The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-25 00:00:00

VOLUNTART CIIIIRCII-RATE.

• -- - -
Mr. CARNE announced that a church-rate of twopence
in the pound had been decided upon by the churchwardens,
for the special purposes mentioned in the act. It had
also been decided, he said, to propose that a church-rate
of three farthings in the pound be laid, to meet the ex-
penses incurred at the parish churches.
A discussion took place, but ultimately a resolution,
moved, by Mr. Urquhart and seconded by Mr. Jeffery,
negativing the proposition for a three-farthing rate, was
carried. A poll was demanded, and, the Vestry was
adjourned to Tuesday next, to cons ter the rekort, of tbo
Voluntary Aging committee.

CHA.RGIE OF' MURDER ON THE

HIGH sxAa.

LAST week we gave a detailed' report of the•iacieiry into
the charges of murder against Captain. Wm.. Henderson
Honor, Thomas Henry Chadderlxm (first mate), and
John Barthe (second, mate), of the-ship.Mongasteen, so
far as the investigation had then.gonet. Theinquiry was
resumed on Tuesday, when Mr.. Mansfield was occupied
five hours in hearing evidence. John. Phillips,. the cook
on board the vessel, deposed generally-to-the HI-usage of
the men by the prisoners. He saw the captain beat
Valparaiso at six o'clock in the evening befbre- his death.
On the afternoon before Valparaiso- died, the-witness, saw
his left eye much swollen as if from blows.:- in the morn-
ing it was not hurt at all, and'he•then. appeared in good
health. John Rey, a Chilian, deposed to the.generat
ill-
usage of Valparaiso, and stated that on.the night before
his death the captain thrust him.under the jaws- with the
butt end of a cat. Later on he -pushed him. off the poop
on to the main deck, after having thrashed, him, and
whilst on the main deck insensible• the•captain struck
him several blows. Valparaiso complainetli that night
that he was battered and powdered alli over. Whilst the
deceased was naked the captain:struck him, once on the
. .

lower part of his body wiih, part of the fore topgallant
sheet. Manuel Olaves and Francisco Manuel &posed to
the general ill-treatment of the men by the captain.
Candido Lorenzo, a Manillaman, was called, but, being
found to be an idiot, he was not examined. The-evidence
having been read over to the witnesses, the- case was
adjourned till Thursday.
- - - - - -

The adjourned hearing of the case took placebeforeMr.
Mansfield, at one o'clock on Thursday. One•important
witness was out of the way, therefore the•court proceeded
to hear the charge against the prisoners for the murder of
Henry Fisher, or Foster. Daniel Gillman.Lowe, the car-
penter of the vessel, was the first witness called.;. and he
stated that the deceased, who was 18 years of age, shipped
at Singapore on board the Mongasteen, in. the month of
November last. After they had been at sea a fortnight, the
captain ill-used the deceased, and.continued to•do so until
the month of February, after which histreatment amounted
to brutality. He used to strike him while at the wheel,

over any Part of the body—the head or any part—with a
bucket-rope, which was converted into a cat, or a piece of
the mainbrace. After the beatings,. Foster's body was
covered with sores. Punishment was also frequently in-
flicted on the deceased by stopping his beef and pork, and
giving him only a part of a biscuit and some tea for the
whole day's allowance. On the 21st of March, the captain
maltreated the deceased, who hid himself, and, on being
found, was again thrashed. The following night he

received similar treatment, and was also. sent aloft,
where he remained two hours by the captain's orders
—the weather being cold and rainy. On coming down
he was sent below until twelve o'clock, when he was
called to his watch ; but, as he did not come, the mate
went and found him in the forecastle, and, bringing him
aft, placed him at the wheel. Subsequently he was again
ordered aloft, but he did not go, He went into the house
forward, where he was found in the sail-locker by the
second mate, who brought him on deck to the captain, by
whom he was ordered to the wheel. As he was going,
the captain seized him by the collar, shook him violently
two or three times, threw him on the deck, and kicked

him heavily in the back several times. The deceased
begged the captain, " for God's sake to have mercy upon
him ;" but the captain only made use of a rough expres-
sion, and ordered him to the wheel. He went and took
hold of the wheel, but could not steer. He therefore went

