The San Francisco call., 1897-09-18
BORNE AWAY ON
A FOREIGN BARK
Four American Sailors
Shanghaied Aboard the
Cavour at Seattle.
The Vessel Nearly Wrecked Off
Callao, and Two Men Were
Drowned.
When the Oavour Arrived at Tahiti
the q. S. Consul Took Charge
of the Case.

A strange tale of shanghaiing and disas-
ter was brought from Tahiti by the
steamer Homer yesterday. The Italian
bark Cavour was the vessel round which
the story centers, ana should Captain
Martin ever return to the Pacific Coast he
will have TO answer for his crimes In one
of the United States courts.
In May last the Cavour was at Seattle
loading lum ber for Callao, Peru. She was
short OF men and the captain applied to
William Scott and Tom Newman, two
boarding house masters OF Seattle, for the
necessary crew. They put four men on
board and the vessel sailed. How these
four men were secured is best told in their
own words.
There were four of US shanghaied on
board the Cavour," said John Z. White
yesterday. Besides myself there were
Ed Nolan, Thomas Ryan and John Ir.
win. Scott and Newman approached us
on the water front in Seattle and asked us
if we wanted ship. When we said we
did he told Us that the Cavour was short
of men, and that he would take us out TO
see what kind of o craft she was and what
terms we could get.
when we got on board they were hoist
ing the anchor, and Scott told us that we
might as well give the boys hand. We
took off our coats, and when We were cat
ting the anchor omebody cried Here
comes the towboat.' AS we attempted to
get on board the mate grabbed me by the
collar threw me on the deck and ordered
me 10 go forward. | said l was going
ashore and he laughed at me. saying that
we were now members of the crew and
would have to stay by the ship. 1 again
attempted to get on the tue. and both the
.Ja ND hn faft, Ind fhoir
and began beating me over the head"
At this point White showed two large
scars on his left cheek, one under his left
eye and two on his lett temple, all of
which he said-and the other men bore
him out-were made by the butt ends of
the pistols in the hands of the captain and
mate.
'By the time the scrimmage was over"
continued White, I'VE were in the Straits
of Juan de Fuca and there was no chance
of returning to shore. All the way to the
coast of Peru we were Ted on a mixture
of rice, macaroni and salt fish all boiled
together. We complained to Captain
Martin that We were not being fed prop
erlv, and told him in plain words that we
had been shanghaied on board a ship and
would complain about him to the United
States Consul al the first port we made.
He only laughed at US again and said,
why. l bought you; you are mine. |
paid $40 in gold for each one of you, and
you, I'll do what | like with you.
There being no re1ress all We could do
was to grin and bear II.
"When within weeks sail of Callao a
big storm came up. The vessei was not
properly found and we had a very bad
time of it. Early one Sunday morning
wnen a mountain OF sea was running a
heavy souall struck the ship, and the
foremast snapped off close to the deck
and went over the starboard side. On the
ii iibboom trying to furl the sails were Mate
Cahrr and Fred Hanson, John Erickson,
Harry BuItner, John Ryan and myself.
The fail OF the foremast carried away
the jibboom and Mate Cahrr and H ,nson
were drowned. The rest OF us were
caught in the chains and tobstays and
had every stitch of clothes torn off US,
besides being kept half in and half out of
the water for over an hour before we were
rescued. A we were being taken on
board the main royal came down with a
crash, and a one time it looked as if the
mainmast would follow the foremast.
The gale abated, however. and we man
aged to get the Nreckage cleared away. A
small amount of jury rigging was put up
and the Marquesas being the nearest
point we ran for Jaluit.
When we arrived there Captain Mar
tin found that there was no means of re-
pairing his ship, so he once more put to
sea and headed !or Tahiti, arriving at Pa
peete in due time. When the ship came 10
anchor the captain refused to allow Us to
go ashore. Erickson, however, borrowed
20 cents in Chilean money, and with it we
bribed native orange-seller to take let
ter ashore TO the United States Consul
Mr.. Douty at once sent boat out and
brought us ashore, at the same time Or
dering Captain Martin to appear before
him. We told our story and as the cap
tain could not deny it be paid US each $50
in Chilean money and our fare back to
San Francisco on the Homer. We are
on our way to Seattle, and intend to see
whether or not We cannot obtain some re-
dress against Scott and Newman"
The Cavour was the old British ship
Avonmore, built in 1881, and she left Sc
attic for Cailao on May 81 last with
l, 112 $40 ieet of lum Der on loard. 1t is
doubtful whether she can be repaired in
Tahiti, and the chances were when the
omer left that both vessel and cargo
would be sold.