River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-10-14
. .,
CRAZED BY FEAR.
a St0waWay on an Ocean steamer
who Committed Crime to Escape
Being Thrown Into the Sea.


Who Committed Crime to Escape
Being Thrown Into the sea.
New York World.
Frederick Hoffman, the stOWaway
on the steamship iceland, who is inn
prisoned in the Hudson county jail ON
the charge of stabbing William
Aufre tn, steerage passenger, during
the last voyage of the steamer from
Europe, is closely watched by iailer
Allen, as his strange behavior indicates
insanity. A World reporter visited the
Jail, and asked to see Hoffman The
prisoner was brought down from his
cell into an iron-grated room, where he
stood facing the reporter with an eX-
preston of intense fear on his coun-
tenance. His appearance was that of II
man who had undergone Il great
suffering. When the reporter spoke
to him in German his face frightened
up and he asked in his native tongue
if the visitor came from court, and
when assured i'll the negative he seem
ed strangely surprised. Being assured
that the reporter did not intend to do
him any harm he sat down on bench
and in II manner that indicated his
simplicity told the story of his eyentful
passage across the Atlantic.
Il left my home near Darmstadt,"
he said in provincial German, because
Il young woman Tilted me and ! was
ashamed to stay. So | thought | had
better 90 to America, where | heard |
could find plenty Of work at my trade,
that of timer. had little money,
not enough to pay my passage,
but | managed to get to Worms,
where | met man who said
he would get me across to America. |
spent all my money with my new-tound
friend, and when it was all gone he had
disappeared, too. then went on to
Antwerp. There people told me that
if could smuggle ON board a ship and
hide | could get across, and watching
my opportunity | got ON the iceland
and hid under the bedding i'll one of
the hunks When the ship was at sea
they found me out and made me work
assisting the cook. 1t was while help
ing him that / got into all the trouble.
4 Wurtcmberger asked me while | was
peeling lot of onions to give him one,
and dropped one into pail of peel
ings and pointed to it. He took the
onion The next day woman asked
me to give her some hot water from
the cooks galley. | told her | had
no right to give anything, and She said
she knew | had; rs she had been on n
steamer before she knew all about the
cooks business. Afterward / told the
passengers what the woman had said
to me and the Wurtemhclger told them
about my having given him an onion.
After that the passengers all acted
strangely toward me and they said
would be thrown overheard for having
committed piracy on the high seas, in
stealing an onion and for insulting a
lady. They frightened me very much
and saw that they intended to drown
me. | did not go away from the cook 5
galley after that and slept ON the floor.
On the third night out | heard the pas
sengers talking about throwing me into
the sea and | determined to lock my
self in the cooks galley. | tied the
galley door and lay down to sleep, but
could hear the passengers talking on
deck about steaming me out of the gal
ley and then throwing me overheard.
So | opened one of the little port lights
and managed to catch air enough to
breathe Then the passengers threw
water from the deck at me, and said
that | certainly would be thrown over
board The next morning the cook
told me to put on a clean shirt rs the
captain wanted to see me, and when |
put it on the passengers said That's
his shroud" | was terribly frightened
then, and | thought if | could commit
some crime they would not throw me
into the sea. | tried to steal the cook S
knife, but he caught me, and took it
away. Then | went to the butcher and
| took one of his knives. | was in u
delirium; everything seemed to swim
around me- My only thought was to
hurt somebody and be brought to land
to be imprisoned | ran up on deck
and saw a man bending over. jump
ed on him and cut him in the neck.
did not intend to kill him. Twas all in
a frenzy. Before | could cut myself
as | thought of doing, ! was disarmed
and ironed and brought here.
"Why did you run away from the
Office who brought you here|
~ thought he was bringing me to a
place where they were going to kill me-
Do you think they viii punish me
severely VIII they hang me? Had
they better not let me go and leave me
to my fate o. said the prisoner, and his
eyes lit up strangely Hoffman will be
extradited to Belgium at the instance
Of the Belgian consul, who caused his
arrest. Aufrecht, the injured man, is
fast recovering