Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-10-18
MUTINY AND MURDER.
HANCOCK COUNTY CAPTAIN AND
FOUR OF CREW KILLED.
CAPT. EDWIN B. RuMILL, OF PRETTY
MARSH, THE vICrra-sroRY OF
THE TRAGEDY.

Cant. Edwin b. Runill, Of Pretty
,,orsh. in command OF the four-m asted
.,booner Harry A. Berwind, was the
rietim Of one of the most tragic mutinies
s,bich has taken place in recent years.
can't. Rumill. with four of his crew, was
unrdered ON the high seas by mutinous
nesroes who were shipped at Mobile, Ala,
tnst before the vessel sailed for philadel-
phis.
The story of the tragedy is told in dis
PATCHES from Southport, n. c., into which
nom the schooner was taken Thursday
last. by prize crew put aboard by the
scbooner Blanche III. King. The King
also brought in, in irons, three negroes
taken from the Berwind, all that remained
alive of the crew OF eight men. The
bodies OF the captain and three others
murdered had been thrown overheard,
and the body of one negro was found on
Ihe deck of the Ber~ind when the crew
from the King boarded her.
The n1ntiny took place tuesday morn
ing. off the North Carolina coast. Capt
TAYLOR, OF the King, while on his course
Tor Philadelphia Tuesday night saw a red
Iirht shown ON the Berwind. He lowered
a boat and sent his mate and three other
seamen TO the vessel.
In answer to hail the men were told
that Capt. Rumill, the engineer OF the
the hosting apparatus, steward and the
mate had been murdered, that there were
only two left on board, and they wished to
b. taken off and abandon the vessel. They
were told TO stay aboard and follow the
King until morning, when they would be
taken of.
Upon going aboard the Berwind We'd
uesday morning, the captain found three
negroes instead OF two, one being tied
hand and foot. The other two declared
this man had killed one of the seamen the
night before. The prisoner said he did it
In self-defence. The three negroes were
taken aboard the King, Captain Taylor
leaving his mate and two seamen to bring
in the Berwind.
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION.
At the preliminary investigation be-
fore L. s. Commissioners Collier, OF Will
mington, and Primer, OF Southport, Thurs
day, the men who boarded the Ber-
wind told the story of conditions on the
vessel as they found them. The three
prisoners gave their names as Robert Saw
yer. Henry Scott and Arthur Adams, all
negroes, and under forty years OF age. saw
yer and Adams employed counsel, and both
charge that Scott did the killing OF the Ave
men, with the exception OF Capt. Rumili,
who disappeared before oaybreak Tues
day morning in manner of which they
knew nothing.
Each said he saw Scott shoot the
mate ON the lea side of the ship and
throw his body overheard. Then he
killed the engineer and went down the
eompanionway. Very soon they heard
shots below deck in the galley, and a
short while thereafter Scott came up again
bearing the body of the cook, a small
white man, in his arms, depositing his
burden over the rail. They afterwards
bound Scott, and were steering the vessel
as best they could until overhauled by the
King.
Scott says all the seamen, four negroes,
formed a conspiracy soon after leaving
Mobile, sept. q, feeling outraged because
OF short rations. He said he killed no
one except Cokeiy, the negro seaman found
on deck, and that he killed him in self
defence. Cokely, he claimed, hit him with
stick and shot at him while he was
bound. He attempted no explanation OF
the way he had been bound, except that
his companions wanted to get rid OF him
before the trouble. He said he saw Cokely
shoot the mate, and saw Adams kill the
engineer. He does not know how the
cook was killed, as the shooting was below
the deck
Scott is mulatto, and Is the most intel
lgent Of the four; Adams is alsoa mulatto,
and claims 20 be a British subject from
ST. Vincent islands. All three OF the
negroes were held without bail, and are
confined at the Southport jail for the
federal court in Wilmington in November.
Upon her arrival in port, the Berwind
had lost the foremost, the topsail, her
rudder was disabled, and she was leaking
slightly.