Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-09-06

They came with q rush, but both
were knocked off their feet inside of
ten seconds. The mate was satisfied
with that, but the captain came at me
again, and this time gave him all he
wanted. Not man raised his
hand or voice, and / gave the
brute such drubbing that he did
not get out Of his cabin for five days.
Then it was to signal an English man
of-war. We were boarded by an Off
Ger, Vas given in charge as mutt
neer, and four months later was put
on trial in Liverpool. l not only re-
ceived full acquittal at the hands
of the jury, but was complimented on
all sides, and Captain and mate were
both suspended from duty for a term.
The affair raised great talk, as may
be supposed, and it was seed which
could have been well planted. A few
sailors did profit by it to assert their
manhood for a time, but after little
things went backward and became
worse than ever. To-day, despite the
romance Of poets and novelists, the
average salt water sailor is cring-
ing coward The law gives him every
right, but he dares not stand up to a
single one. He has less personal in
dependence than State-prison con-
vict.
My second voyage, which had to be
made under another name, as all cap
tains had been warned against me,
was from Liverpool to San Francisco
in the bark ''Enchantress." just why
captain and mates let me alone | never
knew, for others who did their duty as
well were grossly abused, but | was
not even threatened during the voyage.
Before we had been week out the
mate broke mans nose with Delay
ing pin. Next day he cut open mans
scalp in a terrible manner. On the
third day the captain knocked two men
down, breaking several teeth for one
of them. The second mate day OF
two later kicked sailor in the side
and broke two of his ribs When we
arrived at San Francisco l took thir.
teen of the men, all of whom had suf.
fered personal violence and three o.
whom had to 60 to the hospital, and
went before the English Consul. He
sent for the captain and mates hear(
their statement, and then dismissed us
with the threat of sending us to prison
II we made any further ado. | wen
to the United States authorities, Sc
cured the arrest OF the officers, and thu
captain was fined four hundred dollars
the first mate three hundred and fit,
dollars and the second mate two hun
dred and fifty dollars. And yet, on tn
return voyage-which was with a new
crew-every man was beaten like
dog, and the ship went into Liverpool
with half the crew unable to pull
rope.
l made third voyage before tn
Hldob DClOIc tdhluS IL UOIul 40 III .
mate. This was on the brig "Goo
Intent" bound from Plymouth to tn
: Canary Islands. We left port one ma
short, simply to save money for tn
owners. Our bread was full of weevi
and worms, and the pork so tainte
that an open barrel of it scented tn
whole brig. We had not the boat
required by law, and we had no med
icines aboard-not even dose {
salts. Here were five dereliction
which made the master amenable t
l the law. Within a week the two frs
. officers got so intoxicated that the
l could not take an observation at moor
I and for three days our position wa
Y unknown to them, The captain, Will
drunk, upset lamp and set the cabi
a on fire, and his chief officer, while
S the same condition, fell overboar
g and narrowly escaped drowning. W
u forfeited our insurance no less tina
q three times, and for the last thre
y hundred miles of our voyage we IA
g by sights, which took myself an
y worked out. There wasn't u da
o without its brutal treatment of Il
IL men, two of whom were fired upOn.f
y the captain, and yet when we final
}. made port not a sailor could get
70 join me in legal statement. III
q brig, cargo and all our lives were
IL constant menace, every right was d
% MED to us, and men were never mo
1t brutally used; and yet the captain al
# his mates were permitted to escal
without even a complaint. N Y. Su