The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-04-08
SUFFERING ON
SCHOONER HOWE
DIR. HUMPHRIs SAYS SAILOR IL
BELLANTs ARE IN ALARM
ING CONDITION.
IS POSITIVE THAT ONE OF THEM
HAS sCURVY.
Bad Food and Leaking. Crowded Quar-
ters on the Vessel Brought Both Men
Near to Death.

D''N Oou anu leaking LfOWded Quar-
ters on the Vessel Brought Both Mer
Near to Death
There was a dramatic scene in Judge
Estee's court this morning during the
testimony Of DR.. F. II. Humphris. call
eo by Attorney Dunno as an expert to
| testify regarding the condition of the
sailors Hall and Wood, who have libel
led the schooner Howe for damages.
DR.. Humphris was asked as to what
/ might be the effect of the experiences
the men had gone through, as far as
he could judge from their present con-
! dition. He asked permission to whisper
his answer to the Judge, stating that he
didn't want the seamen to hear his
opinion.
Kinney and Dunno agreed that the
| answer might be written down by the
! doctor, handed to the counsel and then
! to the judge, and kept from the sail
! ors. DR.. Humphris wrote an answer
to the question: and after the lawyers
| had passed it without objection it was
| handed to Judge Estee and enterede
upon the record. 1t indicated that the
men had been reduced to a most
alarming condition, which the doctor
said was the result of bad food and
! bad quarters on board the Frank w.
Howe.
The doctor described very thorough
examination he had made of the men
in the Queens hospital. He had ap-
! piled various tests and had found the
men very anaemic. Wood showed only
So per cent of the blood he should have
had and Hall was 80 per cent below
| the normal in richness of blood. The
circulation was bad in both cases, and
there was water in the pericardial cav
ity which DR.. Humphris stated was
most dangerous condition. Malnutri-
tion was the cause in both cases, said
the doctor.
There is no doubt at all that the
man Hall has scurvy," said Dr. Hum
phris. He may have beriberi as well,
but l am positive that he has scurvy.
am of the opinion that both of the
men have scurvy.
The causes of both scurvy and beri-
beri are bad food lack of proper nu-
triton and bad living accommoda-
tons
Dunno put a hypothetical question in
vOlving the testimony of the libelants
as to the conditions that prevailed on
the Frank w. Howe, and the doctor
stated that he had no doubt that such
conditions might cause either scurvy
or beriber Beriberi was recurring
disease, and anyone who had it once
was likely to have it again at any
time.
Kinney began rigid cross-examina-
ton of the doctors expert testimony
as to scurvy. He brought out the fact
that there were ordinary features of
sCurvy that were lacking in the cases
before the court, but DR.. Humphris in
sisted that the cases were scurvy es-
pecially that of Hail. The doctor and
the lawyer are still at it, and the case
promises to bring out a long discussion
of the symptoms and characteristics of
scurvy, the old-time dread of the mer-
chant marine.
The libellant Hall testified that dur
ing almost the entire voyage the steady
diet was beef and bread the beef so
salt that he could not eat more than
hunger forced him to eat. He used to
soak bits in water and then eat them. |
Everything else that should have been
provided was short. The coffee and tea |
We're boiled together, mixed up. Hall |
said he tested this by digging to the !
bottom of the container with a spoon
and finding tea leaves and coffee |
grounds mixed at the bottom of the |
boiling water. This was the case from |
New York to MauTitius and from Mari |
thus to Honolulu. The fore castle sleep |
ing accommodations for four men were |
8X10 poorly ventilated and with a
leaking roof
1T doesn't matter whether the sail |
Ors complained or not" said Dunno in
answer to a line of questioning by |
which Kinney was seeking to show that |
the men had been satisfied. THE cap |
tain has to provide what the law calls |
for. There are cases in which the men |
and the captain have agreed in writ !
ting to live on less than the legal ra- |
tions and the courts have held that
such agreements are void"
Judge Estee sustained this position,
and he has asked many questions based |
upon what the law declares shall be |
provided for seamen. The shipping ar
ticles and log book contain the list,
which Is as follows: One pound of
bread, 11a pound of beef three times a
week, IL pound of pork three times a
week, y pint of peas three times a
week, Is ounce of tea, y ounce Of
coffee, 2 ounces of sugar and quarts
of water every day, For some Of the
articles on the list substitutes are all
lowed, If they are equivalent to those
named
Dunno introduced in evidence to show
shortage Of food, the following report
IF the Board of Survey on the schooner
Howe:
II. Hackfeld & Company Ltd, Cen
ltllltlls AZ your request we the uli~
iersigned, proceeded on board the Anne
'ican three masted schooner Frank W.
Howe, c. M. Atkinson, commanding, on
March %, 1902, to report upon the con-
itiOn of the vessel and its require
nents.
I'VE find the schooner moored in the
larbOr of Honolulu after having made a
passage of 10 days from Mauritius and
an for Honolulu as a port of necessity.
THE schooner herself is all right ]
Her bottom must be foul, as the cap
ain claims that she does not sail as
ihe ought to.
I'VE find the fore and main gaff bro {
Ken, the main iib in bad condition, sew {
,ral coils of rope used up in securing
gaffs and sails and several blocks lost
Continued on page tiveJ