The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-07

0td'es' ana mat the safety of the public
property the lives of ourselves and of
NOSE committed 70 our charge require that
(gNing them sufficient time to prepare)
they should be put to death in a manner
pest calculated to make a beneficial i'm
preston upon the disaffected"
ABOUT this time il was found necessary
70 make other arrests. and BENJAMIN F.
Green, Charles A. Wilson and two other
seamen, named Mckinley and Mckee.
We're placed in confinement. The prisoners
now numbered sevsa, and, as they filed
up the Quarter deck. rendering il very diff
hcult TO keep them from communicating
with each other, and as the guarding of
such number interfered with the man
aSement OF the vessel, it was decided by
| the oHlcers to put the first three arrested
10 immediate death. Besides, as Spencer,
Small and Cromwell were about the only
ones of the rnutineeTs that knew how to
run the vessel, It was thought that if they
We're safely out of the way order and dis
cipllne Won Id be restored
Accordingly prepare tons were made for
| hanging Spencer, Small and Cromwell at
| the main yard. All hands were called TO
| witness the punishment. The afterguard
ana fdlers of both watches were mustered
| on the quarter deck at the whip intended
Tor Spencer; forecastleman and foretop-
men at that of Cromwell; the maintop of
| both watches at that intended for Small,
who for month had filled the situation
of captain of the maintop. The officers
were stationed about the decks, and the
| petty officers We're similarly distributed,
| with orders to cut down whoever should
! lot so the rope or fail to haul on it when
ordered
! SmalIs last message was: 81 have no.
I body to care for me but poor old mother.
and L had rather she did not know how |
| died" When standing under the ship
! gallows in speech to his shipmates he
declared his innocence, saying: Il am no
| pirate. 1 never murdered ANYBODY
! Cromwell also protested his innocence to
the last. When told his doom he ex-
claimed: God of the universe! Look down
upon me. l am innocent. Tell my wife,
tell Lieut.. Morris, l die innocent" When
FIRST arrested he declared he knew moth
ing about the mutiny Spencer, a few
moments before his DEATH said: LAS these
are the last words l have to say, 1 trust
they will be believed Cromwell is inno-
cent"
The original record says there were no
'hangmen'' on board the ship. The death
signal and command were given by the
| commander and his lieutenant the former
firing the signal gun, the latter singing
out whip" at which word the three
wretched men went up with a violent jerk
to the yard arm. Religious services then
| followed, after which the bodies were
consigned to the deep. The vessel was
then within a day and half of st. Thomas
Before the ship arrived home eight other
| arrests were made, the entire twelve be-
| ing brought to the United States in irons
Immediately upon the report of the at
tempted mutiny. with its tragic events,
being placed before the Secretary of the
| Navy, a court of inquiry was ordered,
consisting of three officers, to report upon
the facts of the case, and to give their
opinion. The finding of this court was
strongly in favor of the commander, and
this opinion was approved by President
Tyler.
The widow of Cromwell, to whom he had
sent his last dying message to the effect
| that he was innocent, made an effort to
! have Commander Mackenzie prosecuted
before the civil tribunals for the murder of
her husband, but the matter being one for
a court-martial was brought before such
a tribunal of which William H. Norris, of
BaldmoreJ was Judge Advocate.
The verdict of the court martial was
mot proven" while three members of the
court were in favor of conviction for muir
der. The official PRONUNCIATION of the pro-
i ceedings closed as follows: "As these
| charges involved the life of the accused,
and as the finding is in his favor, he is en-
titled to the benefit of it, as in the anala-
gous case of a verdict of not guilty be-
fore a civil court, and there is no power
which can constitutionally deprive him of
that benefit. The finding, therefore, is
simply confirmed and carried into effect
without any expression of appreciation or
| disapprobation on the part of the Presi-
| dent no such expression being necessary"
| The trial had continued two months.
Prior to the beginning of the trial the
Secretary of the Navy had despatched 4
| man-of-war to the Isle of Pines to capture
the confederate pirates according TO
! Wales testimony, who were waiting there
for young Spencer and the Somers. No
trace of the pirates, however, was found.
The twelve men who had been brought
back in irons, suspected of being impli-
| Gated in the attempted mutiny, were re-
leased Mackenzie falling to prosecute them
| before the court which latter was dissolv-
ed on April !. Throughout the progress of
the trial of Mackenzie public feeling was
in his favor.
Commander Mackenzie upon being ac-
Quilted, retired from the service and but
little was heard of him until, during the
war with Mexico, he was sent on a secret
mission by the government Mr.. Bu~
chanan being Secretary of State. The OBJ
iect of his mission was to secure peace
| through the fundamentally of Santa
Anna. then an exile at Havana, and who
was to be returned to his country upon
some arrangement and without being
seen in the transaction, by the American
| government Mackenzie failed in his pur-
pose. but similar mission was later sue
cessfully accomplished by another agent.
| A few years later Mackenzie died.
Since that time the vessel has gone to
the bottom of the sea, laundering unseen
and going down with all on board.
II is said that Wales. the informer, was
soon after the trial of Mackenzie, dis
charged from the navy, and was pursued
relentlessly by those believing Spencer in
| nocent After leaving the navy Wales
drifted from place to place, securing en-
Dloyment in many cities, only soon to lose
il. some unknown Influence seeming to be
at work against him. Like the Wandering
lew. he drifted about until he finally
shook off his pursuers and lost his iden-
tity. A dispatch from Louisville, KY,
| last week says that Miss Theresa Wales.
q nun. gave out a statement establishing
the identity of man wko died there. II
was Wales her father, and the nformer
the principal character in one Of the
darkest events in American history