Evening journal., 1897-03-27
TST0RY or STARVATI0A.
Grave Charges of Oahes' Crow
Against Captain Reed.
MAZE VOYAGE ON HALF RATroNs.
sailors Prepare Statement That wnl
He Used In Court--A stint In ..e Fore
castle, but Abundance Ia Tie Cabin That
Might Have Saved Lives.

Re Used In Court-A stint In ..-e Fore
castle, but Abundance Ia thc Cabin That
Might Have Saved Livcs.
NFw YORK. March 27.-A shocking
story Of alleged cruelty at sea, told by the
surviving members of the crew OF tho clip. /
per 4. +. Cakes is being put into legal /
form by representatives Of tho Scnmcn's |
Union 1t will be used, it is said in ac-
tions soon to be brought against Captain |
Reed and the owners Of the clipper ship
= bis story, an outline Of whish was oh /
tainod from tho survivors, adds new inter
est TO their thrilling experiences described !
IN these dispatches when they reached this /
port after being 259 days out from Hong /
kong
An investigation into charges against |
Captain Reed was to have haon started by
Shipping Commissioner Maurice !. Power,
hut II wa, delayed tcnpornr ly. However,
the emaciated seamcn now lying In tho |
! Marine hospital on Staten Island gave q
general idea OK their conn laints against
Captain heod They allege that he is di-
roctly responsible for the illness of all but
| two OF the crew; that they were kept on
half ratlons during the greater part of the
| trip and that the vessel could have made
| New York horhor much sooner If the cap
tain had taken advantage Of favorable con-
ditions which prevailed during much Of
the nine months they woro on tho water
We have not decided Just what charge
we shall prefer against Captain Reed, T"
said James H. Williams, secretary OF the
Seamen S union, but we shall make the
most serious charge against him that we
can sustain hy the evidence. %
Joseph Robinson made the statement
which will be used bv tho union, and the
other II survivors who are with him in
tho hospital subscribe TO 20. Several were
able TO sign their names, with difficulty,
and one - Eonson, is stlll SO weak that
it is question whether he will recover.
I Tho other mon are Gustav Anderson,
Hans AFRO, Christ an Peterson, Henry
Gustavson, S. a. Frazer, Otto Sandstrom.
Albert larsnn, Frank Arteilo, rrank
Weber and kdwin fromholdE
"Wo were forced to complain nbout our
food before we had been week ont from
Hongkong," said Robinson, "and the en-
tire crew won't to Captain Reed on July
Z, only to be refused better PROVISIONS
Our condition became such by the erd of
July that we determined to make another
demand, and again the entire crew COM
planned. FROM July 81 to sept q there
was an improvement, but on the latter
date we were all placed on half ratlons,
and so continued to the end of the long
journey.
Defiance Of the Law.
"Tho captain did not supply the ship
with enough provisions before leaving
Hongkong. We had been out u days be-
fore we got any fresh meat, and we told
the captain that It was illegal for him 60
make no better allowances to the crew.
To this he replied ] am not afraid OF the
law. The law can't do anything to me,
There was no reason why We should
have been so long In coming to New York
from Hongkong We had favorable winds
much Of tho time, but the captain would
not hoist sails 10 take the fullest advan-
tage of them. IN good sailing weather be
often hoisiod only such sails as most ves-
soils would carry in a gale Ho said he
took this course because ho was conserva-
tive
"Whilo the men In the crew were grow
ing weik from a lack OF proper food the
captain was living on chickens and other
good things. He had two crates we'll filled
with chickens when we left port, and when
the Oakes got into New York harhor SOW
eral chickens We're still left If the captain
had killed them and made soup for the
crew, even giving it 60 us but once q
week, the men would have been able to
retain their strength instead Of coming in
81 and helpless
"We wore so weak from hunger that Of
ten memhers Of the crow had 10 grab hold
Of the railings TO keep from falling on the
deck. lt was next Co impossible for us TO
climb the masts Our condition was such
Z that three of us could hardly do the worG
that one properly fed seaman should have
DONE Tho chicken soup that we might
have had would have kept the sourvy
away
, 81 havo been In some pretty hard Amer
ican ships, but ] never was starved as we
were on this uip.'
The last statement Of Robinson WAS one
which tho other men were particularly
positive in reiiorating Nearly every man
in the crew is-an old seamon. having
served from 9 TO 20 years
The six men who dled on the trip wore
Chinaman named Cook, Thomas King
2 Thomas Olson. Stephen G Bunker George
J King and Thomas Gcorgis.
George King was Union veteran and
y belonged TO Farragut post In Philadel
Il phia The survivors are especially iadig
u nant over his case, and they declare that
be was starved to death beyond any qucs
tion. king has wife and two children il
Philadelphia, and he sont word hy franh
Weber 10 notify the Grand Army mon o
them to take action In the interest Of bis
= family This message, Weher said h'
@ viii deliver as soon rs 10 Is able TO set ou
# of the hospital.
8 The survivors, although they have
II gained much strength since they reached
q port last Sunday, still show i'm their pinch
I, ed, white faces tho ordeal through whicl
y they have passed Benson. whose case Il
e most serious IS q living skeleton, woigh
y ing little more than 80 pounds Robinson
10 who weighed i6s pounds when be shipped
l. from this port, now weighs SO pounds
Anderson. who then weighed 172, nov
"a weighs 10f pounds. Carpenter weighed
't 49, pounds and now weighs bat III.
It An Incident Of Kentucky LIE.
l. MAysvILE, Ky, March 81. - Nea
IS Mount Gilead, in this county. Amos Rigg
lt shot and killed young Boyd and bis "a
tber. W. r. Boyd A few DAYS ago younl