The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-05-20
SLAVE SHIPS ARE
IN EXISTENCE NOW
Story of a Captain Who Was a
"BIackbirder"
WERE PAID SO MUCH A HEAD
Captain of Ship Got SIS for Each Ma
tive Captured and First Mate
$1-Slaves Used on Samoan
Plantations.
WERE PAID so MUCH A HEAD

Seattle, Wash-Capt. F. Wagner, for
merly master of the big four-masted
bark Schiefbeck, but now second mate
on the British ship Claverdon, lying at the
Oriental dock. was for fourteen months
(from 1903 to early last spring. the CEN
trail figure In the notorious "blackbird''
schooner Samoa. During that time he was
first mate on the Samoa and captured
twelve hundred blacks for use as slaves
on the big copra plantations In Samoa.
The captain speaks freely of his expert
ence and tells some exciting tales of what
took place during the time he was
"blackbirder" On many occasions pitch
ed battles were fought with the natives
and men on both sides were killed. He
was also on the island of New Ireland in
the Solomon group. shortly after the ten
missionaries were killed. about two years
ago, and fought a fierce and bloody en-
gagement with the savages only ten miles
from the spot on which the five women
and five men were butchered.
Captain Wagner is a German by birth,
but speaks English luently, also French,
Spanish and several other continental Ian
guages, besides a number of South Sea
dialects.
Speaking of his experience recently,
Captain Wagner said:
ut is generally supposed that slavery
no longer exists. That is a mistake. For
fourteen months l was first officer on the
slave ship Samoa. During that time we
captured twelve hundred blacks for the
South Sea plantations. The Samoa Is
three-masted auxiliary schooner, owned
Company of Samoa. This firm is one of
the oldest and largest planters in the
South Seas. They export thousands of
pounds of copra every year.
II went down there In 1903. The first
mate of the Samoa was then suffering
from spear wound. got in battle with
the natives. so Captain Habernick engaged
me- We were supposed to be nothing but
a small trading schooner. But the gov
eminent officials knew what we were as
well as we know ourselves. When they
came on board We would fill them up on
champagne and good cigars and they were
satisfied.
Three Hundred on One Voyage.
ION the first voyage we made for New
Britain, in the Solomon group. The
schooner was manned by five whites and
nineteen blacks, making total of TWEEN
ty-four, all told When we reached New
Britain 1 look the nineteen DlackS ashore
and made for the first village we saw All
my boys We're armed with the regulation
Germany army rifle and could shoot well
At the first village they saw us coming
and the entire population fled to the
woods. But We managed to get one wo-
man.
I'm some of the villages we would get
two or three. never more than four. They
are too hard to hold. Occasionally we
f11up IN ppto Tn NJ "a will
ngly. but that was seldom. Sometimes
we would take chest of gaudy trinkets
ashore and set it down in the village. The
savages, attracted by the bright things,
would gather around and start helping
themselves. That was our opportunity
We would make rush and grab two or
three and then go on to the next village
1--WE were to make the round trip in
four months. During that time we had
to get three hundred natives. We got no
wages. We were paid by the head. Cap
tain Habernick got IS apiece for each ma
tive and l. as chief mate. got 81 a head
But everything else was furnished. Cloth
ing, provisions of the best kind, liquor by
the case and keg. and everything else.
We had plenty of champagne aboard. but
that was kept exclusively for the govern
ment officials.
ION the first trip which | made col
lected the three hundred natives without
any serious battles. All the Solomon Is
lands were visited We touched at New
Hanover, New Ireland New Britain and
several of the others The work was
easy. The natives were comparatively
mild They were only armed with bows
and arrows and spears, and could do little
damage to us with our repeating rifles.
They are a small. ugly looking lot of peo-
pie Although finely formed, they lack
the splendid physique of the Samoan ma
intelligent The Samoan natives are a
race that have made themselves respected.
while the Solomon Islanders are nothing
more nor less than cannibals
1.-THE natives that we captured were taxi
en- to the plantation at Samoa. where they
were put to work gathering copra. They
are supposed to be hired for term of
three years. They are paid six shillings.
or. in American money s1.50 a month, but
they have to take 1t out in trade. The
government knows what Is going on; the
officers know everything about the meth
DDS used in obtaining the natives, but they
wink at 1t.
ION the next two trips we had several
pitched battles. The natives fought like
demons and we had hard work getting
out of a couple of villages. But we got
our blacks. When we reached Samoa, af-
ter the third round trip, we learned that
the Observation-Disclosures women and five
men-had been massacred on New Ire
lanad I went to the scene of the muir
der on German gunboat We went up
to the house U had been there many
times before) and | examined the place.
The house itself was n small log affair,
with n heavy two-inch door. This door
had been battered in and bore the marks
of the clubs, spears and tomahawks of the
savages
View Scene of Massacre.
ut must have taken some time to bat
ter in this heavy door, and | can imagine
the feelings of the women as they lis
tened to the frenzied cries of the canni
balls outside. Bits of women's apparel
Uttered the place, long strands of hair
chung to knives and hatchets that still
lay on the floor, where they had been
dropped, and everywhere they had been
chopped and smashed in a blind fury 1t
was scene such as never In my life
have l seem 1t inflamed the blood of all
who saw IT. and when the large guns on
board the ship were trained on the first
village and carried death and dismay to
shred of pity Several villages were bonn
barded. and men, women and children
were shot down for a lesson. l had moth
ing to do with this promiscuous killing.
was merely a spectator, but felt M
pity for the blacks. They needed good
lesson.
ION returning to my vessel we laid In
a new supply of ammunition and started
out All went well till we got to New
Ireland. This was the same island on
which the massacre had taken place.
took my boys ashore and went after some
OF the natives. as usual. We got three.