The San Francisco call., 1895-11-18
Mariners Interested in Their
Demand for Diplomatic
Inquiry.
COMPLICATIONS OF THE CASE.
Question as to Captain Shorey's Citizen.
ship-One Prisoner a German
Subject.

The case of the three whalers of the Gay
head charged with trying to set the ship
on fire in the Honolulu harbor last March
and their threats to demand satisfaction
of the Hawaiian Government for their i'm
prisonment and detention without a hear
ing, set seafaring men to talking yester-
day. 1t is complicated case and its
various circumstances involve many i'm
portant questions in maritime law.
Attorney G. w. Monteith spent part of
the dav looking up the Revised Statutes of
the United States, and he expects to be
able to rout the enemy easily at the hear
ing of the men before Commissioner
Heacock tomorrow morning.
Editor Macarthur of the Coast Seaman's
Journal is incidentally interested and Sec
retary Andrew Furuseth of the Sailors
Union of the Pacific will bring the matter
up for some kind OF action as soon as pos
siple. The Sailors Union has made many
hard fight for men who were not mem
bers or could not be. 1t has on its record s
numerous instances of violation of law,
such as the Empire and Arago cases. The
affair of the Empire occurred also at Homo
| lulu.
| The Gayhead case seems to have no ex-
act precedent, however. The custom has
been to make distinction without much
of difference between seamen and
whalers. The only real distinction is that
the men ship on ''lay" instead of for a
wage. Anent this an old salt observed !:
1.-The distinction is, if anything, in favor
| of the whaier under the law, and by it he
NAV claim right to libel the ship and her
| cargo for what may be due him as his share
of the cargo on his lay.
Two new questions of great Importance
as bearing on the case have arisen since
! Saturday. They concern the status of
| Captain Shorey and Prisoner Gehrmann.
! AS has been stated Shorey is said to be a
native of Barbados Island and of African
! descent. His citizenship is therefore to be
challenged on the ground that he cannot
| legally be master OF ali American vessel
unless he can show that he has been nat
uralized. His principal witness, Rigby,
against the three white men, is also re-
ported to be a Barbodoes Island native
| the other witness being half -Malayan.
! Gehrmann says he is a subject of EN-
peror William. The gossips of the water
| front say the fact that he was sailor un-
der the American flag is enough to entitle
! him to consideration as an American sea-
man in his claim against the Hawaiian
Government, and his actual citizenship is
not material unless he wishes to take ad-
vantage OF it.
! Editor Macarthur looked up the last re-
port of the Commissioner of Navigation
giving the laws relating to mariners and
! Jurisdiction. The law is not very clear as
| to the jurisdiction of American seamen in
! foreign ports, but intimates that as is Gus
| tomary, the American diplomatic repre-
sentatives have full authority. Charges
against seamen, however, must be prop
erly entered in the logbook and the men
given opportunity to answer, the answers
also to be recorded. The three men say
their second arrest was not authorized at
Honolulu by Consul Mills, and for that
| reason they want an investigation through
the Department of State.
| AS to shipping men without an agree