Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-03-01
was competent to handle a shin. and be

~"N AS
was installed as captain and given an
able seaman as mate. We had hoped to
get the provisions to the wreck before
night, but the gale continued, and we
had to stand by her for 80 hours before
it was safe to launch a boat. We had
mutinied and taken possession Of the
ship, but we felt that circumstances JUS
titled it. Neither harm nor insult was
offered our officers. After a few hours
they were allowed full liberty, and not
NOne of us entered the cabin. There were
many threats as to the punishment we
should receive when the ship arrived in
port, but W. stood firm and kept clear
of any further quarrels.
When wind and sea finally subsidized,
we boarded the wreck, to find that one
| woman and four children had died in
the last "a hours and that the living
were entirely out of food and water.
There was no doctor aboard, the leak
was hardly to be kept under, and it was
plain that another "a hours would send
the wreck to the bottom of the sea. 1t
was therefore resolved to transfer every
body to the ship. Our captain and mate
raved like madmen when they heard of
this decision, and the last named be-
came SO violent that we had to bind
him hand and foot. The wreck had lost
| all her boats, but the ship had three,
and when the work of transferring be-
gan it was not interrupted until every
person had been brought safely off.
Then we secured most of the personal
baggage Of crew and passengers, and by
| the time the last boatload was along
| side the Star the wreck rolled heavily
to %starboard and port and went to the
bottom of the sea.
The ship had no accommodation
whatever for passengers, and you can
imagine the muss we were i'll when
that crowd of people were taken aboard.
The Hollander fatty refused to act as
captain or to have anything to do with
the castaways. He said we had deposed
him by mutiny and must now run
things to suit ourselves and take the
consequences. Everybody had to be put
on quarter allowance at once, and a
shift vas made up whereby the women
and children were at least sheltered.
After consultation it was decided to
make for the Bermudas, and OH the third
day after taking the people off the
wreck we sighted the American ship
Ocean Queen and secured from her sew
eral hundred gallons Of water and a
| quantity of -four and biscuit. 1t was a
run Of seven days to the islands, and
during the last four days no adult had
food enough to keep down the pangs Of
hunger. The mate proved SO obstinate
and dangerous that his bonds were not
released, but he shared the food and
water with the rest and was treated as
kindly as circumstances would permit.
None Of us believed that we could be
punished for taking the ship out of the
captains hands to save human life, and
I am sure we should not have been med
died with but for the presence OF a Brit
ish man-of-war in port. We had in
formed the Hollander of our readiness
to work the ship to her port Of destina-
ton, and he seemed to think f~avorably
of the matter, but no soone did he
learn of the presence of the man-of-war
than he appealed to her commander.
As a result the ten of us were at once
arrested and flung into prison to await
the action of the law. I never found
out just where they intended to send us
for trial. but presume it wal Holland.
For some reason or other there was a
long delay, and at length matters were
complicated by our being claimed as
deserters from All American man-of-
war. The people whom we had saved
were grateful enough, God knows, but
all others looked upon us as a lot Of
pirates who ought to have been hung as
soon as captured.
When we had been in Jail for five
months, we got word from N American
who was pretty thoroughly posted Oh
the case that we should soon be sent
away for trial and that we might ex-
pect at least five years. imprisonment
apiece. This news decided us to make
an attempt to break Jail, and n night,
a week later, using tools which a guard
had been bribed to pass in to us, we
sawed away the bars Of a window and
gained our liberty. Proceeding to the
harbor, we found an American schoon-
er ready to sail and awaiting u com.
ing, and before escape was discover
ed we were miles at sea. Five of us sur
rendered to the naval authorities and
took our punishment and served out the
remainder of our enlistment, but what
became of the others l do not know.
But for u action 200 people would
have.b been left to go down with a wreck
on which they had drifted and suffered
for days and weeks, and yet that action
was rank mutiny, and had the ship been
English instead Of Dutch our two lead
ers would probably have been hung and
the rest Of Ills got long terms in prison.