Forward, but fell on the deck as he proceeded. The cap-
tain ordered one of the men to drag him forward, which

was done, and he died that night-, shortly after twelve

o'clock. A:few hours before the deceased died the mate

called witness down to see him. He went down, and saw
that his legs and hands and arms were full of sores, and
there were marks of beatings.—Robert Evans, the steward

of the vessel, gave similar evidence to the last witness,
but added, that , the deceased told the captain he went
down into the sail-locker because he was so miserable and
wanted to die. At the captain's request witness took some
sago and wine down into the forecastle to the deceased,
but he could not swallow it. The deceased groaned, and
was as motionless as a corpse. One Sunday the captain
gave the deceased several cuts with his cat, and then set
five or six men to scrub his arms and legs—which were
a mass of sores—with a hard brush.—John Phillips, the
cook on board the Mongasteen, said the deceased was in
good health when he joined the ship at Singapore. The
deceased had frequently been ill-used by the captain. The
witness deposed to the same facts as the two preceding
ones. The evidence having been read over to the wit-
nesses, the court adjourned at five o'clock.
On Friday the examination of the witnesses concerning
the death of Henry Foster was resumed.—John Rey, whol
was examined through an interpreter, stated that he re-
membered the deceased, Henry Foster, whom he had often
seen beaten by the captain, after he had been stripped to
receive punishment. There were no marks, sores, or
wounds on his body before the captain beat him, but after-
wards there were many wounds—his shoulders were in
pieces; and there were pieces of flesh whipped out of his
back, breast, and face. He (witness) knew that this was
the result of beating, for the deceased was in the same
watch with him, and after he had been whipped by the
captain, he was in the habit of coming forward and show-
ing him (witness) his bleeding wounds. About a month
before the deceased died, the first mate ordered witness to
take a bucket of water forward to wash him. Deceased
stripped, and the mate ordered witness to scrub him all
over with a hard brush, used generally to clean paintwork
with. Deceased's body, at that time, was covered with
sores, and he- used to draw back his body as soon as ever
the brush was applied to him—for it rubbed off the scabs,

and the blood commenced to flow copiously. He told wit-
ness, in a low tone, not to rub so hard, but the mate, as
soon as he saw the blood flow, said to witness, " Scrub on,
if you don't scrub him hard, me give you ginger too."
Recollected Foster, four or five days before his death,
being set to varnish the capstan-bars. He was then al-
ready so weak that he could hardly walk. He, however,
did part of the work, and then went below to get some
more varnish. Whilst he was away, the captain came on
deck, and asked, " Where is Harry ?" The mate said he
Was forward, and called out for him ; but he did not
answer ; therefore he (the mate) went and found bins
in the topgallant-forecastle. The mate, having found
the deceased, commenced beating him with a rope's-end,
driving him in the direction of the poop. When
the deceased reached the poop, the captain asked
him what he had been doing forward. He answered
that, by orders from the chief mate, he had been varnish-

ing the capstan-bars, forward ; but the mate said it was
untrue. The captain told him to remain on the poop, and
gave him some brass-work to clean. About half-an-hour
later the captain beat him with a cat, but what for the
witness was at a loss to understand. Every blow the de-
ceased received, he begged the captain, For God's sake,
to let him go." On the night before oster died, he was
on his watch four hours—from Bto 12. At 12, when his
watch was over, the captain would not let him go below ;
but, whilst the captain was off the deck, he went down
secretly and threw himself on the floor of the forecastle,
where he remained until daybreak. The chief mate, in the
morning, went down to see after the deceased, who, witness
told the mate, was lying on the floor, and had been in that
position ever since he came off' his watch. Foster never
went on deck again. The captain ordered some sago and
wine to be given to deceased, but he could not swallow it.
By order of the mate, who said the deceased had got the
fever, his feet were bathed in water, and his head was
raised a little. Foster died before twelve o'clock at noon
that day. The deceased was beaten several times on the
night before his death, because he would not obey the or-
ders which were given him. Foster had not his full allow-
ance of food—he had short allowance of meat and bread,
and often times the captain would make him stand by and
look on whilst the others were eating. The deceased had
sago, instead of meat, in the evening. The cook once beat
a Manilla man with a stick for stealing the fat. The man
stole it because he was hungered ; he had not enough to eat.
This evidence having been read over to the witness, the
case was again adjourned to yesterday.
YESTERDAY.

