New-York tribune., 1906-07-01


the end OF 1876. evoked from Mr. Justice Brett
IN sentencing the rlnsisa aders % death AZ Lon
don, these words: This Is q most terrible and
dasterdly crime. and one which illustrates the
aWtui perlis OF those responsible for vessel. in
ntvlhe l-t under them crews OF foreign sailors
rms is the third case in the course Of few
weeks In which have had 70 deal with foreign
ruft1ans accused OF fearful crimes on the seas"
harly IN October. 1876. she sailed from Antwerp
with a crew which. as she had been short OF
hands. was gathered in Ratclif Highway and
sent 20 that port TO Join her. She belonged 70
Nova Scotia and her master was a Canadian
STANLEY Hatfield her mate an Irishman, James
WOftheys her bOatswdin a ScOtchman, Richard
Mcdonald. They were three men Of experience
and courage which they would need in handling
their crew, thirteen in all-Greeks. Turks Aus
TRANS ana italians. Some spoke smatteFtng Ot
English, but as nobody else knew lingo which
all could understand, save one Italian, he was
MADE DoatSwain and Mcdonald promoted 20 sec
Ond mate. Eight days after sailing the crew mu-
tinted at daybreak. knifing the captain and first
mate, while Mcdonald took refuge in the rig
g1ng- The mutineerS had revOlvers. fired at
and wounded him. and he slid 10 the deck. where
he was stabbed fifty times. The three bodies
ceeded in their design 20 secure the ship the
gang now decided 20 take her TO Greece and sell
her there But none Of them were navigatOrs.
ana she was in m1docean, so they bethoughC or
the steward, who was not in the plot but in his
berth below stairs. and determined that he
Should take the ONCE he agreed to do so, but
instead navigated her toward the French coast
His assistant boy. he directed to write mes
sages detailing the facts. and inclOsed them in
fall. One Of these was picked up by French
fishing boat. She reported the strange message
a gunbOat was sent in quest of the death ship
and when the Lenne reached the French coast
IL only 70 find this scout the watch
which quickly bore down upon her and put the
mUrderers in irons. They were handed over TO
the British government, and the four principals
were hanged, the others being sentenced to long
terms Of Imprisonment
In October, 1892 the crew of the British brig
antine Winthrop mutinied In the North At
lantic because Of the quality Of the provisions
from San Francisco 20 Liverpool by way OF
Montevideo and had nearly completed the
journey when the passions OF the crew overcame
them and they slew the captain, his wife and the
first mate. The ringleadeT in this uprising was
Fernando Petrina, an Austrian seaman. who
with two others perpetrated the butchery- The
crew, after the murders. could do naught with
the ship, and abandoned her. taking 70 their
boat and being subsequently rescued by another
vessel, the captain OF which recognizing from
the disparity in the stories they told that there
was mystery in the affair, handed them over
70 the authorities on reaching Bristol. where one
OF them gave evidence against the principals
and three Of these were hanged
Among ocean rutinies there are few more ap-
palling than that Of the Saladin which left VAL
paraiso for London in the winter of 1874. laden
with copper ore and guanO. and carrying also
$500 in specie Her master was James NC
Kensie, trusted and capable man. and ne took
as passengers Captain William Fielding and his
fifteen -year-Ol boy, Fielding's ship having been
previously confscated oy tne Chihah cover govern. a.
ment for smuggling. and he seized this chance 10
get home again. Two OF his crew also Joined the
Saladin and she sailed on February Il with
fourteen persons aboard Fielding ana MS men
had plotted TO secure the ship and and got four
others OF their kidney among the crew but all
went we'll till the night Of February Il, when
having rounded Cape Horn and being we'll up
toward the equator, they put their plot into ef-
feet. Fielding enticed the mate who was on
watch. to the ships side. pointed TO some
imaginary object in the water. and as the mate
leaned forward TO look for II, FieldtngS con
federates tipped him overheard In due time the
second mate and the carpenter came on deck
were seized, and were committed to the deep a!SO.
The capture of the carpenter caused a Scufl1e.
which awakened the only two seanen in the
forecastIe. and thinking the ship in distress.
they rushed on deck The first was seized and
hurled over the side. but as the second heard the
splash he shouted, Man overheard, only to fol-
low his hapless comrade moment later into
the dark and silent sea His cry brought the
captain to the deck, only to be feiled with a De
laying pin and to drop back through the haJch-
Soon after he recovered and made his way up
again. whereupon one of the seamen split his
skull with and rained blows on him as he
fell then flung the hatchet far into the sea-
where the captains body soon followed
Fielding and his six confederates now had
control OF the ship. but the mutineerS next be-
gan to plot against him, and he and his boy had
TO take turns in keeping watch, lest they be
murdered. One morning, however. the lookout
hurriedlv called to him that there ship
in sight. and not thinking of danger he rushed
on deck only to be seized and bound The gang
accused him of intending 10 kill them 50 as to
secure all the booty for himself. and his denials
were futile. They determined TO do away with
him. and. accepting the inevitable he bar
gained with them that IL he gave them a course
for the Gulf of ST Lawrence, where they could
cast away the vessel on some lonely rock ana
make their way 20 Newfoundland with their
booty they would spare his boys life They
pretended to agree. and he gave the necessary
directions 10 Gustavus Andersen, a Norwegian.
who had some little idea of navigation and had
been acting as mate since the mut1ny- When
he had satisfied them they threw him TO the
fishes and then. going below. dragged up his
SON and flung him after his parent After this
they disguised the ship far as possible aud
sailed on till they sighted land, which proved to
be the east coast of Nova Scotia On nearing
the shore they divided the money among them
selves launched and provisioned their boat and
left the ship with her tiller lashed. to drive on
the rocks Getting ashore, the muTderers rep
resented themselves as the survivors of ship
that had sunk. but as they had no officers among
then, and their stories disagreed. suspicion was
aroused being intensified by the stTanding a
few days later of large ship, with her figure
head sV-athed in canvas and her name painted
out Examination proved her to be the Saladin
Her log was written UP TO Anril II, the names
of her crew tailed in part with those given oy
the recently arrived castavays and these oelnS
arrested two turned Queens evidence. and on
their testimony the other four were convicted
and hanged.