Honolulu star-bulletin., 1917-03-13
MUTINOUS CREW
Is KEPT At BAY
BY CAPT. P|LII
s.
With Only Delaying Pin For
Weapon, Schooner'S Master
Controls His Men

+. Cooper, Is this Week the talk oi
| TIE waterfront.
Armed with nothing moro thaa the
eyer-reiiable Delaying pin and single
handed the captain stood Off for days
a. crew which had openly threatene7
TO murder him. That he brought the
vessel in without even the protection
of pistol is a wonder to old salts
around the piers.
The captains hair was brown when
he left Honolulu one the nintf. of last
December: when he arrived Saturday
! 1t was quite gray But il the old ship
master who has been in these waters
now for 40 years was a true hero OF
the seas he had two worthy assoc.-
ates, his dog Sweetheart, and a Ha-
waiian sailor, Andrew Kalehua, a
young fellow who remained true to his
captain in the face of threat Of death.
Went to Buy copra
The southern trip was for the pur.
pose of buying copra. The Luka's
hold is good for 20 tons Of the profit
able cargo and 1000 one-pound Eng
lish gold pieces were in the cabin for
trading purposes. The Tahitian mate,
Matuu, who tried to kill the captain
and get the gold, is now in Penrhyn.
and q Filipino, Nicholas Bilbea, who
is alleged to have been implicated in
the plot, is under arrest in Honolulu,
the Star Bulletin yesterday.
When the captain left he had crew
OF six, the Hawaiian boy, three Kot
reans. one cook and the other two
sailors; the Filipino. and Matilu, the
mate, who had been with the Luka
for about three years, first as a cook
In the latter capacity he had also
served Capt. PiltZ at his home at
Makena, Maui, where the captain has
now gone to visit his, wife and three
children.
From here the Luka headed due
south, touching in turn at Tanning,
Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Hanahiki and
Raratonga. The last named, island lies
in the Cook group about $500 miles
south of Oahu in latitude 21.12 south
and longitude 1882 west. 1t was here
that all the trouble started
Crew Learns Of Gold
The Luka stood propped up high in
the air id the Inter-Island drydQck for
general repairs and cleaning up as the
captain sat in his little cabin yester-
day afternoon fondly petting his dog
which had been his only companion
through those terrible long sleepless
nights far out in the sea with q gang
of would-be cut-throats ready to do
their worst, telling the tale of the
fiercest proposition he has buclfed up
against in his 66 years, 81 Of which
have been on the sea. He started in
California but most of his life has
been in the south.
AT Raratonga, Capt. Piltz tried to
get a license from the British govern
ment to buy copra but failed on ac-
count of the war, but he declares he
will try again. To make matters worse,
Matuu beat him up when taken to
task for disobedience and then de-
serted with all Of the crew but the
Hawaiian. boy. British authorities
brought the men back to the ship.
Matuu then accidentally learned of the
1000 gold pieces in the cabin and i'm
mediate1y laid plans to do away with
the captain.
Ignorant of this state OF affairs and
disappointed in having to go home
with an empty hold, Capt. Piltz hove
to and started north January % he
first learned his perilous position on
board.
Matnu erandishes Knife
That day, as the captain was coming
up from the cabin late in the evening.
Matuu sprang at him with long knife
and would have ended matters there
II the captain had not luckily lodged
down the hatch. The Filipino was
with Matuu, says Pfltz, and together
they tainted him. calling him Cow
ard and asking him to come up with
the promise that they would not try
TO hurt him.
Piltz did go up but not until both
had backed away from the door That
night he barricaded himself IN the
cabin so they would have to awaken
him If they broke in, and went to sleep
with Sweetheart on guard His only
weapon was huge Delaying pin which |
be had close at his side.
The next day Matuu told the captain
that he felt he must kill him sooner or
later and Pi1tz laughed it off BY de-
claring that he, too, would have q hand
in any killings on board. but he real
lzed fully what desperate straights he
was In. In the meantime. the crew
had threatened to Kill the Hawaiian
II he did not join them and the cap
tain was afraid he might be poisoned
as he had reason to believe Matuu had /
tried to kill him that way before.
The captain could not put the men
ashore, according to the English law;
he dared not Try to arrest any one OF
them without a gun, to put them in
chains, so from january 2S until Feb.
ruary ] he watched his step by day
and locked himself in at night. At
Penrhyn Mafuu ran off in the first
boat and without the treacherous mate
the captain came home safely to tell |
the tale.
The Tennessee senate defeated by a
vote of 81 to 81, bin extending linn
tied suffrage to women. The bill had