The morning call., 1894-08-10
CAME TO BLOWS.
The DeCllmOnt's Mate and
Cook Fought.
ASTONISHED THE CONSUL.
The Decision of the Court of In
quiry Given.
ASTONISHED THE CONSUL.
A SMALL WAR ON BOARD SHIP.
Some Reasons Why Mate Jones Did
Not Eat His Breakfast-LaSt
of the Case.

the case OF Captain Sauter and First
Mate Jones of the BIRTHS ship Dechm0nt
| was disturbed by collision between the
mate and the steward late Wednesday
evening which caused Consul Donohoe to
| endeavor to rush the investigation and put
an end to any further demonstrations of a
pugilistic nature in the sacred precincts OF
the British consulate.
The fin al decision Of the court was made
public yesterday afternoon and it may be
mentioned incidentally that the aptitude
of Mr. Jones for defending his person
against assault. and so far forgetting his
early training as to punch back at a
the severity of the penalty inflicted upon
him in sentence.
Captain Sauter did not escape without
reprimand. The court found that the skip
per was guilty of an error in placing his
first officer in irons; that mates or sea
men should never be ironed. except they
be guilty of downright mutiny.
1t was furthermore found in the verdict
that the captain should not have ordered
Jones OF duty for so slight breach Of
disci pline as that of allowing the oil tanks
to leak, and that he ought not to have
compelled the first officer 10 retire to his
room.
Jones was vigorously hauled over the
Goals for not keeping the log, for dlso6edi-
ence and for not staying In his room when
told to retire. 1t was not deemed advisable
to allow him to ship again in the Dech-
mont. so he was told to look about for an
other ship.
Both the captain and the mate were held
responsible for the costs of maintaining
the court, and told to divide the expenses
incurred, amounting to about S115, be-
tween them. The mates papers were not
taken from him.
The row which created such a commo-
ton at the consulate and in which the
Dechmont's steward participated might
have resulted In somebody getting badly
hurt had not the court of inquiry rose to a
man and separated the contestants.
jones sw0re at the steward, or the stew
ard swore at Jones. and the fight started.
The little unpleasantry was by no means
overlooked by the cook and the mate. and
there was small state Of war on board
the Dechmont all of Wednesday night.
Jones came ON board early in the morn
ing under the influence of liquor. The
steward was Immediately an object for
attack, but he got back at Jones with such
vigor that the mate was severely used up
before Officer Dillon of the South Harbor
police, who was detailed TO preserve order
on the ship, came to the rescue.
took in the situation at a glance.
Put that man in irons" he commanded,
aud as Jones still seemed inclined to show
fight, Dillon aid as he was bid.
Jones was taken to his room and there
kept securely shackled till breakfast time.
Don't | get anything 10 eat?" he asked,
as the aroma of fried eggs and boiling
coffee was waited aggravatingly from the
galley.
NO" gruff1y replied Sauter.
Several hours afterward the captain or
dered his gig cleared away, and accom-
panied by his prisoner started for the
South Harbor station. He wanted to
swear out a warrant for jones' arrest, but
was told to go to The Central police station.
well, I'll let you go up to the ConsuPs
and finish your trial." said he to Jones.
Then the two marched off together.
In the mean time the cook was plotting to
protect himself against any onslaught of
the crew. which, unlike himself, stood by
the mate and not the captain. He i'm
parted the information that cooking pork
and potatoes for a gang OF men with a
gruGge against him was very dangerous to
himself. He was assured that the police
officers would prot him. and that seemed
to satisfy him.
After the decision of the court Jones
swore out a warrant for Ssuter, and Sau-
ter promptly looked up the City Hail and
did the same for his enemy.
The dissertation of the British con-
sulate by common scrimmage between
seamen was looked upon by those loyal to
the Queen as sort of sacrilege. L. was a
topic of conversation that caused English
sea captains to hold up their hands in
horror and eXclaim that "the Dechmont
case has been one that has done good
deal to injure the reputation of the British
merchant marine.
"The fight? Oh, well, that was a sad
affair and il should never have taken place,
and Jones should have been severely CEN
sured for letting his temper get the better
of him.
the cook? Well, what could you ex-
pect of a sea cook anyhow"