The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-08-07
MATE MEYER
IS A WONDER
Schooner's Officer Is Sea Lawyer.
Navigator. and Many O,hsr
Things.

There was great deal Of talk in
shipping circles yesterday concerning
the schooner Fred J. Wood and the
action of her mate, Heinrich Meyer, in
bringing the vessel into Honolulu. Al
though very shorthanded after the
murder Mate Heinrich brought the YES
sci along in great shape and is now
being complimented on all sides for his
work.
Meyer is a young man, of medium
height but strong build and his features
are a study. A light moustache dec
crates his face and his blue eyes glance
straight at one with an honest, fearless
CLEAN in them. Meyer, although quiet
and easy going in his manner has any
amount of nerve. AT the time of the
murder he was asleep but at the first
outcry he got on deck and did not
mince matters for moment. He or
dered the captains body brought up
from the donkey room and placed a
sailor in charge of the murderer. giving
him a heavy hammer with which to
subdue him In case he made any more
trouble Then the mate took every
possible care of the masters body and
with true chivalry carried out all the
wishes of the captains wife. He had
the carpenter build an air tight box of
lumber and placed the body in this. He
decided quickly to put into Honolulu
and shaped the vessels course for this
port
He appreciated the great sorrow of
! the widow and gave strict orders for
everyone to keep away from the after
part of the ship except when duty
| nnIH iY1fr a.
ed into the presence of the captain $
wife when he absolutely had to go
| there and on those occasions was bash
full as a country school boy, going to
| the cabin with his hat in his hand and
his tongue sticking TO the roof of his
mouth.
| He picked up the work of navigation
| Immediately and the ship lost no time.
Every man on the ship respected his
orders and carried them out with
alacrity.
But amidst all the mates work in
navigating the ship he still found time
to develop into a great sea lawyer. He
| realized that the two Japs must be kept
separate so he had sailors bring the
murderer's food to him and kept the
Jap cook at a safe distance. He appre-
| ciated the fact that evidence is always
! best at first hand and While the hap
! penings are still fresh in mems minds,
so he got the crew together ana ana
everything in regular order. He had
each man write out his own statement
/ and sign it, Then he had a sort of
court martial over the case and as told
| in Wednesdays Advertiser brought IN
] a verdict finding the boy guilty OF the
F., murder and added a rider to 1t saying
that in their opinion the Jap cook was
| an accessory to it. He had all the
bloody clothing carefully saved, and
did not disturb a single place where
| precious human blood had been spilled
on deck or on the lumber cargo Ac-
curate and detailed descriptions of the
whole affair were carefully incorporat-
ed in the Schooner's log. No point in
the case was left unrecorded and when
on arrival here the representatives of
/ the United States marshal boarded the
craft he had all evidence ready to turn
| over Truly, Meyer is great sea
! lawyer" of a type that any novelist
could make most charming sketch
of and still stick to realities.
II One would expect that Meyer would
need some relaxation after all this ex-
| eitement on arrival in port. But he did
| not He was UP early yesterday super
/ intending the work of getting the
schooner into the harbor and went
| about it in very unobtrusive and mat
! ter of fact. way When his vessel was
/ safely moored he put the sailors al
| their ordinary routine of work and
| then came ashore to look after the
schooner's business and TO see an un-
| dertaker concerning the embalming OF
! the captains body.
Meyer is certainly a nonesuch and II
| this work does not result in big
| change in his career many men on
| the waterfront in Honolulu will miss
/ their guess.