The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-12-13
A NARROWING TALE OF HARD
TREATMENT.
Said That They Were Sick and the
Doctor Said Not and They Had to
Work

for Manila today leaves Dehlnd seven
firemen who signed with her at San
Francisco for the entire trip, Two were
discharged and five deserted and they
are telling some narrowing tales of
bad treatment on board the big steamer
! Chief Engineer Kelly and first assistant
| Nagle say that the men wanted to
| soldier" and were not fit Tor the hard
work of firemen on a vessel like the
Meade.
! G. Joseph, one of the firemen, was dis
| charged as soon as the vessel reached
! Honolulu. He had signed to go to Ma
nila and back for $45 month, but when
! the vessel reached here Nagle paid him
! for his time and told him to take his
! clothes and go. The doctor had told
| Nagle that Joseph was a first class ac-
| tor and made a speciality of acting sick.
| Joseph says that for the first five days
out from San Francisco he was so i'll
he could eat nothing. However he con-
tinued at his work until the fifth day
| he became so weak he could work no
| longer. He then asked the third asSiS-
tant engineer. in whose watch he was,
| to put some one else in his place. The
third assistant engineer notified first
assistant engineer Nagle. Nagle came
down with. handouts in his pockets
These he put on Josephs wrists fasten-
ing him to a StanchiOn behind the con-
densing pumps. Joseph was kept there
from 10 o'clock in the evening to $3.50
! 81
was constantly dripping on him. He
was given nothing to eat or drink and
when released was told with oaths to
go on watch again at 8 o'clock.
II. G. Renslow and Otto Heine are
two other firemen who have severed
their connection with the Meade and
they also have stories to tell of being
put in irons and cruelty treated and OF
being forced to work when they were
ill.
The chief engineer and assistant say
that all the trouble was caused by
taking Sick by the presence of ''sea-
lawyer" on board, in the person of
Heine, and by Renslows unfitness foi
such hard work as handling coal on the
Meade. The Meade is one of the hard
est transports that comes here in this
! respect, owing to the location of hel
ports.
I'VE have to rely upon the report o
the doctor as to whether a man is il
or not" said chief Kelly. IF the doc
! tor says a man is fit to work we maxi
him work. If we were to lay men of
= simply because they said they We're no
well, we should not have enough work
5 ing force. Many men try to fake sic
to escape work. Joseph was complain
= ing all the time that he was too i'll t
work, but each time the doctor eXamin
E ed him Joseph was reported all right
/ The doctor said he was acting AM
I ought to do his work, so we kept hir
at it and finally put him in irons whe
he refused to work. His story of bein
put under drippings of hot water is a
a farce.
n "RenslOw is man who wanted to g
to Manila and he came to me with
letter from his brother, who is a frien
= of mine in San Francisco, asking me
e | could employ him. l told him tn
e only thing ! could give him to do wa
5. passing and he wanted to try it, He
e used to better work and can't stand i
If The work is really very hard, but thos
e who are accustomed to it find it a
s right, and we have men on the Mead
e now who have been with us for man
r. trips back and forth.
= I'VE had no trouble in hiring me-
1t men to take the places of those wh
s. have gone, and shall not go away sho,
T. handed. One man who has been wit
ID us before came this morning to get
IL job and was too late. as we had hire
s. enough men already"
l. Joseph and his companions are
d. Honolulu, and say they want to % baC
)r to San Francisco. Joseph, when asl
t ed about his illness, said that it Wa
rt loss of appetite" He didn't kno
he what the nature of his complaint wa
ed The hot water that dripped on him fro
in the condenser left no marks on h
10. head where he alleged that it fell, b
he and his companions say they w
te Elk" chief Kelly and his first assistaI
t when they meet again.
IL "They often say that" said Kell
p, "when they have a kick to make, b
ID. they carefully avoid trying it, JOSEF
IS, was very good at acting sick, the do
al tor says, but we couldn't get any wo
In out of him, so we fired him.