The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-12-11
AEON's GREW DEFENDED
BY CAPTAIN DOWNIE

In recent mail advices from Sydney
are conflicting statements regarding
the conduct of the Chinese members
of the crew of the British S. S. Aeon,
after the wreck of the latter on
Christmas Island. On the one hand,
the Chinese are described as mutt.
nous gang, armed with revolvers and
knives, defying authority; while others
laud them as band of self-sacrifcing
heroes who never wearied in the at
tentions on the passengers and officers.
Gets the greatest rot L ever
heard" Captain Downie of the Aeon
is quoted as saying, adding: "They
worked splendidly, and / am perfectly
satisfied with their conduct right
through. The statement that the men
were armed with revolvers and knives,
and that ] was afraid of them, is a
deliberate fabrication, and L never
made any complaint or disparaging
remark concerning them. How these
tales have been circulated l know
not; but I say again they are abso.
lutelv untrue. | never saw either a
revolver or knife in the possession
of the men, and if they had them I
know nothing Of it.
"The Chinese did not make a scene
when the vessel struck, nor did they
rush the lifeboats. On the contrary,
they were. amenable to discipline, and
behaved coolly and nationally, obey
ing every order. Acting on my in
structons they handed round the life;
belts to the women first and assisted
them to put them on. All the passen-
gers were supplied before the Chinese
thought of themselves. There was
never a panic on board, and the Chi
-hese did not manifest great fear
deny in toto the statements to the
contrary, and repeat that l am well
satisfied with the men. They worked
increasingly while on the island, not
only for themselves, but for all OF
us. and as a matter of fact they kept
MS supplied all the time with fresh
fish. -
"The Chinese never did five min
utes' work except for themselves dur.
ing the nine weeks and five days that
we were on Christmas Island, Nor
man Yates, one of the passengers, is
reported as saying
''They proved to be great thieves,
and preached the cargo on the first
day that they were sent on board to
get provisions. They took revolvers
and knives from the cargo, and were
wearing them in their belts, but !
don't know whether they obtained
any ammunition. l never heard that
they actually threatened anyone with
the firearms The Chinese acted dis
gracefully-it was common talk. They
rushed the lifeboats as soon as the
Aeon struck, and while it is true that
they supplied belts to the lady pas
sengers, they looked after themselves
before attending to the male passen'
gers or the officers. The Chinese knew
that their wages ceased on the date
of the wreck, and the policy they
adopted was no pay, no work. The
only fresh fish they supplied us with
was what they did not wish for them
selves. We did not want it either, for
we had ample supplies of timed
salmon and behring's, and merely ac-
cepted the offerings because We did
not want to hurt their feelings,
"You ask Captain Downie. He
knows Just as well as we do the dis
graceful manner in which the Chinese
conducted themselves.
"It is quite true that there was
some amount of ill-feeling among the
officers of the Accom- Mr.. Yates went
on TO say, "and ! know that quar-
rels took place on Christmas Island
An engineer, for instance, disputed
the captains authority on the island
you are captain of the ship, but you
are not captain of this island, he
said with emphasis. Jack is as good
as his master ashore, the engineer
added, and the remark completely
broke Captain Downie up. The com
mander was much depressed during
the remainder of that day.
"There was a free fight between
Samoan passenger and the Chinese
chief steward in connection with some
stores"