The San Francisco call., 1899-05-06
CORNING CHARGED
WITH KIDNAPPING
Ship Captain Arrested at
Astoria.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

ASTORIA, Or, May 5.-The contest
betw2n the sailor boarding house keep
ers and the captain Of the British ship
Howard d. Troop is likely to be more
serious than at first anticipated. When
the steamer Columbia reached the
lower harbOr this morning she was met
by launch having on board Captain
Corning of the Troop and United States
Marshal Houser. Houser was armed
with a United States process issued un-
der the admiralty laws by Commits
siOner Thompson of this city, directing
him to apprehend the sailors aboard
the Columbia, who had signed shipping
papers in s. Francisco for the Troop,
and to transfer them to the ship. The
steamer was taken alongside the Troop
and all but two of the sailors forcibly
delivered on board the ship. The two
missing sailors could not be discovered
Thwarted in their attempt to hold
the men, the boarding house people OBJ
tained warrant for the arrest of Cap
tain Corning on a charge of kidnapping.
The warrant was served and the cap
tain appeared before a magistrate and
his hearing was set for tomorrow
morning. Meantime a writ of habeaS
corpus was procured by an attorney
for the boarding house keepers and the
sailors were removed from the ship and
lodged in the County Jail, pending the
hearing on the writ. The attorney for
the habeas corpus petitioners say the
sailors are American citizens. and un-
der the treaty of 1892 with Great Brit
ain cannot be forced to serve on Eng
lish ships
PORTLAND, Or, May 5.-The events
leading to the arrest of Captain Corn
ing at Astoria to-day are described in
a communication received by the Ore
gOnian from Captain Corning in which
he says:
I arrived here (at Astoria) May Is, and
twelve of my sailors were induced to de-
sert by the crimps promising them So 80
per day with big opportunities TO make
piles of money. These men shipped in
New York nine months ago, remained by
the ship in Hongkong, and did not want
to leave but promises of big pay. slim
ulated by drinks of a questionable char
/ acter, were too much for Jack to stand
and he deserted for that Ell Dorado that
did not exist.
When our ship was loaded our crew had
been reduced from twenty-five to six
hands all told. The more men taken from
the ships by the crmps the more there is
required to make UP the crew again, and
the modest sum of 500 per man was de-
manded from me, a like amount for a
second mate that had been sent me from
St. John. n. b, by the owners at an eX-
ptIlSc OI $Nu A1l uiS pelSSdst- Sil9O same loI
an apprentice engaged by myself from the
ship Mistley Hall. These unheard- of
prices, with 81 30 per night charged for
a watchman which they put on board to
keep the men from running away. soon
swell the bill up to over $500 and | think
your readers will agree with me that this
is high figure for simply furnishing a
crew to a ship. None of this money can
be charged as advance to the sailor: it all
comes out Of the ship and is called blood
money ] believe the existing State laws
Ysrn It1T moo lrf1glT
l objected to paying this eXOTbitant
charge, in which my owners bore me out
The boarding masters told me in boast
ful manner that | could not get a crew
save through them. and they have boy
COtted me ever since. although | offered
to give a reasonable amount, per man
sooner than get a crew elsewhere. Quite
a number of them have applied for
berth, but We're afraid of the crimps doing
them bodily harm if they shipped outside
of them. l have sent to San Francisco for
l am pleased to say l have got my crew
from San Francisco. the men coming in
on the steamer Columbia this morning
and being put aboard the ship under the
protection of the United States Marshal
D. w. c.
AS soon as the Portland boarding
house men learned of Captain Corning
having ordered a crew from San Fran
cisco they sent a couple of men down
to the bay city to accompany the men
To Astoria and endeavor to induce them
to desert In this they met with but
poor success as twelve of the men were
put aboard the ship without difficulty.