Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-08-01
CRUELTY TO THE CREW.
Snspemdin0 Men In Irons and Depriv,ng
Them Of Food.

ONSpcHueNO A1eN III irons anu DeDT1C1n0
Them Of Food.
New York Herald
A revolving tale of cruelty aud despotism
at sea was told in United States Commission
er Osborne's Office yesterday morning. Five
ablebodied seamen, T.. G. Malloy, Charles
johnson, John Lyman, August Whitman and
Andrew Wick, were taken before Assistant
District Attorney Fiero, and Mr.. Malloy,
the official spokesman of the delegation, re-
cited the facts which are given below
"On the 28th of April, y began Spokesman
Mallow, sswe sailed from Bremerhaven for
New York in the American bark John Zit-
tolsen, J. @. Merriam, captain. The crew
consisted of seven able seamen, one ordi-
nary seaman and one boy. We sailed at Q
in the morning and until noon the next
day we hardly had moments rest.
We were SO fatigued as hardly to be
able to stand. We went to the captain and
applied to him for watch and watch-that is,
four hours on deck and four hours below.
He refused us, saying, "You d -,
I'll make you work. said, Captain, we
can't stand it any longer" .'Well, y he said,
"you must either 60 to work or be put in
US at least few hours rest.'' He said he
would be damned if he would, and ordered
Us to be put in irons. The mate put them
on me, Charles johnson, John Lyman, Au-
gust William and Andrew Wick. Wick had
them on four days, William three days, Ly-
man ten days. johnson five days and I, my
self, twelve days. They took us down to one
of the half decks, place no more than
Io1e ;-h
hatch. It was pitch dark, and the atmos-
phere was suffocating, since the only air that
came in was that which was forced through
by the cabin bulkheads when the ship rolled.
Con the second day, by the captains or
ders, johnson and were swung up for an
hour. A rope was made fast to the irons
that bound our hands, and it was passed
through pulley, and thus we had to hang
for a full hour, our toes barely touching the
ground. Every lurch, every roll that the
ship made swung us across the deck. The
irons cut into our hands, as you can see for
yourself" Here he showed pair of brawny
fists which were still discolored at the wrists.
"Well, sir" he resumed, ssfor forty hours
we had nothing to eat, and it was more than
fifty hours after we were confined before we
got drop of water. At the end of forty
hours the captain sent us down three and
one-half biscuits to be divided among the
five of us; afterward he also sent us some
water. The next day he gave us four bis
cults, the following day biscuit to each of
-, and after that he gave each man three.
The rest of the men were gradually lib
Grated. I was the only man kept down. I
could sit, but not stand, and was kept bound
SO tight night and day that could not move.
It was bitterly cold, too, but all this did not
affect the captain in the least.
Finally, on the twelfth day, the hatch was
opened and was allowed on deck. The
light and air almost overwhelmed me.
staggered and was for some moments blind
ed. The captain said: Get down on your
knees and ask my pardon / said: Gap
tain, that man doesn't live before whom I
will 60 on my knees He got angry, but
finally / was released and allowed to 90 to
work.
"Our passage was long one, lasting more
than sixty days. We arrived here on the Sd
of July. We at once went before Commits
sioner Duncan. He was a seafaring man
himself, and understood it at once that we
were in the right and awarded Us damages,
the captain agreeing to pay them within seven
days. I was awarded $125, johnson 300,
Lyman SEQ, Whitman $50 and Wick $25.
But afterward the captin objected and re-
fused to pay.
This statement was corroborated BY all
tho other aeAmer. and n warrant svvaa iynrno