The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-08-19

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Boston, August 1s.-A sea tragedy
which in all it's horrible details will prob
ably equal the Herbert Fuller butchery
has been enacted on board another Boston
vessel.
On Sunday, June ~, there sailed from
this port with fairly westerly wind the
staunch three masted schooner Olive
Pecker, commanded by Capt j. W. Whit
man, with cargo consisting of 677 1888
feet of pine and 81 ,o31 feet OF spruce lum-
ber, for Buenos Ayres, Argentina.
The vessel was destined, however,
never to reach the South American port,
and the intelligence of the murder of the
captain and first mate William Hars-
burg, and the destruction of the vessel by
fire was cabled to this city this morning
| by a banking firm in Buehcs Ayres.
The message was very meagre and sim
ply stated that the captain and mate had
been murdered, the vessel burned and the
! crew had reached Bahia, port some dis
tance north of her destination.
There are no particulars given. but it
is presumed from the fact of the murder
that the crew mutinied, and after killing
Capt. Whitman and the first officer, they
set fire to the vessel and escaped to the
shore.
| The eupposition is that the men are
under arrest, as the q. s. consul at Bahia
would assume charge of them upon their
arrival there
The ordinary passage of a sailing vessel
from this port to Buenos Ayres, at this
season of the year, under ordinary wealth
er conditions, would be from 60 to 70
days, and the Pecker must have been very
near her destination when the tragedy
occurred. For this reason 1t is thought
that the crew landed at Bahia blanca,
which is about 70 miles distant from
Buenos Ayres, instead of Bahaia, as the
brief telegram stated.
When the intelligence reached here 1t
spread rapidly throughout the shipping
community and caused intense excitement
among the ship brokers and ship masters
now in port.
The similarity between the horror and
the b1tchery on the Herbert Fuller, caused
much comment. The Fuller was on
passage identical with the Pecker when
her captain his wife and the second mate
were murdered when only few days out
from this port, in july 1896, the details
of which are too fresh in mind to
need repetition.
The crew of the Olive Pecker consisted
of Capt. J. W. Whitman, aged "a, who
resided at Rockland, Me-, where he leaves
widow and little girl about IL years of
age. The mate, William Harrisburg, was
% years of age, and belonged in Maine.
Little is known of him as he was shipped
the day before the vessel left Mystic
wharf, having been engaged to fill the
place of the old first mate, who was dis
charged by Capt. Whitman for inatten-
tion to duty.
The second mates name was William
Mitchell, aged 80, native of France;
steward, Peter Thompson, "a Dane; aged
43; and Seamen Andrew March native
OF England, aged 36; Manuel Braial,
Spaniard, aged 33; John Lind, native
OF Sweden, aged 27, and William Saun-
ders OF Nova Scotia, aged 46.
The cargo was shipped by the export
lumber company, which corporation Il has
offices in the Exchange building. They
declined to put a valuation on the cargo,
but 1t is thought it is fully insured. !.
The Olive Pecker was fine vessei OF
S52 tons net. She was built at BelIast,