New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-07
AFRICAN UTOPIA
IS FATAL MIRAGE
Eighteen, of ll2, Return
from Quest Lean Of Body
and POcketboOk.
MANY DIE; CHIEF SAM
ILL ON GOLD COAST
Beri-Beri Kills Liberia Pilgrims
Who Sailed from United States
Inertia Of Purse Blamed.

Chief Sam has the beri-beri. Inc
famous member Of the tribe Of Akim,
Ashanteo. Africa. lies ID on the west
coast of the continent 10 which he lei
contingent of American negroes. OF
the ll2 n the party that set sail from
Galveston In August, 1911, on the
steamship Curl yba. rechustcned the
Liberia. some are dead, some are still
in Africa, while others are on the'c
way back 20 the real land of the free.
Eighteen members 81 the Liberals
Original crew reached New York yes
terday on the Norseman from Liver
pool, sadder, wiser, rcucent and look
ing the part of what their papers
termed them, distressed seamen.'
Captain Manuel I. Caneca led his
swarthy seventeen of the frelghte'
yesterday. marsna.ling them with a
tropical umbrella, gray outside, green
inside. and with q marvellous ostrich
claw handle carved from ivory. The
negroes were atured In everything
from fur-coilared overcoat TO ths
more modest attire Of men with a
years pay coming TO them.
Things all went wrong when Cher
Sans money gave out, the captain IN
timatcd. Further than that he would
say only that his nephew had BEEN
one of those who succumbcd, he hal
been SICK from bori-beri himself, and
was feeling rather shaky at the pres
ent moment.
DR.. p. j. Dorman, of Mantee. Okla,
the former ships doctor on the ex-
petition. was more communicative.
YES" he said. Chief Sam got the
beri-beri. He's got it yet. but l guess
he will pull through. What is ber'
beri? Why, you'd just call it inert
in English, ! guess, just inertia!
Noah Webster called it spasmodl;
rightly of the lower limbs, and let ],
go at that.
Inertia Of the pocketbook due TO H.
absence Of money was the diagnc-
sis given by a former wireless opera
tor Of the Liberia, Ere derrick Zahn, o.
RoXbury, Mass. the only white man
of the crew. ITS a wonder any o.
us got back at all. The whole trip
was hell, The rest Of these fellows
are afraid TO talk about it.
Il have 1878 in back pay coming T."
me now" continued the irate wireless
operator. 81 joined the ship up IN
Boston, thinking it was regular job,
but il wasn't; we almost starved Cap
tain Caneca took charge az Pensacola
on August 20. 1914. and took US to Ha-
vana. Barbados and the Cape Verde
Islands.
at Maio. Cape Verde Islands, the
British auxuiary cruiser Nlctoril
seized our vessel on November 49,
They suspected that we were taking
supplies to the Germans, when IN
reality we had simply heavy load OF
coal 10 last the round trip. The Brit
ishcrs put a prize crew aboard, who
stayed on till we reached Freetown,
in Sierra Leone, Africa.
"Some of these fellows with me here
in New York attempted to walk ~
Chief Sans alleged property, seventy
four miles inland. They did. and they
walked seyenty-four miles back, too.
That's why they don't walk around
town here any TOO lively"
In a word, Chief Sans money gaze
out and the Liberals crew struck for
wages. The British government then
took "a hand and seized the ship on
writ of fef at AnamaOos, where the
vessel still lies. The British then un-
dertoOk 10 get the crew back TO the
United States, and sent eighteen to
Hull on the Obuasi, from whence thoy
were transferred to Liverpool and put
aboard the Norseman for New York.
The rest Of the crew Of forty-thrce
We're at the Canary Islands when last
heard from.
Salt Pond was the particular spot
on the Gold Coast that proved dlsas-
trous 20 the negroes. a large percen,-
age Cell sick Of malaria and other trop-
ical fevers and there were some eases
of beu-beri. The food Of mangots,
bananas and cocoanuts also produced
bilious attacks.
A very Disguised eighteen called az
the British Consulate yesterday after
noon 20 be paid of. The clerk there
sent them over TO the shipping Office
on South Street, where they were
promptly sent back 10 the consulate
again. The seamen VINO had done the
14S-mile walk out 10 Chief Sans place
on the Gold Coast stood the tramplng
the best.
Finally the purser Of the Norseman
arrived. with the mems papers, and
they were started 20 their various Ges-
tinations last evening All are Amer
lean citizens. hut were under British
jurisdiction until they reached the
port from which they embarked orig
nally.
At q late hour last night not one Of
the eighteen cared one large. ripo
mango for what might become q
Chief Sam, the Gold Coast in general
or Africa IN particular
DHHN ETn NJ A