of Monday, and cotton yarns
and cloth have given way fully as much, without in-
ducing a renewal of business. From the highest
point yarns are reported in some quarters to have
rccedect 11d. to 2d. puT lb., but any general state-
ment of this kind fails to convey a true idea of the
position
of the seller and the description of payment
offered. It is obvious that in such a market irregu-
larities prevail which render quotations next to im-
possible. The news from America by the Vanderbilt,
the further advance of discounts, and advicks of
fhaaivluer'alslaetxeljiverpool, Sheffield, and other places
exert sea a most unfavourable influence on
the market this morning, and sales are all but sus-
pended. No new failures are mentioned here, and
many
of the smaller manufacturers and workers of
old
ial
machinerypihd ravieisngin succumbed some months ago
during the price of the raw mate-
rial, the effects of the crisis will not
it itsh probable
rroraped
be so apparent now. The prostration and ruin
already effected among employers are preparing a
sad winter for the operative class. Mr. Tryall Hol-
croft, silk manufacturer, states that, independently
of the distress prevailing at Macclesfield and Mid-
dleton, where many families are literally starving,
no less than 3,750 mill-hands in the silk trade in b
and around Manchesterie have been entirely unem-
ployed during the last four to six weeks, while the
remainder, upwards of 2,800, have been only work-
must very far exceed that in the silk
a
ing two to four days per week for three or four
mouths past.
No means at present exist for estimat-
ing the distress among operatives in the cotton
e:inil pY extending by the closing of millsers of avoiding loss and ruin.
trade,ttn an
butti isit
din every direction over this ex, ensive district, and
the resort to short time, as the c.nly means appa-
rently left to ley

DEATH OF Loan C. BuTFin.—The
Kilkenny papers
announce the sudden demise of Lord Charles Butler,
which took place on Friday, at the residence of his
mother, the Dowager Marchioness of Ormonde, Marley,
Ratialarnham. Immediately after breakfast on Friday
morning his lordship complained of feeling faint, and re-
tired to his bedroom ; the servant hearing him call, at
once went up,
and found himlying on the floor, suffer-
ing from an ap
npletic seizure. Medical aid was imme-
diately procured, and his lordship rallied a little, but in
the course of the afternoon he had a second seizure,
which terminated life. Lord C. Butler was fourth son
of James, Margo!! of Ormonde, brother of the late la-
mented marquis, and uncle of the preeent. Ile NI-45 in
his 38th year.