Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1885-01-03 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

TERRIBLE TALE OF THE SEA.  A terrible charge has been brought against two men belonging to the American ship J. F. Chapman, namely, Wm. Rauscher, second mate, and Ferdinand Koelpein, boatswain. The ship reached the Mersey last week tram San Francisco, and it was then rumoured that a sailor named A. Johnson, a Russian Finn, had been cruelly illtreated during the voyage, and eventually swung up to the rigging and left hanging there until he died. Ranscher and Koelpein were arrested at the instance of the American Consul, to answer a charge of wilful murder, and were brought before the Birkenhead stipendiary. George Brown, an able seaman on board the J. F. Chapman, deposed that two days after leaving San Francisco he was aloft putting on chafing gear when a man named Peter told him there was a man getting " licked." He then came down to the deck when he saw Johnson on the port side of the forecastle with blood upon his face. The prisoner Rameher, the second mate, went by the some of Williams on board, and not day,he called John. son down from aloft. When he got on to the deck Rauscher said, "You son of a I'll make you listen to me.' He then kicked and beat Johnson all over the body. The blows were repeated several times, Johnson being " stood up against the main rigging. The captain then came along and said, "I don't allow such things aboard my ship. Don't call any man a —." Between Val. paraiso and Cape Horn, while the witness was aloft again, two men who were reefing the maintopeail were swept off and fell on to the deck. hen witness came down on deck he saw that one of the men was dead and the other died in an hour and a half. Next morning it was witness's watch on deck from eight to twelve o'clock. After the two dead men had been buried the prisoner Koelpein, who was boatswain of the starboard watch, ' said to Johnson, "Suck the bilge pump out, you --." Johnson had hold of the handle of the pump when Koelpein kicked him At that time Johnson was about half dead from the brutality to which he had been subjected by kicking and beating. After that Johnson went below and witness saw no more of him on that day. On the following morning (October 6), at four o'clock, witness was on deck on watch, when he saw Johnson tasks I up to the topsail sheets. De was in a banging position, with a rope round his body and then lashed crossways round his arms. The sheets came down the foremast, the tom of the man almost touching the deck. He could not speak when witness saw him Witness, as soon as he saw that Johnson appeared to be dead, ran to Koelpein, and told him of the manner in which he had found him Koelpein replied, "Well, what has that got to do with me?" Shortly afterwards the body of Johnson was brought into the forecastle, and when witness went there he saw Koelpein rubbing Johnson. M'itnms said, There's no use rubbing him. The man will die." 'rho first mate, the captain, and several of the crew were in the forecastle at the time. Johnson died at four o'clock on the same afternoon. Rauseher said to witness on the voyage, a long time before Johnson's death, "The son of a will never reach Liverpool:' Fe referred to tire dead man. That was said shortly after Johnson got the I:rst beating. The stipendiary remarked that, as the American Consul wo Id no doubt place all the evidence in his possession before the Home Secretary when he applied for extradition, it was needless to go further into the matter then, and the prisoners were remanded.  w A Si Peer lama "