The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-11-27
HUNTED 40 DEATH In mID.OcEAN
How Young Cooper was FIogged and
starved I'm the A'srk Maggie Dixon,
London Times.l

London Times.
At Exeter, on October 81. before Lord
Chief Justice Colsridge, the trial of Richard
Proudfoot, 80, master mariner, OF good edu-
cation; William Henry Strickland p. mate,
also of good education; and James Murray,
20, bostswain, able to read for having grossly
ill.treated Charles Ashley Cooper, an sppren-
tice, aged 81, for period of over three
months, took place.
The prosecution was Instituted by the
treasury, at the desire of the board OF trade.
The story now told by ths witnesses dis
closed course of the most reyCltlDg cruelty
on she part of the prisoners IL appeared
thas the deceased, who had BEEN chemists
assistant bad long bad a desire 20 go to sea,
and after some talk with one Lind, an APP
prentice on board the bark Masxie Dixon,
he went off with him, and entered the Mag
gle DIXON as an apprentice. TIE Maggie
Dixon was bark OF 473 tons register, and
had ID hands, all told. Cooper was entirely
ignorant OF sean anfhip, had no proper
clothes, and used on cold days TO go sloft in
long ulster coat. He was a tall, healthy
lad when lie first came on board
At first he was put irIo the mates watch,
sut was so much i'll tres,ed and ropessnded
shat the steward, Ropc&e. a Swede, conn.,
Dlsined 10 the captain, who hao him moved
lnto his own watch, saying be would not
have the lad il treated. After some time
the lad appears to have been badly treated,
The captain ropesendsd h5n to ..Iet him
know what the scurvy was" and ordered
him to be fed or rice and barley only. andl
said be would starve any of the crew who.
fed him. The crew appear, however 10 have
given him food sUrreptitionsly. On one &C.
casion, with the scuTvy on him, be was told
to shift Goals to the fore peak, and the cap
TAI said be was 10 have no food till he bad
hllrdit This took the lad over twenty-four
hours, and on the steward secretly giving
him bottle OF water aud biscuit. the cap.
tain, who saw it done, tooK both away.
On more than one occasion, while Cooper
was black and blue with bruises. be was
stripped, soused with sea water and scrub
bed with whaiebone broom, and his head
was tarred and creased. He was made TO 20
up and down the rieging fortifty times in
succession, and was made to- cry cuckoo
each time he got 10 the masthead. The
mate said to the boatswain, DO not let the
lunat1c have any rest" TIE boatswain said,
81 will take care of that" The lad appears
to have been ropesended; knocked across
the back of the neck so that blood came
from his sars, and held down over the cap
stan and sogged with rattan. In answer to
a question OF the learned Judge, one witness
said that the lad was covered with lice.
which he was made by the mate to eat.
He at last grew like a skeleton, and used
to steal what food he could gel, even taking
out OF barrel The slush USED for greasing
the masts. In this state be was ordered aloft
in a gale Of wind wss driven and kicked up
by The boatSwaln, and finally, fell overheard,
the last words he was be ,rd To utter being,
20 God, leave me alOne! Every exertion
was made to pick him MP, but in vain.
Charles hind, the apprentice, who was of
superior education, wrote 81 the captains
desire. letter TO the deceased 3 brother, say
ing that Cooper had fallen overheard
through his own carelessnesS. and that there
had been ne foul play. Fbisletter he gave
open to the captain. He now stated that
the contents of the letter were falsa, and be
only sad what he did FROM fear of the cap
tain, as Cooper was ~ al ~ grossly maltTeated.
Ga arrival at Padang memorial was drawn
up by the steward, COED by him aud seven
others of the crew, aud sent &c. the board of
trade, calling their attention tothe matter.
The captain learning this endeavored to get
the crew to sign paper To the effect that
he memorial was untrue; but they refused.
On ARRIVAL at Falmouth the captain called on
the deceased's brother, and said that he
knew that the lad was i'll treated but it was
all done by the mate and boatswain, who
got the upper band.
Mr.. Collins, in summing up the case to
the jury, pointed out the strong corrobora-
ton Of the crews story in the passage in
Linds letter to the effect tbes there bad
statement Aaye been made when it would
never have entered the mind of the re-
cipient of the letter that there had been
any?
The defense was that the story of the crew
was the result OF conspiracy got up by
them against their officers in revenge for
having their liberty stopped at PadaDg a
story difficult TO refute, as it was founded
on substra um Of truth The facts were
no doubt true but were grosslyexaggerated.
Cooper was lazy landIubber, anu IL was ia
evidence that he was dirty and Unfortunately
greedy. the story of the starvation arose
out OF the captain having strictly forbidden
any meat being given 10 the hoy As 1t would
have been poison to him withEhe. scurvy on
him. Treatment at sea was well known to
be rough, and such as could easily be exsg-
2eTated wiinout fear OF contradiction, espe-
cially If those who were charged with ILL
tire a ment we're the officers and an charged
in a body, so that they could, have no. evil
deHcs of a fellow officer'in, their Cisfpnse
The jury found ali the prisoners guilty,
but added that they considered he captain
the least culI able
The Judge, in passing sentence, said that
the Ca o was one of immeass importance,
and il was subject of copgrar ulation that it
had been taken up by the. board of trade and
the treasury. No doubttbe Office rsof ship.
must he endued with despo ic authority. It
was necessary for the safety ct all that it
should be so; but ii was~awful to ind how
that authority could be- abused aud terrible
t. think of the poor lad hunted by his supe
riors> in mid ocean. with no possibility OF =.
escape or refuge. He fuIlyagrsed With what
the Jury tad appended to their verdict, as
he considered that The captain had been
Overcome by his in feri6r otfietrs though he
b. dat last, unable 70 resist, behaved with
almest equal cruelty He. should sentence
hin to IL months hard labor AS 10 the
Others, he must maize an example of them,
and should sentence each of them to Eve
Vas 49, nd