News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-06-06
HANGED ABOARD SHIP.
FATE OF A MUTINOUS SON OF
A SECRETARY OF WAR.
Cast Into Irons When a Midshipman
on the Somers, u. S. Managed
to the Yardarm With Two Sailors.

Cast Into Irons When a Midshipman
on the Somers, u. S. N.-Hanged
to the Yardarm With Two Sailors.
" ITO hang from the yardarm '''
elbow well [ remember that dread
sentence! I heard it pronounced on the
first day of the winter of 1912. | was q
boy then in the United States Navy, and
the impressions those words and the
scene which followed made upon me
have never faded from my memory"
Thus spoke John W. Davis, veteran
or the late war, as he tapped his club on
the pavement and talked about his early
life as sailor. He was policeman in
Washington then, but since those days
has become an inventor and spends
much of his time abroad. His whole
life has been romance that in intensity
of action and occurrence out-rivals the
widest freaks of the imagination. /
met him not long ago, looking older
and more serious than when he was a
conservator of the peace at the national
capital. He is man of much intelli-
gence and recalled again in an interest
ing way the death sentence which was
so indelibly photographed on his mind
and continued his story:
"About one hundred miles from st.
Thomas the Somer, of the United States
Navy, LAY to- on the afternoon of De
cember l, 1912. There was intense ex-
element on board. The officers paced
the deck doubly armed and with anxious
looks upon their faces. The crew went
about their duties sullenly, speaking to
each other only under their breath.
Three men were to be hanged to the
yardarm, and preparations for the
execution were being rapidly made.
The death penalty ON the high seas on
an American man-of-war has seldom
been pronounced in the history of our
navy. But the most notable and dra-
matte case of capital punishment ever
on its records was made up that after
noon and evening.
"Ihe vessel had left New York ON the
18th of September of that year for the
southern coast of Africa. It had been
cruising for nearly three months in the
West India waters on the lookout for
slave traders. The ship was in charge
of Commander Mckenzie, who had the
reputation of being q brutal martinez,
and who was exceedingly unpopular
with nearly evevy soul on board. In
those days whipping was allowed in the
navy, and Mckenzie delighted in having
the cat o'-nine- tails vigorously applied
for the most trivial offence.
"For more than two months we had
cruised about without an adventure to
disturb the quiet routine of life aboard
ship One day late in November Mid
shipman Spencer was seized, doubly
ironed and sent into the hold There
was not even hint of the causes which
led to the arrest, and all sorts of rrlmors
flew thick and fast among the crew as
to what was going on and what was
likely to happen to him.
'fYoung Spencer was a fine looking,
hearted, jovial, dare devil sort of
a young fellow, with good impulses, but
a mischievous temperament. There was
not malicious bone i'll his body. He
was the son of John G. Spencer, the
Secretary of War at that moment in Ty-
ler's Cabinet. His father was man of
great ability and influence. He had oc-
cupied many important positions in the
State of New York, and had been on the
frontier in the war of 1912. In 1916 he
served in Congress, and was one of the
Democratic leaders in that body for two
years, drawing the committee report on
the affairs of the United States bank,
then one of the most important matters
before the national Legislature He was
a very popular and Important citizen
before he was called into the Tyler Cab
met. The summary arrest of the son of
a cabinet officer, and a very disting-
uished and powerful one at that, only
Il Il al 10 @lo4
hung like q pail over the crew as soon
as he was placed in irons. Later in the
day man named Small, captain of the
maintop, and another named Cromwell,
who was acting as boatswain, were az
rested, doubly ironed, and sent below
similar fate. Then it became noised
sabort that these men had been arrested
for mutiny and would soon be hanged
from the yardarm.
Naturally there was great excitement
ON board The officers cast suspicious
chances at the nervous and disturbed
crew. The sailors avoided each other
as they went about their duties, and
spoke only in whispers, and then only
when unseen by the alert, suspicious
officers of the vessel.
"Three days of this wearing suspense
continued, during which both officers
and men were restless and excited. On
the afternoon of the third day number
of the officers met in the wardroom as a
court to try these men for their lives,
the men charged with mutiny. The
trial was a farce. They simply called in
q number of the ships crew and exam
ined them as to their knowledge of
conspiracy to seize the vessel. Their
statements and even their opinions were
taken down, and all sorts of rumors
and theories were made to weigh in the
balances against the accused men.
Neither Midshipman Spencer nor any
one of the prisoners was permitted to
face his accusers. Neither were they in
formed of the charges against them in
detail nor were they granted an oppor-
tunity for statement or explanation.
The officers were apparently so fright
ened that they neglected every legal
form and simply accepted anything
they could get against the accused as
testimony, whether it was rumor, state
ment or opinion of any kind. was too
young to be called as witness, but |
kept my eyes and ears open and no
phase of the tragic event escaped me.
1.-THE purser's steward was the chief
witness against Spencer and his compan-
IONS He had caused their arrest by in
forming Lieutenant Mcintosh, our ex-
ecutive officer, of the conspiracy.
Spencer, he declared, approached him on
the subject of Selling the ship. For
time he pretended sympathy with the
intended mutiny and claimed to have Sc
cured full list of the men engaged in
the movement. He declared it to be
their intention to seize the vessel, turn
it into piratical craft, fly the black
flag and rob all the merchantmen they
could run down. The stewards state
ment was the only basis for the arrests
and trial, and on his statement were
built the widest fancies from some
members of the crew.
The trial naturally ended in q verdict
of guilty, and the awful sentence,
"Death at the yardarm, was communi-
Gated not only to the prisoners but to
the men, few, if any, of whom believed
it Just
ssOn the LIST day of December, four
days after the first arrest, three of the
accused received the summons, Prepare
for DEATH! followed by the order, All
hands ON deck to witness the execution
'While this order was being obeyed
dramatic scene was going on below.
Midshipman Spencer, with the air of
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