The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-09-19


aroused, and death was to be the
penalty. ] shall never forget the
day the drumhead court martial was
called IN the cabin to decide the fate
OF these men. 1t didn't take long.
When the sentence of guilty was rem
dered, to crafty the caprice of q
vain officer, the men were notified
that they had ten minutes to live.
Ihere was no ceremony about the
announcement, and it was as brutal
~ communicated as possible. The
young boy, 1Syears OF age, who was
charged with being ambitious to cap
ture the craft, raise the munitv and
turn 1t into pirate ship and com
mand 1t himself, never weakened, al
though his two companions asked
Tor time to prepare for death. The
lad asked to be released from chains
long enough to write to his mother,
but the captain refused, and then
the boy dicta ted to the commander
letter to her, which the commander
never delivered.
"khe scene on board during the
ten minutes in which these three men
were preparing for death made a.,
picture rpon my mind that can never
be effaced. While the elder of the
two was inclined to weaken, the boy
was a hero, and only asked for the
privilege of sending word to his
mother that he had died like a man,
and then asked permission to give
the word to fire the gun which was
to end his earthly existence.
1.-The first day of December, 1912,
was beautiful one. The tropical
sun, especially in the afternoon, was
tempered by a bracing breeze, and
the ocean was as calm as a mill pond
the first half of the day. Not a sail
was in sight, and the black lines of
our ship cut swiftly through the sea.
1t was late in the AFTERNOON when we
were summoned aft TO become ex-
cutloners. No time was lost in GER
emonial preparations. The boy OBJ
jected to the manner of death, and
begged to be shot rather than hung,
but the captain replied:
"'No, sir. You must die from the
yardarm.'
'The lad and one man we're placed
on the right side, and the third on
the left OF the ship. The ropes were
quickly adjusted (called whips in ma
val nomenclature) and all hands
were summoned TO the dread duty.
cit is the rule on shipboard that
in an execution every living soul on
board shall have hold of the whips
(ropes) when the condemned is
swung off. Even the cabin boy and
the cook are not exempt from this
painful duty. This is exacted that
no one shall be able to Glide another
with having taken part in a death to
which all We're not a party. In this
case the rule was inforced to the let
ter, because this was an execution of
greater moment than any that had
ever taken place in the American ma
Wy, or has ever taken place up to this
date. The officers were dressed in
full uniform for the occasion, and
the crew were clad as iffor inspection.
The ropes adjusted, the captain
stood back and in a loud voice gave
the command.
''Strike the bell eight! Stand by!
Fire the gun! Walk away with the
whips! Roll drums!'
Gas the stroke of eight bells rung
out upon the tropical dir there was
one surge of the whips, and three
bodies dangled from the yardarm,
three men were strangled to death.
A neck is never broken by such a
method. shall never forget the scene
at this moment. The crew were
speeches. with horror. The un-
certainty of the past forty eight
hours had been almost unbearable,
and strong men had grown weak
from the tension upon mind and
nerves. The awful spell was broken
as we were piped down to dinner and
started forward. The captain at
this moment caught something of
the spirit of the crew, and. calling
them back, eased the strain some
what by making a speech justifying
the execution, and urging us to look
upon the results of conspiracy and
uthe warning ny III. lie Ollen calleQ
for three cheers for the vindication
of the flag, which were given without
heart, and then the crew walked for
ward solemnly to their dinner and to
discuss the execution as much as
they dared.
"The bodies OF the three men we're
to dangle in the air while all
on shipboard ate and discussed the
sad events of the day. The scene in
the officers cabin was especially
striking. For around the table sat
those who had condemned the three
men to death, and at their head the
officer who had ordered the execu-
zion. The details of the alleged mu-
tiny was freely talked over, so one
Of the officers told me atterWard.