The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-09-18

day the drumhead ourtmartiaI was
called in the cabin to decide the fate
OF these men. tt didn't take long.
When the sentence Of guilty was rem
dered, to gratify the caprice Of q
vain officer, the men were notified
that they had ten minutes to live.
There was no ceremony about the
announcement, and twas as brutal
~ communicated as possible. The
young boy, ISyears Of age, who was
charged with being am bilious to cap
ture the craft, raise the munity and
turn it into a pirate ship and COM
nand it himself, never weakened. al
Though his two companions asked
for 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
lettert o her, which the commander
never delivered.
he scene on board during the
ten minutes in which these three men
were preparing for death made q
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.
NThe first day of December, 1912,
was a beautiful one: The tropical
sun, especiallyin 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 sal
was in sight, and the black lines oil
our ship cut swiftly through. the sea.
1t was late in the, afternoon when we
We're summoned aft TO. become ex.
cutioners. No time was lost in Ger:
emonial preparations The boy. OBJ
jected to the manner of death, and
begged to be shotrather than. hung,
but the captain replied:'
"sNo, sir. You must die from, the
yardarm.'
"The lad and one man were placed
on the right side, and the third on
the left Of the ship. The ropes were
quickly adjusted (called whips -inlna-
val nomenclature) and all hands
were summoned to the dread duty.
sit is the rule on shipboard that
in an execution every living soul on
board shall have hold of'thewhips
(ropes) when the condemned is
swung Off Even the cabin boyand
the cook are not exempt from this
painful duty. This is exacted that
no one shall be able to chide another
with having taken part in a death ito
which all We're not party. Inlthis
case the rule was inforced to thelet,
ter, because this was an executiomro 1
greater moment than any that had
ever taken place in the American 8,
w. or has ever taken place up to this
date. The officers were dressed in
fall 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 comTn@nd.
Strike the bell eight! Stand by
Fire the gum Walk away with the
whips! ResaS drums!'
AS the stroke of eight bells gune
0ut upon she tropical dir there was
oane surge OF the whips, and three
bodies dungled from the yardarm
three nne1n were strangled to death
A meek is never broken by such "a
method / shall never forget thescent
att this moment. The crew. were
speechless with horror. The. un
certainty of the past forty reigh1
h0urs h&d been almost unbearabls
snd STRONG men had grownn veal
from the tension upon minds ant
nerves. The awful spell was broker
as we weSe piped down to dinner: anl
started forward. The, captain! a
this moment caught emethingo
/ the SPIRIT Of the crew. and, calling
them back, eased the strain some
what by making a speech, justifyine
the execution, and urging us-to ,looi
upon the results of conspiracy anf
! take warming by it. He then oallet
for three cheers for, the vindicatiol
! of the flag, whichwere given withou
heart, and then the decentralization
| ward solemnly to their dinner anditt
discuss the execution asSmuch a
they dared. s.
The bodies: OF the three, men, wes
allowed to dangle in the, air.while, al
on shipbOard ate and discussed th,
sad events of, the day., The. scene il
!! the officers cabin Was, especially
striking. Fon arounda the table, sal
those who had condemned bhe bhne
men to death, and atttheir. head tn
officer who had ordered the. eXscu
tion. The details of the alleged matt
tiny was freely talked oWer; s@ ON
/ Of the officers told, me. afterward
But it always seemed strange THAT
boy Is years Of age, good hearte,
and full of mischief should hav
scared the officers. OF a,vsssel carryin.
! l2O souls, most of Mho1n he Wonlt
have haa to threwyo overheard had h
undertaken the. task Of capturing tn
ship and turning it into a piratica
craft Looking at itto- day, it was
most barbarous stretch of authority
that would be severely punished now
We had hardly finished eatin{
and talking before a sqnall struck u
$50 ~,