New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-30
THEIR TOES JUST TRAlLED
THREE sEAMEN STRUNG FROM THE BOOM.
CHARGES OF INHUMAN TREATMENT AGAINST
THE CAPTAIN OF CLIPPER SHIP


THE CAPTAIN OF CLIPPER SHIP.
From the stories of some of the crew Of thu
American clipper ship j. F. Chapman, Captain
Joseph A. Thompson must have reigned on boar4
Of her with the harshncss OF pirate king Three
seameu. it is declared, were iToned at the hands
and strung from the spanIler boom so that their
feet barely touched the deck, and were kept in
that position for periods ranging from ten min-
utes to over an hour Eric A. Eklund, the ships
carpenter has lodged complaint against the caps
tain before United States Commissioner Shielda1
who will investigate the case
The Chapman is full rugged ship OF 2,o3s
tons, and Is of this port. She carries grain ron
San Francisco to Liverpool and on her return trip
calls at New-York. She has been commanded by
Captain Thompson. of Bath, Me-, ever since shd
was built nine years ago and he is also part owner
Of her. She left San Francisco in the latter paro
of January last. The captain and his son, Albert
Thompson who is the first mate, often had words
with the carpenter, Eklund, who somehow did not
please them Second Mate Martin said that EnA
und didn't work hard enough.
On May 2, after the ship had rounded Caps
Horn, Eklund was at work repairing spar which
had begun to rot The captain came up to him
and asked him what he was doing. The carpenter
narrates what happened next, thus. i told him
that was mending the spar. He cursed me ana
struck me across the face with his half open handi
tearing the skin off my cheek in three places &
tried 70 protect myself but he and his son, the
first mate put irons on my hands They then
took me to the mizzen-mast and fastened the irons
to the spanker boom. The boom was just high
enough from the deck to let my toes touch it,
Every time the vessel rolled I was dragged from
one side to the other, my toes being Lifted from
the deck.
Il suffered awful pain. could hardly breathd
at times, and every muscle was filled with paiR
from the strain l couldn't help groaning from
the agony, and Jackson, the man at the wheel,
at last came and cut me down. The captain and
frst mate were forward at the time. was tolo
that they kept me hanging for an hour and twenty
minutes When the ship reached Liverpool Y
left her and paid my way back to this city. "
was hurt internally by the strain and have been
under doctors care In Liverpool and here.
Charles Powers, of Detroit, who was an aol6i
seaman on the Chapman. corroborted Eklunds!
charge Of cruelty. Powers, who is an intelllgeno
looking man of about twenty-one years, shipped
on the vessel at San Francisco, and remained on.
her until she anchored off Governors Island yes
ter1ay morning. He said that he himself had
been treated with consideration by all the Off
icers, but had witnessed the stringing-up Of two,
of the crew. He told the following story:
Tho first one to be stretched from thdl
spanker-bOom was Thomas Chapman, who was about
eighteen years old. About month after we eft
San Francisco, he had fight with the first mattel,
was helping to reef the mainsail at the time, and
saw the captain and his son shackle the lads
wrists and fasten him to the spanlter-boom by the
irons His toes just touched the deck. They re.I
leased him before we finished reeGng the sail, 50,
dad for hon min
When we landed at Liverpool Chapman shipped
for Quebec.
"The officers did a good deal Of quarrellins
with the carpenter. | don't know what tho,
trouble was. The carpenter could not have been
drunk because there was no liquor TO be hadt
On that day in May / was on top Of the forward
house scraping oars, and did not see them tie
Eklund up. l heard him shout, though. l think
he must have been hung up for twenty or twenty-
five minutes. Billy jackson, who was at the
wheel, couldn't stand the suffering mans cries
any longer and cut him loose while the captain
and first mate were forward. For this, Jackson
was strung up himself, his place at the wheel
being taken by James Ericsson / didn't see
him hanging from the boom, but he told mo
they kept him there for an hour and siXteen
minutes.
We got to Liverpool on Thursday June 4, and
son and Ericsson, however, received their money
on the next day and shipped at once on vessel
bound for this country. 1t was said that they
got extra money not to say anything about the
affair Jackson said he was going TO ship Oh
a vessel plying in OF the Great Lakes"
Eklund has been staying at sailors home IN
HamitOn-ave. in Brooklyn, since his arrival from
Liverpool two weeks ago. Deputy United States
Slarshals Van Buskrk and Grant arrested Cap
tain Thompson yesterday morning and brought
him before Commissioner Shields. The captain
merely said that he had already been acquitted
by the American consul at Liverpool Mr.. Shields
held him in $4,000 bail for examination to-mor-
row at II a. m. Bond was furnished by John
Wild, shipping agent at No. Al Old Slip, who
said he was worth over $4,000. II found guilty.,
the captain may be fined $1,000, or imprisonment
for five years, OF both
Eklund is a native of Finland, and Is heavy
set man OF medium height He is ffty-eight years
old and has been at for fory-twO years. Since
1856 he has sailed almost continuously on Ameri-'
can ships.
II was rumored among the crew Of the ship that
Captain Thompson had on a voyage four or five
years ago strung up three men soon after leaving
San Francisco. and that one Of them was dead
when taken down.