Shortly after twelve o'clock, yesterday, the prisoners
were again brought up, and the already protracted inves-
tigation was continued, touching the death of Henry Fos-
ter, the second sailor who died on the voyage.
Francisco Manuel was called, who stated that on the
voyage from Singapore, the deceased Henry Foster and
himself were both shipped at the same time. Foster was
in the second mate's watch for about three months, and
afterwards in the chief mate's watch, where he remained
about fifteen days, until he died. Witness was in the
chief mate's watch during the whole voyage. Foster was
in good health when he came on board ; for about fifteen
days he was not beaten, but after that time the captain
sometimes beat Foster with a single rope, sometimes with
the mainbrace, and sometimes with the " cat." At first
nobody beat him but the captain; but for some weeks
before he died both the captain and chief mate beat him ;
the latter did it by order of the captain. Sometimes the
mate told the captain he did not want to beat the men,
when the captain said, "if you don't break the d—d son of
a b—h's head, I'll give you something to make you feel."
When the captain used the " cat" to Foster, sometimes he
beat him with the lashes, and sometimes with the handle.
Once the captain beat himi naked with the lashes. The chief
mate held him by his hands, and the second mate held his
legs, while the captain beat him. Sometimes the captain
knocked him down, and beat him as he was lying on the
deck. Have seen his back after the beating ; his body
was all sore. Saw him in the chain-locker the night
before he died. The mate called Foster out of the locker,
and the captain was standing on the starboard-side ;
witness was going forward just then, and heard Foster
say, " Oh ! God Almighty, you'll kill me, sir." Did not
know what made him cry out, because he was going for-
ward at the time. Saw Foster again in an hour after-
wards ; the captain ordered witness and Antonio to help
Foster to the forecastle, and they put him on one of the
chests. He was then moaning, and spoke very little ; his
eyes were open. He said he was going to die. It was
about half-past twelve at night when they put him on the
forecastle, and witness went to his own bed ; the next
morning, about eight o'clock, he again saw deceased,
who groaned, but. could eat nothing ; he died the next
night. Saw the deceased's body about a week before he
died, and the skin was all sore, as if from blows ; the
skin was broken, and there was a discharge from the
sores. Sometimes deceased had his allowance of food
stopped for the whole day ; and then he had only half his
allowance the day following.
Cross-examined by Mr. Aspinall.—About 14 days before
Foster died, he told witness, " I think I am going to die ;
I'll write a letter to my father, and give it to you. He did
not seem bad when he first got on board; he said he "feel
good." [This witness understood so little of English,that
it became necess to ask some of the questions in the
Spanish language
Mr. Mansfield inquired if one of the witnesses had ar-
rived from the hospital ; when Kehoe informed him that
the man's leg was in such a diseased state that it was not
expected that he could be removed for three or four days.
The inquiry was then postponed in this case ; and the
death of the third man, named Pedro, alias Anselo Perero,
was then investigated.
Robert Evans, the steward, was called, who stated that
deceased was shipped at Singapore with nine others,
amongst whom was the second mate, now one of the pri-
soners. Pedro was a Manillaman, and spoke a mixed
language of Spanish and Portuguese ; het nderst
theo voyage od very
little of English. During the first pa of ,
Pedro was treated very kindly
but, in about six weeks after sailing, he received knoct
and blows from all by the captain and mates
s;
quarters, The captain beat him In It

