The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-03-14
a STORY OF TIE SEA.
Five Greek Muunecrs Murder a
Ships Company.

bay Of Iquique. There had been a
dinner party on board, aud at eight
! o'clock we went on to the poop to
take our coffee and cigars. One of
our visitors was a doctor who had
lived in Chill all his life, and had
been through two revolutions, and
various other exciting scenes, so we
asked him to "spin US yarn" which
he kindly condescended to do, and
began as follows:
As you all know, l have been
doctor for the ships for the last
thirty years. and l think the most
startling and thrilling coincidence
happened In IS. 1t was when
Chill was overrun with thieves and
murderers and the inhabitants were
doing their best to expel them from
the country. was at the time ships
doctor at a port further south, and /
remember one day when l was called
on board one of the ships, the
captain met me at the companion
ladder, and said he had five Greeks
on board that had just been enrolled,
and who complained of pains, and
wishing to be set ashore again.
went forward and found to my
great surprise that the five invalids
were the most notorious scoundrels
in the country. They said to me,
doctor we are not bad, but you
must get us ashore again; the captain
is brute, and we cannot be subject
ed to his tyranny" well" 1 said,
"there is nothing the matter with
you, and you know the amount of
crimes you have committed, that it is
about time you left the country"
well" they said, tell the captain
that if he treats us like men we will
work, but if be ever lifts his hand to
one Of us we will kill him" went
aft and told the captain, who only
laughed and said, Il know what to
do with them" So the next day the
ship sailed and things went we'll Tor
the first few days, but after the cap.
tain again took to his bullying
habits, and one day struck one of the
Greeks. With a howl of pain he
rushed at him and stabbed him with
a knife that he had concealed under
his blouse; then, proceeding to open
out the body, he took the heart out
and stamped on it. Next followed
scene that would never be forgotten
by those who saw it. Everyone was
killed and thrown overheard with the
exception of the carpenter, a boy,
navigating sailor, who with the five
Greeks made a complement of eight.
The Greeks directed the naVigat-
ing sailor to take them to one of the
islands in the Malay Archipelago,
buf he kept two charts, one on which
he marked out a certain distance
each day to show the mutineers, and
on the other, which he kept hidden,
was marked the real route they were
making, viz, to England. All went
we'll till they began to Apr zach
land, when one evening about six
o'clock, the boy was at the wheel,
and heard through the open sky
light, the Greeks planning how they
would kill all three, and so leave no
trace of their crime. They eventually
agreed that the three should be
done away with" at eight O'Clock
the same evening. At seven o'clock
it was the navigating sailors turn 10
take the wheel, and the boy informed
him of what he had heard, and also
called the carpenter aft, to discuss
how they should manage to defend
themselves. At eight o'clock one of
the mutineers had to take the wheel,
so they began to make preparations,
the carpenter taking his adze and
hiding it just behind the wheel, the
navigating sailor butchers Ratchet,
and the boy a crowbar. Eight
o'clock came and one of the mutineers
came to relieve the man at the
wheel; the carpenter walked quietly
up behind him, took his sdze and cat
him nearly In half. His falling
caused one of the others to rush up
and see what was the matter, but he
no sooner got his foot upon the poop
than he was struck down by the
sailor. That only left three against
three, so they rushed down into the
cabin aud after a hard fight succeed
ed IN killing one and binding the
other two. The next day they
reached England, and the two men
were tried, and expiated their crime
on the gsllows. The ship was on ex.
hibition in one of the Char mel ports
for some months, people hocking
from all parts of England to see it.
And now, said the doctor, if the
captain will lend me his gig, will
go ashore, as 1 see it is late. We
tried to persuade him to spin Us
another One," but he said he felt
tired, and would come on board
another night and let rs have some
more. Newcastle IN. S. W. Weekly