The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-06-19

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il. for they would show tha, this brutal Captain.
= Miu~.r had been guilty before # IL treatment L. Ia
men under him
The trial resulted in the aequital Of the BuH,ti
by the jury. and the exposure Of one of the mos
brutal c~rUeitIes ever perpe,ratei At sea. Such
man should never be entrusted with the command
ola ship.
The case Of tie abuse OF Scamen on board tn,
Grlaf Republic = doubtless fresh in the minds Of
some Of our readers. One poor fellow. Z seaman,
upon whom tine most Infamous c~rueities, which
must have taxed the ingenuity Of n fend TO devise,
was compelled - stand ON - prominent part OF
the snip. and, with hand uplitted, at the dictation
Of an officer. swear that he was glad that it was
his privilege 10 be . sailor on board the good ship
Great RegujEc.
Recently the emigmnt ship James Foster. IT.,
arrived in New York. and the story Of the c~rueItics
p~racticed by the Captain and officers on the crew
and passengers i attracting marked attention in
the Eastern States. The testimony of n mate,
who had been disrated on the voyage, is rs
follows:
The Captain, boatswain and carpenter would, on
the slightest prov0cation, seize a belaying-pin, ham
Mer, OF any other heavy weapon. and use the same
freely on the men, while the chief-mate would abuse
them in the mos: shocking language. II 4 sailor
appeared on deck wearing a jacket-no matter how
intensely cold the weather-the garment would be
instantly torn from his shoulders. During the early
part of the voyage the Captain was seldom seen on
deck, the chief-matc having control of the ship. On
Christmas night the mate was drunk and treated the
men III the most barbarOus manner. \ few days
before landing the ship fell short of provisions, so
that the allowance Of water during twenty-four
hours for each person was only one pint, while the
main subsistence was salt meat, which occasioned
TIg rnUzr sr.ufyiur thirst 4 v1rnr manual
George Grant volunteered 10 20 aft and request n
little more water, but was met by the boatswain. who
kicked and beat him i'll such a manner that ne was
unable 10 20 on deck for four days a~fterward. Muir
ply, who was acting mate during the time Grant
was below, missed him, and ON learning where he
was went forward and dragged him naked from his
bunk TO the deck, keeping him there until the men
had done pumping. Shortly after this n rude hos
pital was imprOyisel, and the unfortunate men when
totally disabled by savage treatment, were ultimately
allowed 20 crawl in there and lie. Before Grant
died the carpenter came TO where he was lying, and
catching him by the hair, kicked him in the temple
and struck him in tie face, after which Grant never
spoke, and in a few hours, and was buried the
next day. This BryOn states, was a fair sample of
the deaths occurring on board, with the exception OF
four caused by sheer weakness. The want Of water
was so seriously felt among the men that they fire.
quently had to use brine mixed with fresh water, in
making coffee. Bryan avowed his readiness to testify
that the Captain swore in the presence of the crew
and passengers, that lac would not let one of the crew
~ lu ste Il DOCTOR. Nlcn one OF the crew named
Walsh was sick he was taken out of the hospital and
scrubbed with ice water, from the effects OF which he
dIed shortly after. \ seaman named John CoOney
jumped overheard, in n lit of despair, and no attempt
was made to pick him mp. Four men who fell from
the yardarm were unable to retain their hold aloit
thFsugh sheer exhaustion
( in commenting on this statement the New
Bedford Shipping Last says:
The records of cruelty to seamen arc black
pupfph bur tho .o,,lr.4 g Flo nt,., al ,,,...gH
ship James Foster, Jr., recently arrived mt New
York, from Liverpool, is capable of throwing a
shadow upon them. Eight sailors were abused
until they died land sixteen are so far Frustrated
by fever, caused by bad usage. that several of
them will die. Fourteen passengers also died
from fever. One Of the Commissioners of Emf
grafton has refused to hear any further testimony
against Armstrong and his fellow friends, as Inc
had already got enough to hang n hundrcd.'
testimony which mas thus far been brought
cut 1T TIE Investigation which is being made,
Ieyelopcs n fearful record Of cruelty and inhu-
manity. One of the passengers, an intelligent
plumber, Robert Blaekmore, testified,
That the first provisions were issued on the day
after sailing, and that they were never in quantity
II quality such rs the contract required. The
only good article was the bread. Although hay-
ng no measures or weights TO determine, the
witness was sure that the allowance was only
bout half of that stipulated. 1t was better ut
but decreased in quantity and deter;oratcd
n quality until nearing New York. Each PAS
should have received three quarts of water
day, but they did not get half that quantity.
III the provisions and Goals were served out by
he carpenter, who, when asked for better food,
nswered his petitioners with Il kick or Il blow.
,ometimeS he would not give out the food until
edtime, and oitentimes the passengers were
ompelled to 90 to bed suppcrless. Mr.. Black
once went to the Captain and asked for
D~mething to eat, and the Captain told him., with
n oath. that he should not have n bit to save his
fe. The passengers drew up n petition and
resented it to the Captain asking for different
nd better treatment, but no notice mt all was
ken of it. This witness and others testified ,
rat the crew were cruelty beaten. and that in
cases men were 50 ovcrworked as to cause .
DEATH" .
Both the Captain and first officer of the James ,
OSfeT, Jr., died in New York. from the fever ;
hich prevailed on board during the voyage. and
which many of the emigrants also died. But
-ior to their death, the grand jury had indicted
en- ON charges of manslaughter. IL is only by
ch pronptness, by inficting the fullest penalty :
the law. and by expelling from the service "
cry officer proved guilty. of such barbarous con- !
that reform can be expected. What with :
ing shanghaei to start with. and abused worse :,
an a convict during the voyage, Jack lot is :
ri one, and demands redress from the officers =
the law, wherever such cases are brought before II
en- for investigation. y
81
The American Legation.