Wilmington daily gazette., 1872-05-08
Tho Horrors Of Burning Ship--soo
Coolies Roasted to Ooath.

In an editorial in the London Telegraph OF April
end occurs this statement =
"A catastrophe almost unparalleled in horror
the gross cruelties Of the Macao emf
grant trade by one last and most terrible demon.
happened III the China seas last Nav
and is recordsd In Parliamentary report lust
published vessel called the Don Juau set sail
on the 4th OF that month from Macao bound 10 |
Peru, with six hundred and fifty-hve coolies on
board, who had been kidnapped and shipped un-
der the flag and with the authority OF the Portu-
gese Government. Once Oh board, this large null
utude was placed literally In prison-penned on
the man deck and fastened down by three iron
gratngs, which closed the matches, ten coolies at a
time only being allowed to come on deck The |
ship sailed ia ialr weather from Macao On the |
second day OF the voyage. as declared by Herker |
an Austrian seaman, the captain selected twenty |
coolies AMI put them IN irons. with much brutall-
ty, as an example to the Others. On the third day
a diihculy arose about the food passed down to
the emigrants. The interpreter got angry, and
| struck those who complained with his cane,
whereupoi the wretched coolies made u rush 1T
their European jailers. The iron matches were
| immediately slammed back upon them, and when
the poor creatures beat upon the beams and planks
to get air, muskets were fired down into the crowd.
1t then appears that, i'll desperation, some few Of
the coolies set fire to a sore-room forward, hoping.
| NO doubt, to force the to throw their prison
| open. The sailors tried to pump water down
upon the scat Of the confagratoD, but the frenzed
| men below passed the hose out of the port-hoes
| 50 tuut pumping USELESS. linen the nfe
| spread beyond all control, and volumes OF thick
smoke rolled into the nam deck--choking the
mass of coolies at either end, who had taken no
part III the previous proceedings. Red tongues
| of flame and sutfocatng clouds filled thu ship
| below hatchcs-while the miserable prisoners beat
at the iron gratiugs tore at the fasteulngs OF the
deck, and even endeavored to get up to the arr
through the ventilators. The PORTFOLIOS. however,
were fastened, the dead-lights were too small to
allow oil "a mans body passing and the ventilators
bat thnrGr kxny
} hours time the lire established Oh the main
| ieck," winch means that scores of the Chinese
, mad already been roasted or smothered; yet the
crew never toox single step towards saving thu
lives OF the imprisoned wretches. They merely
lowered three boats on their own account, ant
, | pushed off IRON the burning vessel, leaving al
| chat mass OF human creatures pent in hoatini
| hell OF fear and agony. The sea was calm thu
matches might surely have been opened at the las
= moment: yet the Don Juans captain and hand
showed off, while the ship blazed, and while TIN
coolies persisted inside with fnghtful cries au'
7 | screams The scouildrel master and crew save'
e their vlilainous hives; junk picked them up; an
@ the same witness who tells this says that whe
. | the twenty Chinese IN irons, who were upon tn
" iorecastle, broke away their fetters and swan tc
wards the junk, they were pushed of into the sc
o to drown. Meantime, in their awful terror, tn
| survivors OF the 655 below found some means
bursting the fore-hatch.' Scores were by tn
IS time killed by the flames the smoke; scor,
IL had been trampled down the frenzied rush fC
,t life to the upper deck. About a hundred in all
;, last emerged from that Golgotha of anguish, al
" eaped at once into the A few managed
es get hold OF spars and floating gear and hung upo
these till some fishing boats picked them
40 next morning. The majority were already mo
=, tally injured when they escaped, or were drow
- i, ed, or crushed by the falling chains and spaTs
= the ship But at least five hundred were iii
. scorched to death, or choked and trampled dea
ID before the internal PRISON gate was forced by t
I'd breaking open of the hatchss which the capita
!, and crew had so shamefuy lett fast"