Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1865-12-22
Man-Slaughter by Mistake.
BY R. T. MAXWELL.

e0ohoo vi oioousneu, human carnage ant
horror; but there was one tragic Incl
dent, which occurred in the early part o
my service on blockade duty, and il
which l was principal actor, that ever
since has frequently reoccurred in my
dreams, and while live. will thrill with
its terrible reality every fibre of my be-
ing, whenever m emory involuntarily
flashes back upon the hated scene.
We bad, during our first months ei
blockading service in the Nonpareil,
several very bad fellows among the
crew-three of them were especially so.
Chief of the three, and instigator and
ringleader of al! the mischief and insub-
ordination that had occurred on board,
was Jack Smith, an Irishman. He was
a big, burly fellow, strong as a giant, a
prime seaman when so disposed, and pos
sessed OF more brazen impudence than ]
ever saw exhibited by any man before.
Besides all these qualifications, Jack was
a murderously disposed, blood-thirsty
scoundrel, quarrelsome among bis ship
mates upon all occasions, and came on
board the Nonporeil fresh from Boston
prison, where be had served out years
apprenticeship for stabbing the captain
and chief mate of the last ship he had
been in.
The second of our three worthless was
Bill Barstow, cockney EngIishman,
ticket-of-leave subject from Norfolk
Island, where be bad been sent by some
British criminal court, for the term of
twenty-one years, for the crimes of burg
larry, arson, and assault with intent to
kill. Bill was in all respects fair match |
for Jack Smith, except that he was less
formidable physically, carried trihe less
brass in his face, and as. "a sailor was con-
siderably below mediocrity.
Our third worthy was Green Noun
tain Yankee, named Enoch Thorpe, the
superior of Jack Smith even in stature
and muscular development; aud, unlike
men of gigantic mould generally, Thorpe
was certainly possessed OF tue most ma
licious murderous disposition ! have
ever met with in man. He had fed
from Vermont to avoid the consequences
of having maliciously maimed for life
young clergyman against whom he had
taken causeless spite; and of this and
many other lawless deeds be made open
and frequent boasts among the crew.
With three such samples of rascality
cooped up with US within the contracted
limits of a craft like ours, it is natural
enough to conclude that neither our berth :
or quarterdecks were very much like {
modern, saltwater paradise. Every day s
there was row of some sort---oflen a
serious one; and as a rule some one of
the three disturbers oi the peace was {
constantly 10 double irons, and not unfre- [
quen:ly all three at once were undergoing t
the severest punishments allowed by the
rules of naval service. But neither pun :
ishments allowed by the rules of naval I
service. But neither punishment nor C
kindness produced the least effect upon a
the obdurate rascals. Matters were daily {
becoming worse, and it was common S
remark among the officers that the three '
unruly desperadoes must be got rid of or
open mutiny and murder would soon en- n
sue. 1t was finally resolved to state the /
fact to the Admiral at Port Royal, and G
ask that the three desperadoes should be n
TO some one of the larger ves- a
sells of the feet, where they could be o
managed with more facility than in our
little cookie shell of craft. Before an
opportunity for putting in practice this n
resolution occurred, an event happened /,
which rid US Of the entire service of the 6.
hree wretches forever. :,
We had been ordered to run across :,
he Gulf, and dodge along up and down
he western edge of the Banks. between >.
Abaco and Gun Key for ten days, after 70
which we were to look into the Havana, :,
Matanzas, and Cardenas when we were h,
o stretch across the Old Providence IL
Channel, reconnoitre Nassau without >,
!oing in, and then cut directly across the
Banks for Port Royal, and report to So
ADMIRAL Dupont. m
Our ten days of Bank cruising being :,
p, and the breeze very light at south, -
1akIng il impossible for US TO fetch by :,
Jun Key against the strong Gulf cur :,
ent, which here runs close in to the
s, m
oral reefs, we anchored on Saturday
- m
fternoon mile off shore from the Great :.
8imini, the principa! island of group :,
designated on the charts as the Bimin. vi
ies-a mere cluster Of san1bars few N
eet out of water, the haunt OF wreckers, th
nd va On honds NJ ho,b eaxae and q N onlors n,