The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-01-18
FOURTH EDITION.


Terrible suffering OF Oystermen.
Those who are blessed with plenty,
and can sit by their good hot stoves
during this terrible weather have no
idea what many OF the less favored OF
Their fellowmen are enduring, and
how their privations and hardships are
Increased by mans inhumanity to
man. Last evening about sixty oys-
termen arrived In this city, half frozen
and almost starved. from Cambridge.
Md. and tell terrible story OF their
suberlnss and Ill treatment When
Their boats were frozen up and dredg-
ing ceased, they were working about
10 miles from Cambridge.
As soon as they were unable to work
on account of the leo the captains told
them they should not have anything
TO eat and discharged them without a
cent, although none OF them had re-
ceived over 80 for nearly four months,
work. Some OF them were very thinly
cad, one man having nothing, not
even shirt beyond his oil cloth suit
They walked the 40 miles to Cambridge
ana through the kindness of tho rail-
road officials were brought to this city
and taken from the railroad depot to
the police station.
The men were hungry, not having
broken their fast for hours, and as
soon as their deplorable condition be-
came known there was no difficulty ex-
perlenced In finding plenty for them
TO eat. The staff Of the Morning News
furnished several hundred cups OF
coilee. which were supplied by q. k.
Holt at q reduced price. John j.
Dougherty, OF the Delaware House.
furnished several gallons of soup and
supply OF meat, bread and coffee.
and again furnished them with an OK
ceilent breakfast this morning. Other
Kind hearted cltizons assisted and the
poor fellows were made as comforta-
BILE as possible.
During the night more arrived, until
the total number was swelled to 80,
all of whom were cared for until this
morning. Some of them belong in
Baltimore, others In Philadelphia and
still others at Newark, n. j. The rail.
road company very kindly furnished
each man with free pass to HE home.
All OF them seem to have been able.
Bodied, Woodworking mon before their
exposure, but now some of them are
nero wrecks and one, whose limbs
are completely frozen to his thighs,
| will most probably die. He was de-
liriuus the greater part of the night,
and 81 emed in dazed condition This
morning.
fhis poor fellow is an Englshman,
and has his home at Newark, n. j. lie
told the reporter II terrible story OF
the dredgers sullerings and hardships,
even while they were at work. The
crew on his boat consisted OF seven
men and the captain who beat them
every day. They were compelled To
work all day and nearly all tho night
while the place furnished for them to
| sleep was not large enough to accom-
moddto three men, hut the entire sew
en- We're obliged to crawl into it, The
food was OF the commonest kind and
they were only given about enough
TO keep life i'll them.
Another who gave his name as Geo.
r. Frame, of Baltimoro, pulled on his
shoes nj the railroad station this morn
Ing. when several Of his toes fell OF.
Both feet are So badly frozen that they
VIII have to DO amputated. No on !,
except physician, can form any idea
ul the appearance OF this poor fellows
feet without seeing them. They are
black and swollen, and seem almost
ready to fail Oft.
dredger, presented n pitiahle sight,
When he arrived at tho City Hall he
could hardly walk, hut with the as.
! slstance OF his companion managed
| TO make his why to the hall Both of
| his feet were frost-hitten and terribly
swollen. Hs hadwalked all dav through
the snow and several times fallen
down, as his legs refused to do. their
duty.
There are very lew OF tho 50 who are
not irost-bitten, but some ure much
worse than others. They say that they
were promised sli month, but none
were paid the amount due them, and
when the freeze came were turned out
TO shift for themselves they walked
Tor 90 miles through the snow and the
! intense cold, sleeping at night wner-
ever they could find shelter. There
were so many OF the uufortunatps in
\ cambridge that tho people, although
/ they were willing We're unublo to care
I for them all. and some of the men had
/ not had mouthful of food for "a
hours when thny reached tho City Hall
I last evening. One Of them, mined Mtl.
Liam Jalues Martin OF Trenton, Y. j.,
VINO IS II very Intelligent man, made
/ tie following statement;
I u shipped with man named ItoEprs
/ n baltimore, who Ia agent for the
! dfedEris. WIS to get 5i4 u month.
/ stilftpd TO work three months. and tNyO
I weeks ago, on Monday, was nat
| OF at Hungry river The captain paid
/ ue - tor tic totul time had worked.
/ From Hungry river | started toward
/ Cambridge about Forty milos distant,
| lotore | arrived there my logs gave
out and ! sunk in the snow when
about live miles from Cambridge. IL
ctaWled about two miles. and thon |
was complete ly exhausted
| Il laid In the snow for several hours
! when man came along and helped
ne TO Cambridge. Here ! boarded a
train, but when arrived here had to
! get OIL
Il toll you gentlemen. 1t was some.
! thing hard to see IA half fFuZsn man
beat to death IA did II was on the
| very boat that | whs working on.
/ There was man named sam, | can.
/ not remember his last name. but he
| lived at Twenty first aud Catbarine
| streets In Philadelphia. He had his
feet frozen and modification set in
and they got black | saw rome put
around hun aud he WIS dragged to tho
dredging machine. Because he could
not stand up the niate u culoroI fellow.
and The captain beat him with big
clubs. lie lived only few weeks and
+ then died They carried him on shore
and buried him iii Il iieldn Here Mar
tins eyes iillel with tsprs.
lie continued: This IL not the only
man saw whipped. hnd my hands
| rrost-bittan ana could not hold The
rope. Tho mate came up and struck
me with his list and the captain with
q club, here on the top of tho head,
With this he held down his head and
showed fresh scar in proof of his as
sertiun.
This morning he men were profuse
in their thanks to those who showed
them So mich kindness during t.Iclr
brief stay IN this city.
DR.. Slmms' White Illmonic Balsam
Take care OF your lungs this cold
| making season. Cure the cough, sore
throat, hoarsaness. Group, etc, With
this great lung cure. Keep your lln9s