New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-09-14
In A MUTlNOUS STATE.
COMPLAIN OF CAPTAIN.
Report That foO of Kearsarge'S
Cre7c Are an BRIG.

The sailors Of the flagship Kearsarge. which.
together with the Alabama the Texas. the Illi-
nois and the Chicago. anchored on TOmpkins-
Vile. Staten Island yesterday noon. have been
I'm condition bordering on mutiny. n was
learned yesterday. for many weeks BY sailors
and petty officers other ships Il was said
that when the Kearsarge weighed anchor yes
terday 40 men were imprisoned in the briE
because OF mutinous conduct These men say
they have renamed the flagship the Curse
hard. on account of the voluble dissatisfaction
continually expressed by the crew. BY this
paro6ied cOgnOmen the Kearsarge is known.
they say. by all the other vessels of the squad
ron.
In the recent shooting contests during the ma
neuvres. the gunners of the Kearsarge scored
hits out of H. shots. the Alabama beating the
record with 10 out of rs. and every other vessel
OF the squadron showing first rate average
According to the sailors. the gunners OF tbs
Kearsarge. in revenge for grievances. real or
fancied. Of long standing. by agreement with tbs
crew. determined to make as poor a showing as
they could To clinch this agreement SONS
venturesome spirits not yet discovered. threw
overheard all the lenses of the gGnsights there
by rendering expert craftsmanship impossible.
Several OF the on the Kearsarge verified
this though all said that they had been In
structed before being allowed TO go ashore not
to say anything about the incident.
According to petty officer OF the Kearsarge.
the disgruntlement on the part Of the crew dated
back some time. When the Kearsarge was az
KEEL. and afterward at Portsmouth. the men.
according TO this officer. were on the point OF
open mutiny. The main grievances. this officer
declared. were uniforms. food and general treat
ment-
NO crew OF a United States battleship ars
baor be at
is uncooked and scanty, and we are roundfy
abused by Captain Hemphin without the slight
est provocation
After our uniforms have been washed several
times they materially shrink and look bedras-
g1ed- The officers Of all the other ships know
this and are willing to make allowances for H.
Captain Hemphin will not. on one occasion hs
kept 400 men from shore leave for three months
for untidiness. I will say that we are as tidy a
lot Of men as are to be found on any battleshiD
In the United States Navy
1--WE have an ordnance officer on board. too.
who is hated because of the foul epithets he
applies to the men. We have complained again
and again to the captain but the officer is al
ways upheld Some Of will not stand for
the names he calls them II Is true that We did
have the lenses Of our sights thrown overheard
during the shooting contest by men who we're
sore because of I'll treatment received.
II might also add that unfortunate gun
ner who accidentally hit buIrs-eye during the
contest was pummelled numerically by the rest
Of the crew for his lack OF esprit ne corps The
man explained tearfully that it was an accident.
but his plea OF no avail
Why. to show how Disguised and discouraged
the Kearsarges men are by the captains atti-
tude toward us I might mention that we re-
Gently sold our racing rOwooat. which cost US
$500 for $500. The Kearsarge held the rowing
record. and our racebOat. which was purchased
by private subscriptions of the crew, was the
best owned by any vessel Notwithstanding
this fact. the captains attitude toward our
sports was so cold and formidable that we de-
termined that we would give up trying alto
gether and now we haven't rowbOat OF racing
crew at all Many Of expected that when we
got to shore here We would be made to suffer
severely Eor that lens incident To our sur
prise the authorities did nothing. 1t is true
that they have not been able TO discover the
men who did the deed"
This officer said that he did not think I'D men
were confined in the Kearsarge's brig II have
heard stories TO that effect before" he said.
but I don't think that there is anything to
them"
Asked II the men would prefer charges
against tee captain. the petty officer shook his
head and said:
II don't think any Of US will be foolish enough
70 do that Nothing would come OF II. anyway
and IL would do no good.