The Portland daily press., 1886-01-28
STARVED BY THE CAPTAIN.
Charges of Brutality Made by the
Ada BaiIey's Crew.
rNaw York Herald. ]

4 warrant for the arrest of Captain ID. w.
Barker, of the large schooner Ada Bailey,
which arrived last Saturday, ninety days out
from Rosario, Brazil, is in the hands of
Deputy United States Marshal Holmes. The
captain cannot be found The warrant was
issued last Saturday by Commissioner
Shields on the complaint of eight men of the
crew, who charged the captain with sys-
tematic and inhuman cruelty throughout the
voyage The men said they had been beaten
and starved within an inch of their lives,
and their appearance seemed to confirm their
words.
The crew consisted of NJ. S. Hanson, mate !;
Alvin Small cook and steward; Thomas
Ferguson, second mate; H. Peterson, Charles
Buhring, Carl Johansen, Thomas johnson,
Thomas Tuite, Johan Williamson and J. T..
Pund, seamen. OF these the first mate and
the cook did not join in making the COM
plant, though the former was the principal
victim of the captains temper, according to
the story told by the others. All the COM
plainants were found at FL. Smiths seaman's
boarding house, No. 81 Market street, yes
terday. They were nearly all sick.or Grip
pied One of them, breathing skeleton,
named Thomas Tuite, told the story of the
voyage, while the others listened with ap-
proving mods and interjections.
''The Bailey" he said, sis large schooner
carrying over 800 tons. She is from. Bath,
Me-, and Captain Barker owns an interest in
her. When we shipped on her at Rosario he
told us he would give us full and plenty to
eat We sailed on October 10, laden with
hides and wool. As long as the pilot was on
board we get plenty to eat, but as soon as he
left the captain began to starye us. We had
an abundance of pork, flour, bread, coffee,
sugar and molaSSes on board, but he gave us
only two slices of bread and half a pint of
coffee for breakfast; the same with one or
two half raw potatoes for dinner, and bread
and coffee for supper. About once week
he gave us q bit of pork. After we had been
a month out he reduced the rations to two
biscuits and half pint OF hot water barely
colored with coffee and without sweetening.
Didn't YOU make demand for mOre?
''The men from the mate down were afraid
of the captain. He was full of liquor all the
time, and if any man dared to complain he
was picked out for brutal treatment. He
called every man by vile nickname The
lash was laid ON at every chance and the
mates eyes were kept black by the awful
beatings he got. One day felt would die
if | didn't get something to eat and stole a
small piece of bread from the galley. | was
caught, and Captain Barker hit me several
times in the nose and said that before he
was done he would leave nothing in my rags
but my bones. He tried to carry out the
threat. He starved me until was too weak
to get out of my bunk. For four days he did
not let me have bite to eat. Then he said
| he would doctor me. He gave me tin of
water with some flour in it. He said this
was good remedy for lazy men. Then he
made me swallow two doses of salts, and
| thought / would die. How | managed to
| live don't know | guess Pll get strong
again, but you can see | am only bundle OF
bones now
Johan Williamson said Captain Barker
told me one day that if did not get enough
to eat to let him know. Twas almost starv-
ing, and told him so, like fool. He made
| me go without food for three days, and then
| kept me on half a pound of bread as my
| three meals day. He made me stand Oh
my head on the poop every time he wanted
| to laugh, and sometimes he made me carry
| two capstan bars and march up and down
| the deck playing soldier for him. One day
| he kept me at hard work for twelve hours
without food and without moments rest.
| At last he got tired of the sport and told the
| second mate to throw my overc0at into the
| sea- The mate did not want to do it, aIfC
| the captain whipped him and forced him tC
| do it. At last the captain let me have q rest
| and got the same to eat as the others.
| Carl Johansen said that when the schooner
| was passing Cape Hatteras, twenty-one days
| ago, fearful hurricane struck her. Sail,
| were split and carried away, and the vessel
was carried back to the Gulf Stream, 1t wa:
| intensely cold. Throughout this storm he
was kept at work, although he was weak
| from starvation. Finally his feet were
frozen, and he has not been able to wall
since. He was lying on bench at the
boarding house when seen by the reporter.
| After the vessel landed at Martins Stores
Brooklyn, the captain told the mate to re-
main aboard, but at night, the sailors say, he
| blackened the mates eyes, disabled his right
arm with blow and forced him to leave the
| vessel half clad. The captain has not beer
| on the schooner since the warrant wa:
| sworn out but as he is an owner it is thought
| he will return. The men will be paid off by
| the Shipping Commissioner. They hav'
over $1,000 coming to them.