The San Francisco call., 1910-08-24
VERDICT CHARGES
Two WITH MURDER
Inquest Over Slain Captain of
BuCkman Puts Blame on
Both Pirates
Plot Leader Must Have Met
Death in Sea and ''Pal"
Faces Hanging
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happened that the purser hwad but
$3.50 of the companys money in the
safe. Had the pirates been successful
in capturing the vessel they would have
been poorly repaid for their effort
1t is the belief of the crew of the
Buckman that West survived but a
short time after leaping into the sea.
Although strapped to life preserver,
it is not deemed possible that he could
have reached the Oregon shore.
Vests valise was opened yesterday
and its contents examined. From the
discharge papers discovered it was
learned that he had been employed at
various times on the transports War
rem and Dix. He also held second
mates papers from the government in
spectors at Seattle
Vests first transport service, as
shown by the papers, was on the Dix,
where he worked as quartermaster
from August /, 1901, until December 3
of the same year. From May l, 1908,
until June 2S 1908, he was employed on
the Dix as a deck store keeper. He was
discharged at Manila. A discharge
paper dated June Il, 1909, from the
transport Warren showed that he had
acted in the capacity of third and
fourth officer. His inspectors license,
making him second mate, was dated
January %, 1908 from Seattle.
WEST WAS GOOD SAILOR
In every one of the discharges the
cause was given as voluntary and
his proficiency and conduct were
marked very good" From these pa
pers it is easily seen that West was a
/ inf rai1 f1f
character. In his grip were also found
nautical books and tables, and a VOL
ume of nautical calculations and prob
lens all written in a splendidly clear
hand.
The affair on the Buchanan was also
the subject of investigation yesterday
at the hands of Inspectors of Hulls ana
Boilers Bolles and Bulger. The investf-
cation took up the entire day, and was
in the nature of an inquiry to enable
the officials to report the matter cor
rectly to headquarters.
The same officers who testified at
the inquest appeared before the in
spectors and told the same stories,
although the inspectors questioned all
closely to learn of the conduct of the
men and the handling of the vessel
after the captain was killed. From in
formation given out since the Buckman
arrived in port, it is certain that all
hands acted admirably under. the eX-
cessive stress of circumstances and
a favorable report is expected on the
ships crew and men,
Two points of live interest were
cleared up. The most important was
whether the pirates actually caused
the Buckman to be headed for shore
with the intention of beachng the ship.
Among some of the officers and crew
it was held that the Buckman never
left its true course by more than half
point, excepting when the ships
engines were stopped and the liner
drifted about without effort to hold its
course. This contention was effectu-
ally nullified by the testimony of Quar-
termaster Otto Kohlmeister and Second
Officer Fritz Plath, who were the two
men held up in the wheelhouse and
who were the only ones in a position
to know the exact course of the
steamer.
HEADED STRAIGHT FOR SHORE
Both men testified that, under orders
from the armed pirates, the Buckma n
was headed dead for shore and was
held on this course for from 20 to 80
minutes. The officers who thought the
ship was kept pretty we'll in her regu-
lar path were forced to admit that
they were not certain of their con-
tentions, but were led to believe them
purely through opinions.
The second point pretty well de-
veloped was that the ship escaped COM
plete capture by very narrow margin.
Each officer was asked if it was not
a good deal of a certainty that, had
Chief Engineer Callfas not run away
and drawn the attention of the holdup
man and allowed the II men lined up
against the port rail to escape, the
ship would have been under the full
control of the pirates. Practically
every man examined admitted that in
his opinion the boat escaped absolute
capture by a most narrow margin.
At the opening of the investigation
it appeared that when the fire alarm
was sounded, the men and officers had
not taken their regular places allotted
in the drill. The first witnesses could
not explain why they had assembled on
the bridge, but this point was cleared
up to the satisfaction of the inspectors
when it was brought out that Second
Officer Plath had called to the look
out to rouse the men and send them
to the bridge. At the same time,
Nightwatchman Middleton summoned a
number of the officers to the aft of
the ship and notified than that the
trouble was on the bridge. Plaths
orders to come to the bridge were re-
garded as special orders in the face
of the fire alarm. and the men acted ac-
cordingly.
Plath's conduct in sounding the
alarm in the face of his armed guards
was regarded a worthy of special men
tion by the other officers was Chief
Engineer Callfas' action in breaking
away from the holdup line.
MURDER CHARGE FILED
third investigation was begun yes
terday by United States Attorney
Robert Devlin. He assigned his depu-
ties, A. P. Black and Benjamin McKin-
ley. to the case, and before night
formal charge of murder had been filed
Mckinley and Black agreed that
Wise could be convicted on a charge of
murder in the. first degree, the penalty
of which is death. The federal at
torneys found that Wise was a prin-
cipal, and not merely an accessory, in
the murder of Captain Wood, even
through the actual deed was done by
West As Wise was in the conspiracy
to rob the ship he will be held ac-
countable for all that transpired,
whether the work of his hands, or the
part taken in the outrage by West.
When Mate Richard c. Brennan ap-
peared at the federal district attor-
neys Office he was, conducted before