the ends of the mainbrace, or anything that came close at
hand ; sometimes with both ends of the " cat," the thong
and the wood parti also. They were not light beatings,
but very severe.. On one night, shortly before the de-
ceased died, the captain beat him all over; he beat him_
with the thongs and the but-end of the " cat" severely-.
It was for leaving a tar-bucket on deck. On the 29th of
March, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon,
Pedro was at the wheel, and got the ship aback,
and part of the mizen sheet was carried away,
through his bad steering. The captain came on deck
and called all hands to reef the mizen, and going up
.to Pedro, called him a "black. son of a b—h," and struck
him with his fist on the face. Afterwards he struck Pedro
again with something, and told him to " go to h-11 and
clean his ugly face." Deceased. appeared stupified, and
Francisco was told to take his place; on going to the main
deck he staggered and fell, but got up, and again tried to
go forward, when the captain told the chief mate to fetch
him back again. The face of deceased was covered with
blood, by the captain striking,him on the nose. The mate
brought him back again to the quarter-deck ; he dragged
him there, and threw him down' on the deck. The captain
was there with a rope's end, and gave him five or six cuts
with it as he lay on the deck. Before the mate dragged.
him to the quarter-deck, as he was going up the ladder,
(the mate driving him and pushing him along,) the captain
kicked him on the mouth with, all his might, with his
right foot, and he fell from the ladder backwards on to
the main deck. He was so weak that he could scarcely
creep up the ladder, when the captain kicked him ; his
face bled very much, and when he was brought back to
the wheel the blood flowed profusely.. He was in a stag-
gering state when brought back to the wheel, and could
not do his work. The captain told him " clean his d—d
cocoa-nut face." Pedro seemed stupified, and the chief
mate (by the captain's orders) took his cravat off, and
rubbed the blood from his face ; the blood was at that
time all over the wheel and round the gratings abaft.
He could not stand, and sometimes fell back on the
gratings. Witness never saw Pedro after that. Did not
see his body after death, but saw them carry his body to
the port-hole, and throw it into the sea, in the afternoon.
of March 30th. The chief and second mates threw him
overboard, and the carpenter read the burial-service. The
ship was at that time near the Tuskar Light. The captain
called to the carpenter to read the burial-service. They
reached Liverpool on Saturday, the Ist of April, about.
midday. Pedro did not always have his fall allowance ;
it was occasionally stopped, and then he had bread and
tea, but no meat, for breakfast, and sometimes he had
sago for dinner. Occasionally he had nothing for dinner,
but the meal-times were often altered. The captain had
heavy shoes on when he kicked Pedro on the mouth.
Cross-examined by Mr. AspinalL—Deceased resisted
the efforts of the chief mate pushing him up the ladder,
before the captain kicked him on the mouth. Witness
observed, "Any man would resist when he saw what was
waiting for him." Did not see any one resist the captain.
or use any violence towards him, on the passage home-
Saw Captain Honor in the cabin one day tear a leaf from
the log and throw it on the floor. The leaf he tore out
contained something about a quarrel between the captain
and mate. Never saw a man called Antonio coming with
a bolt towards the captain ; and never saw the captain
beat Antonio. Knew Robert Gonsalvis, the seaman now
in the hospital, who has lost his toe.

[We are infOrmed that Gonsalvis had his toe injured by
the rigging, whilst running away to escape the captain's
violence.]

Daniel Gilmunlow, the carpenter, was then called, and
corroborated the evidence of the steward in most of the
particulars respecting Pedro's death. He was treated
cruelly both by the captain and his officers during the
latter part of the voyage.
John Phillips, cook, was next called, and stated that
Pedro was in a good state of health when he joined the
ship. Was often flogged on the voyage, and became very
weak for many weeks hefore his death. On the night
before he died witness did not see him punished, being
otherwise engaged at the time. About five or six o'clock,
he saw the mate pushing Pedro forward towards the fore-
castle ; witness was inside the galley at the time, and saw
Pedro fall heavily with his forehead on the covering
board. Did not see Pedro's face before he fell upon the
deck. He did not move any of his limbs after he fell
down. The mate and some one else took him away, and
' witness exclaimed at the time, " That man's no more."
The mate came afterwards and asked witness for some tea
for Pedro. The cook replied that he had no tea, and con-
tinued, "If I had, it would be no use to Pedro, for he is
a dead man." Did not see Pedro alive after that. Saw
the mate and second mate sewing the body up next morn-
ing. Was not present at the funeral. When Pedro fell
forward his forehead did not fall on the edge, but on the
flat surface of the covering board. He was sometimes put
on short allowance.

Cross-examined by Mr. Aspinall : Witness once struck
Pedro on the face with a small iron spoon, because he was
trying to steal some fat from the galley. It appeared that
Manilla men were very fond of grease; and witness used
to heave it overboard, that they might not get it. They
would get at the grease if they could, whether they had

their full allowance or not. -
The case was then adjourned, at 5 o'clock, until this
morning, at 12 o'clock, when the deposition of the wit-
ness Gonsalvis will be taken at the infirmary.