The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-02-02
MADE INSANE BY CRUELTY.
Brutal TREATMENT OF 4 BOY ny
A Ships OFFICERS.
He Wns tho Son Of Wealthy Parents
and Was ON His First yoyagr-
Was Beaten and starved until HTS

II.
81. Mary's hospital. Astoria. berefs of
reason. and suffering from injuries which
he can hardly survive According to the
statements OF the sailors of the Ameri-
can ship George StetSon. Capt Murphy.
on which Stone shipped before the mast.
he was driven crazy by the brutality OF
the mate. burly Nova Scotian. named
Harvey.
John Burke. one OF stones shipmates.
who hefrieaded the boy as much as he
dared throughout the voyage. is very
anxious that the lads parents be in
formed Of his condition and the cause or
it. lie and Il number OF other sailors en-
deayored TO secure an attorney TO take
the matter up for them aud prosecute the
mate when the ship reached Astoria, but
did nor have money enough 10 pay tne Zee
which was demanded OF them.
Burke kept close watch OF Stone on ~
VOYAGE, and being on the same watch
was witness to the most OF the outfasss
which were perpetrated on nim- Iiis
story. as told representative or sae Ore
gonian, is as follows:
I'VE sailed from Baltimore with cargo
of coal August Z Stone was a gentleman'S
SON but wanted TO follow the sea. and had
spent three years In a training snip. THIS
was his first voyage.
I'VE had hardly got outside before the
mate lined us up and began telling us that
IL we didn't turn TO and work like niggets
he would put every man-1aek OF US IN IRONS
A dozen of ua protested. Stone among me
humber. and Harvey went aft and told the
captain. who came forward anu bulie1 al!
the foreigners IN the crew-whica was most
Of themin,o gons sa ,hs,n 70 sailsr named
John johnson. who was rewaIueu ~ -
blow over the head with TOP maui
great big blacksmiths hammer After
August s the mate got into row with
he had one of the worst bruises on his tenn
pie ever looked at. l asked him new ne
got 1t. and after trying TO get out Oh II. ne
said the mate hit him.
The next tkne l saw that poor lad. he
was standing near the focastle Win a
looking glass. talking TO himself ana ACT
was He talked about his mother and fa.
Their. pitiful like and now and tnen wo sila
yell out loud. Finally. ne takes -, .hs sh sop
son with. and threw 1t overheard; ;. -
Wei. the mate saw him. and II weM
hard with poor Stone. He TOOK stone INTO
hind his back. and left him there TIL ne
was SO lame he could hardly walk.
After that things went rom naa 10 10
cry when he was hit. but afterward ne gut
tough and didn't seem 10 nina AZ al.
once the mate stripped MIN OF au ns
clothes and welted him with great. big
leather strap. leaving marks that are there
yet Another time he kicked him on the
fo'castle head, and he fell 10 inc DECK.
nearly i've feet. tie was fearfuily pluiscu.
but he got up without saying a word. He
didn't have enough sense left 10 taik
They used to make him carry the captain
dinner aft from the galley. ana stand on
the deck and laugh at him when the Die
seas would come rolling over the deck.
carrying him off his feet and sending MIN
floating about from the port to the star
board scuppers All he got TO eat was
leayinxs and sometimes there were three
or four days that he didn't get a thing.
"A strong healthy man couldn't have
stood s,ich usage as that, to say nothing
OF boy who had already been beaten into
a lunaiic He kept getting more and more
out of his head Whenever ne Would . SEEN
would send him OF into that awful ravinS
about his father and mother.
He climbed out OF his bunk one nign.
and went up to the foreiop. was on
watch, and when | saw some one mp there
IL nearly scared me 10 death. Tor sailors
haven't the habit OF leaving their bunks
10 20 alofi when they don't have 10. The
next cay he turned UP missing, and we
found him down In the hold, snosefng
away In the coal as IL possessed. II was
one OF the most pitiful sights ever saw.
when we got just outside the Columbia
the captain and the mate took stone aft.
washed him up-he hadn't washed himself
on the yoyage-and tried tn feed him on
pies and cakes TO kind of straighten him
out before getting into port. But ne
wouldn't eat. One day he came out TO
my berth and asked for biscuit:
asked OF him.
They're trying TO poison me. he said.
and trernbled and shook like frightened
rat. "
eft was all up with poor Stone when We
got into port. He was beyond all help. l
saw him lowered over the side In a boat,
hardly strong enough even To rave, ana
some OF the boys took him zip to the hos
pital.
ut seemed awful hard 10 see such a fine
boy go like that. lie had always been used
10 good living, until he went on that voy-
age He had a fine gold watch. and a ring
with a great big diamond that ne said cost
Us He used to show Us "A book that no
kept when ne was on the training ship.
with memoranda In 10 thai showed hts
father used TO send him 10 ana $50 a week
He had letters from his mother. too. he
used to read. even after he went wrong In
his head When the ship got into port
three letters. written iD the same hand.
came but the poor fellow couldn't read
them and instead OF reading them 10 him,
they just heaved them into his bunk and
left them there
Charles Russei. Ernest Weyl ard Ira
Dierks, who were also sailors on the
George stefson. tell the same story that
Burke does. All of them are frank. intelii-
gent men. and tell straightforward stories-