The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-31
TERROR ON A RIVER BOAT
Experience of Three Men and a
Woman on a Schooner.
The Captain, Crazed by Alleged ES-
cessiyc Indulgence in Liquor
He Cbnses His Passengers All Over
the Craft-LnssoOcd by n Negro.

A thrilling tale was related last night at
Police Headquarters by Carl E. Gundlach,
the costumer. residing at 927 e Street
northwest: Christian Strask, whose home
is at SO Thirteenth Street northwest, ana
william Conway, coloIed, deck hand em-
ployed on the schooner United, which left
this city Saturday afternoon bound for
Chesapeake Beach.
The men took passage on the schooner,
which is owned and managed by Capt. JoE1,
H. Williams. a native of Baltimore. and
which was loaded with a cargo OF lumber
and bricks belonging TO Gundlach, ard
whicl. were intended for house he oro-
poses to build at Chesapeake Beach. The
wife of Williams accompanied her husband
on the trip, completing the list Of passen-
gers. Captain s. lliams ard his wife are
still with their vessel, it is supposed. row
high and dry ca a sand bar off Lower Cedar
Point.
Gundlaeh and his companions returned 10
this city last night on the steamer Harry
Randall. They left Washington Saturday
afternoon. about o'clock. and sailed down
the Potomac All went well. they say.
until the vicinity of Maryland Point, some
sixty miles away, was reached late satur-
day night. Liquor. they assert. then tezan
TO tell upon Captain Williams and despite
every restraining influence, he got beyond
all control. Nothing In their experience
has equalled the conduct of Williams, thzy
say, and finally he became dang gzTous.
Arming himself w::S a heavy pump handle,
j large knife and pistol, Williams began
to teTorize the occupants of the vessel,
according to their story.
The schooner proceeded on its course
down the river but robbed OF its hand at
the rudder it ran aground on a long sand
bar several miles of Lower Cedar Point
This mishap angered Williams the more.
Time and again, it is claimed. he chased
the passengers his wife and Conway, the
negro deck hand. all over the schooner.
AS it grew dark the rage Of Williams did
not abate, and he continued to drink
liquor until if the story told the police is
true full quart which he has resurrected
had been swallowed
Courage born of desperation finally came
to Guntlach and his companions. They
surrounded the captain at the stern of the
vessel, and wir.!e enc held his attention by
an extended parley, Conway passed heavy
rope about his body. pinioning his arms
ard legs. and securing him from doing
further harm. Fer three hours, the police
were told. Williams was thus kept a pris-
Oner. being placed in the main hatchway.
where he alternately cursed, raved. and
pleaded for freedom. AS reason appeared
to return to the desperate man, his re-
lease was. determined upon. The rope
which bound him was cut and for a time
Williams seemed to realize the gravity OF
his actions. More liquor brought a return
of former conditions. however, and toward
midnight Saturday the captain, it is al
legged, again took foTcible possession of
the boat. armed as before. The rest Of the
statement to the police was as -follows:
Before daylight Sunday morning VIII
liams launched yawl and announced his
intention to go to the shore. He seized
his wife. pushed her into the boat. called
the negro, Conway. who also entered tie
boat. and set out from the stranded
schooner. leaving Gundlach and Strask to
their own resources. 1t was very dark.
Scarcely had the small boat left the
schooner than the oars were lost. Conway
quickly split a large piece of plank, gave
one half TO Williams and kept the other.
Conway finally padded the boat tc the
shore, and Williams and his wife went
ashore
As soon as daylight appeared Gund1ach
and Strask put out for the shore in a skiff.
There they were Joined by Conway and
together they hastened to a farmhouse a
mile away. They secured a horse and
wagon. were driven to a small wharf. ftc
miles distance. and there hired a sgS
boat. in which they returned to the vicinity
of the schooner United. Repeated calls
brought Williams. who. mean time. had re-
turned to his vessel from the Shore with
his wife. to the deck OF the schooner. He
was still armed with knife and club, and
these he waved at the occupants OF the
sailboat, who beat a retreat. Gundlach and
his party went to a wharf where the Harry
Randall stops. some twenty miles down
the river from the shoal. They spent
Monday afternoon at the wharf, taking
the Randall for Washington.
reporter for The Times saw Conway,
the deckhand, shortly aft his arrival
here. The negro stated he had been en-
ployed by Williams for about month.
lie said Captain Williams came from Balti-
more, and is about forty eight years old.
Word OF the alleged state Of affairs on the
vessel will likely be sent today by the
police to the Maryland authorities. No