Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-08-12
THE STOWAW Az.


who maGis their appearance after the vessel
vss well on her voyage, has recalled vividiy
an adventure had when boy Of "A, and,
though xns a very humble individual my
aeIf, the particulars Of that adventure stirred
the people Of great kingdom.
know the sailor from topnast bead TO KEEL
son. have sailed In all sorts Of crafts, with
all sorts Of crews. and have served many
captains know that sailors are rough and
uncoath. and that there Is always disposi-
ton 10 find fault and To magnify evils Jack
would have his growl no matter how well
fed or how we'll used On land there IL a GER
tain antagonisn between employer and EN-
ployed On ship board this Is intensified, but
that Is because the employer has 50 much
more power over the employed. frankly
admit that | have never met half dozen
sailors, no matter what sort Of captain they
were serving under, who we're without com
plainss. but I. does not follow that all the
others complained without reason- The ship
NAV be comfortable and full handed, the
fare ali right and the captain u good man,
but the mates can still make the craft mighty
uncomfortable for the men. I venture to as
ssrt that there are not half dozen long voy-
age sailing crafts Saving our shores in which
iouA va nv" -
ist and what is true Of America is true Of all
other countries The Dutch, Swedes, Rus
slams and Lascars will stand over work, poor
grub and the abuse Of officers, and As much
for this reason az any other the Yankee sail
or has been driven from the sea and his
place filed by these substitutes.
When was II years old my mother died,
and my father decided TO go TO Australia
10, l..,
burdened with money. He was a master
plumber, and he set out for Sydney under
contract Three months after our arrival he
married again. and it was not six weeks be-
fore my stepmother pushed me into the
street was under sized and sickly, but
never gave her the slightest cause for even
harsh word. She simply took an aversion to
me- and somehow her hatred came to lie re-
6ectcd in my father, He saw me thrown out
on the world with hardly protest, and two
days later when he met me In the street he
gave me about eight shillings in money and
advised me to set up as boothack and news
boy | should probably have followed his
suggestions had | not on that same day
CHANGED to fall In with two or three lads who
were planning TO stow themselves away
abo ri Of an English brig called the Charles
H. Churchill They were boys who tad run
away from home or been thrown over like
myself and the idea was that they could do
better in England. | was invited to join and
when our plans had been laid there were four
OF us Of about the same age. We looked the
brig over, found that we could get aboard
and made our arrangements.
One night, when the brig was nearly ready
for sea, | stole aboard, carrying with me
about two quarts Of water and four pounds
Of bread and meat This was the share was
10 furnish wns to be first aboard, slip
down the midship hatch, and the others were
to follow at brief intervals. A fire on board
a ship a few hundred feet away collected the
crew Of the brig oft, and got aboard with
out risk The hold was nearly full Of bags
barrels and boxes, and after waiting a few
minutes made my way over these toward
the bow, and found q very comfortable place
on a lot OF dry hides | remained awake and
alert for two hours, and then fell asleep
withou; realizing TINT was bit sleepy. 1t
was morning when awoke. and as the sail
ors were at work below dared not move or
call out. figured that my companions were
In hiding around me, and SO rested easy
through the day, sleeping most of the time
At about shutdown felt the SLIP under mo
tiOu, and al hour later the matches were
closed AMI was in midnight darkness |
had mat hes and Il stub Of candle, and, after
striking = light, moved around and whistled
and Gale - my companions. could make
my way er the freight pretty easily in any
direction and would not give up that was
alone until had searched for a full hour.
Then | was positive that was alone; the
others had either backed out or had been
bafiled in their attempt to get aboard | was
much upset at the discovery, and crawied
back to my bed and cried myself to SLEEP
1t had been agreed among us boys that We
should keep secreted three days after sailing.
None of US anticipated any trouble when we
should make our presence known. had no
way Of computing time, as it was night all
the time in the hold, but after my bread and
water had been used up and was hungry
and thirsty, decided that the three days
were up. Crawling TO the cover Of the hatch
| knocked on 1t and shouted, and after a little
It was opened and was helped out, 1t was
o'clock on the morning Of tie fourth day.
The first word from the captain was a curse,
anil his first net was to swing me about the
deck by the hair, Then he called for rope
and beat me until tainted away and while
lying unconscious he and the first mate
kicked me several times. When came to
was ordered forward among the men. They
gave me kind words, satisfied ms hunger and
thirst and hoped that the worst was over. 1t
was not, however At about noon | was
called aft, and after the captain had interro-
gated the rs to my identity and why had
selected his vessel, he gave me another beat
tng and turned me over to the mate with the
words:
You can have him now. and | hope you'll
kill him before the week is out"
Aye, sir leave that to me- was the reply.
"rll fh,d dozen ways to make him wish he'd
never been born
1 had committed an offense but nothing
deserving such punishment as received for
the next three days was logged. kicked,
cuffed and maltreated in every way captain
and mate could think Of, and was more than
once rendered inseisible by their cruelty
heard the men cursing the officers FOR their
conduct, and encouraging each other TO In
terfere, but was passive. Indeed, after .
beating or two, was 80 harried that could
Scarcely remember my own name On the
afternoon Of the fourth day. soon after din
ner, while l was forward with the watch
and assisting the sail maker to repair sail,
the first mate called me aft. The wind was
light, and the sea smooth, and a few fathoms
astern Of the brig was an enormous shark.
It had occurred to the two brutes to have
some fun with me- The mate noosed a rope
and passed 1t around my waist, and then,
while struggled and shrieked and begged
for mercy, he carried me to the port quarter
and dropped mn overheard for shark bait
The shark made rush for me- but ! was
hauled up Just in advance OF his jaws. The
captain and mate laughed uproariously, and
the latter had picked me up 70 drop me from
the other quarter when the entire crew came
running AFT saw that much and then
tainted away, and what took place while I
was unconscious was never clearly related
TO me
The crew had determined to interfere, and
their action excited the captain and mate 10
terrible degree. The former had q revolver
in his pocket. and when the crew refused TO
go forward be fired at and wounded one Of
them. This brought on fight, In which both
officers and one of the sailors were killed It
was rebeliion-not mutiny. The sole idea Of
the crew WIS to protect me from further
cruelty. In carrying this o1t murder was
done and all were liable TO the gallows The
dead bodies were lying on deck when I re-
covered Consciousness, while the men had
copyrighted in the waist Of the brig for con
sultation The second mate, whose name was
Chapman had sympathiz,si with the crew,
although he had no hand in the fight He
was now asked to take command Of the brig
until it could be determinsd what should be
done. and he did - Tho three dead men
were prepared for burial IN the usual way,
and launched over the side without service,
and an hour after the fight not a trace Of Il
was left
When the question Of what ahonld b done