The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-02-02
An Animated Little Scene Be-
tween the Captain and
Daniels.
AFTER THE BALL WAS OVER
Failure of the Old Commanders Effort
to Sustain the Role Of
Peacemaker.

"Captain Healy is kissing through his
teeth at me-" exclaimed Lieutenant Daniels
at yesterdays session of the Healy inves-
tigation.
''No, / am not, sir" retorted the captain
holly.
II can't stand this thing any longer"
pleaded the usually gay and debonair
young lieutenant in piteous tones.
The captain emitted vague, rumblin E
sound, which forcibly reminded the by
ISLANDERS of courses not loud, but deep"
'Listen to him, listen to him." vocifer-
ated Mr.. Daniels, in great excitement.
HE means that I'm lying"
The surrounding officials, however, were
unable to translate the captains rum
blings, which most OF. them did not hear
at all, and Lieutenant Reynolds ordered
the much perturbed Daniels to continue
his testimony as to his superior's alleged
misbehavior on the high seas.
son the 9TH, 9th and 18th of june" pro-
ceeded Mr.. Daniels, glancing apprehen-
sively at his commander, who glared fero-
ciously in return, ''the captain was more
or less under the influence of liquor. We
were then in the vicinity of Chierkoff
Island, on the way from Sitka to Unal-
aska. / do not mean that the captain was
intoxicated to the point of insensibility
during the entire three days time; but he
drank great deal. On the 9th he made a
brutal and unpcovoked attack upon two of
the wardroom boys while he was intoxi-
Gated, and on the following day, at 8
o'clock in the morning, he was drunk
again."
f. Sunni, one of the boys said to have
been assaulted by the captain, then gave
his testimony through Japanese inter
prefer. he said the captain had never
been unkind to him and denied that he
had been i'll used by the old commander.
Captain Healy had treated him like 8
father, and had even gone so far as to get
one of the passengers gentleman named
Hamilton-to give him lessons in English.
In response to an incisive question by
one of the captains attorneys the boy said
that Daniels had tried to influence his tes-
timony by promising him that he should
have the place of cabin-boy to the new
captain, whereat Daniels moved uneasily
in his chair and the judge-advocate raised
his eyebrows as though he had just re-
ceiyed an interesting piece of inform alton.
L. Ohno, the other Japanese boy, cor
roborated his companions testimony as to
the captains unvarying kindness and de-
sire to have the witness take lessons in
English,
Chief Engineer Coffin of the Bear was
next called upon to testify. He recollected
seeing Captain Healy take a drink now
and then, but had never seen him intoxi-
Gated. He denied specifically that the
captain was drunk at any time during the
three days mentioned by Lieutenant
Daniels. He also gave an account of lit
tie difficulty at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska,
on the 28th of June, on which occa-
| sion Daniels had testified that Captain
Healy's demeanor was, to say the least,
eccentric.
The employees of the Alaska CONNER
| cial Company, shortly after the Bears ar
| rival, gave ball in the company's build
| ing to which the officers of the Bear and OF
| the Rush were invited. No notice was
given the Bears officers that the ball was
TO be recherche affair, and they attended
in whatever attire seemed most comforta-
Bile to each. On arriving at the scene Of
revelry they found to their dismay that
the officers of the Rush were brilliantly
arrayed in all the splendors of full dress.
Believing themselves TO have been griev-
| ously sighted, the Bears officers returned
to the cutter in great indignation, and on
arriving thither unbosomed themsel
to Captain Healy.
Captain Healy, Coffin went on 10 relate,
was much incensed at the manner in
which his subordinates had been snubbed,
and, on the evening of the 18th OF June, sum-
moned Mr. Gray, an agent of the Alaska
Commercial Company, aboard the cutter,
and in the presence of the officers asked
him for explanation. Gray asked what
complaint had been made. The captain
ordered the officers to state their grounds
of grievance. To his great surprise and in
tense disgust Lieutenants Derry. Emery
and Daniels, who had been loudest in
their complaints on the night of the ball,
refused to say anything. Seeing the ridicu-
lous position IN which their silence placed
him, by making him appear DESTROYS OF
stirring up strife without reason, Captain
Healy became very angry and retired from
the cabin. The witness was certain that
the captain was not intoxicated at the
time, though he was much irritated and
complained bitterly that his men had
tried to make fool of him.
First Lieutenant Buhner, next in COM
mand after the captain, and at present in
charge of the Bear, testified that he had
been with Captain Healy for five years,
and had never seen him drunk at sea. He
corroborated Collins story of the latter
the balP' episode at Unalaska and denied
that the CAPTAIN was intoxicated at the
time. Being asked when he considered a
man drunk, Mr.. Buhner answered:
when, by reason of drinking to ex-
cess, his physical or mental faculties are
impaired"
"And Captain Healy's faculties were moi