The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-06-12
BROUGHT ASHORE IN IRONS
The Mate and Two Seamen Of the
Ship Empire in Trouble.

The ship Empire, Captain Davis,
arrived off port on last Friday,
seventy days from Newcastle, and
came to anchor in the roadstead.
It was reported on the front that
the captain came here to dispose of
his cargo of coal, and later it trans
pired that he had had trouble with
his crew, as three men were brought
ashore about midnight and locked
up at the station house. They
were landed in a launch belonging
to the flagship Philadelphia, and
each man was in irons. They
were P. Cassidy, the first mate of
the vessel, and James Campbell
and Sydney MELONS, two seamen.
The men were charged with in
subordination. The men had a
hearing before United States Con-
sul-General Mills on Saturday, and
on Sunday they were liberated
from custody and paid off. The
captain has shipped a new mate,
and the vessel will resume her
voyage today.
Mate Cassidy's story of the
trouble is about as follows: The
vessel left Newcastle for San Fran
cisco on March 3Oth. From the
start the men complained about the
small amount of food allowed
them. The climax came on the
18th of April, when Cassidy was
ordered to turn out the men who
were off watch. They refused to
turn out, and the captain ordered
them, seven in all, to be put in
irons, which was done. At 80
o'clock on the same day the star
board watch refused to work and
they were placed in irons, also. This
left the vessel very short handed,
and the mate, the second mate
and carpenter were ordered aloft to
clew up sails. While all this was
going on the ship was making
water rapidly-three inches an
hour, so the mate said. He adj
vised the captain to release the men
and put them at work on the
pumps, but he refused to do so, and
did not remove the irons from the
men until s O'Clock in the evening.
During the day, so the mate says,
the captain gave orders to have a
long boat launched, stating that
he, his wife and child would leave
the vessel to sink with all on
board.
The mate was suspended from
duty on the 18th of May, and was
ordered to keep in his room. He
denies that he is guilty of insubor-
dipation, but his superior officer
says he is
Captain Davis was seen by an
ADVERTISER reporter about the
affair. He says that his crew has
been in state of suppressed mu.
tiny ever since the vessel left New
castle. He blames Cassidy for all
the trouble and says that he acted
more like a forecastle hand than
the first mate Of big ship. Ac-
cording to his story, Cassidy, on
several occasions refused to obey
orders, and in doing so he Set a
bad example for the crew, which
they were not slow to follow. He
was compelled to suspend the mate
in order to maintain discipline.
Cassidy was told to remain in his
room, but he did not do so, and in.
stead he would &C on deck and
associate with the crew. The cap
tain states that Cassidy insulted
him before the men, and on one oc-
casion he said ho would like to dc
him up. The skipper says that the
men were not deprived of any.
thing, and at their own request the
food and water was measured out tc
them according to maritime rules
| He denies that be said he would
desert the ship, as Cassidy claims
Ia fact, he tells a story that differs
totally from the one told by the
| second mate.