Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-08-10

steward, put On the handcufsn
The steward advanced with pair IN bis
hand. but waved him aside and said:
Capt Strong. you dare not put them On
me until refuse to obey q legitimate order
concerning the care Of the snip. You have
certain powers under the laws Of the high
seas. but the rleanest sailor also has certain
rights"
He was livid with passion, and it was only
after a great effort that ne said:
Il viii have you triced up and logged to
death, Steward. put on the irons!7
But the steward dared come no nearer
The CAPTAIN then ordered tie crew TO seize
me. but not a man moved The second mate
was then ordered forward, but he had the
sense 10 keep his foot out OF il, and he 70
piled:
III Castle has the law, let's hear il. I've
sailed twenty years without knowing the
rights Of a sailor, and l want no trouble IN
the courts"
saw CAPTAIN and first mate LOOK al each
other, and | prepared myself for rush
They were determined to do for me. and as
the captain handed ais pistol TO the steward
| called out:
Men, you are nay witnesses that have
not refused 10 do duty or obey necessary
orders. No captain las authority TO trics
man no, and he can be put in irons only for
disobedience Of legitimate orders II they
lay hands on me, ii is at their peril
They came with rush, but both "ere
knocked of their feet inside Of ten seconds.
The mate was satisfied with that, bus the
captain came at me again, and this time
gave him all he wanted. Not man raised
hand or voice, and gave the brute such
L., 4 rr.sf Of rtfA cal m
for five days Then it was to signal an Eng
lish man Of war We were boarded by an
officer. was given in charge as a nutineer,
and four months later was put On trial IN
Liverpool. / not only received full ac-
ouittai at the hands Of the jury, but was
COMMUNICATED on ali sides, and captain and
mate were both suspended from duty for
a term. The affair raised a great talk,
as NAV be supposed, and it was a seed which
could have been well planted. A few sailors
did profit by it to assert their manhood for H
time. but after little things went backward
and became worse than ever. Today. despite
the romance of poets and novelists, the aver
age salt water sailor is a cringing coward
The law gives him every right, but he dares
not stand up to single one. He has less
personal independence than = state prison
convict.
Nv second voyage, which had to be ma -
under another name, as all captains 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 a week out the mate broke man S
nose with Delaying pin. Next day he cut
open a mans scalp in q terrible manner On
the third day the captain knocked two men
down, breaking several teeth for one Of
them The second mate, a day or two later,
kicked sailor in the side and broke two OF
his ribs When we arrived at San Francisco
| took thirteen of the men, all of whom had
suffered personal violence and three of whom
had to go to tho hospital, and went before
the Eng sh consul He sent for the captain
and mates heard their statements, and then
dismissed us with the threat of sending US to
prison if we made any further ado. went
to the United States authorities, secured the
arrest of the officers, and the captain was
fined $500, the first mate $3.50 and the second
$3.50 And yet, on the return voyage-which
was with new crew-every man was beaten
like dog, and the ship went into Liverpool
with half the crew unable to pull rope.
made a third voyage before the mast be-
fore taking berth as first mate. This was
on the brig Good Intent, bound from Plym-
outh to the Canary Islands. We left port
one man short simply to save money for the
owners. Our bread was full of weevil and
worms, and the pork SO tainted that an open
barrel of it scented the whole brig. We had
not the boats required by law, and We had
no medicines abOard-not even dose of
salts Within week the two first officers
got so intoxicated that they could not take
an observation at noon, and for three days
our position was unknown to them. The
captain, while drunk, upset "A lamp and set
the cabin fire, and his chief officer, while
in the sames condition, fell overheard and
narrowly escaped drowning. We forfeited
our insurance no less than three times. and
for the last 800 miles of our voyage we ran
by sights, which | took myself and worked
out. There wasn't day without its brutal
treatment of the men, two of whom were
fired upon by the captain, and yet when we
finally made port not sailor could | get to
join me i'll legal statement. The brig,
cargo and all our lives were IN constant men
ace, every right was denied to US, and men
were never more brutallv used; and yet the
captain and his mates were permitted to es
cape without even a complaint New York
Sun.