Year: 1870

CuriOus Experimens In Behalf Of Oh,
: Tepcrs-A Floating EnebrAate Asy
lum. -r seafrs 81 H


3 hss Fromthe New York Sun.
' Captain Edward Hopper may be con
: s.feredN practical Temperance man
, de has Rald visit to the inebriat,
. asylum nWarps Island, and speak.
} favorably of the institution. He enter
} tains however, serious doubts concern
ing any system q reformation, and
/ thinks that everything depends upon


the man. A novel Experiment tried
by him before he left the SEA to reform
few forl0rn drunkards is full Of ro-
nance. In June, 1884, he sailed from
, this port with, perhaps, one Of thenost
1 extraordinary crews that ever shipped
on board any vessel. He had fitted hi.


craft out at New Bedford, Mass; for q


whaling voyage, and had manned hei


with only a sufficient number TO work


the ship to New York. Here he in


tended to increase his crew to the com.


plement of thirty-five men. The Cap


tain was rigid in his total abstinence


principles. He was a Son of Tempe


rance, and had been the President of a
! fiOurishing society for the prevention


of the sale of alcoholic stimulants in his


native town. He had spent many years


at sea, and had always sailed under the


temperance banner; consequently he


had conceived the notion that rum.
drinking was bit temptation, and


that men were net SO much the crea-


ture of vitiated tastes as the victims of


habit; that it was only necessary to


remove temptation to destroy the taste


for liquor. Practically to demonstrate


this theory, he determined to make his


last whaling voyage q double undertake


ing. He hoped to fill his ship with


many barrels of oil and bring back a
crew of reformed inebriates. The Cap
tain knew very well that, at sailor


boarding houses the men were made
drunk before they were shipped. 1t


was not that kind Of people he wanted
! to experiment upon. Neither was II


the common barr0Om s0t nor the ordi-
nary saloon hummer that he desired to
deal with. What he hoped for was the
reformation of gentlemen. His plan
was to engage as portion of his crew
u number Intelligent men who had
| brains enough to know the error of
their ways, but who could not with
stand temptation sufficient to break
themselves of their bad habits unaided.
With these men he proposed to reason,
| persuading them to ship with him as q
matter. of self-preservatiOn and profit to
themselves, and finally on their return
to entire reformation. Although the
captains plans were well matured, he
found some difficulty in obtaining the
right Kind material for his experiment.
He knew that under the most favorable
circumstances it would not do for him
to take a crew of entirely green men.
He therefore wisely shipped sufficient
number of trained seamen to work his
vessel in an emergency. The others
he managed to call around him by
means of several ingeniOusly- worded
advertisements. He announced in
the papers that gentlemen who, in con-
sequence Of free living, had become
embarrassed, could hear of an OppOrtu-
nifty of making favorable arrangements
for whaling voyage of profit and
health, provided they were willing to
work about the ship. There were many
applicants, but few of the class he
wanted. 1t was not until after the ex-
piration of two months that he secured
Nv eCNClol VI
whom represented prOfessiOns-all edu-
their acquaintances as hard drinkers.
With these he entered into an agree
ment, the substance Of which was, that
they were to "touch not, taste not,
handle not" any kind of intoxicating
liquors during the voyage, and they
were to take none on board the trip.
Of course, the first two days out were
spent very miserably by those of the
crew who had been accustomed to
stimulants. The Captain says that no
pen can describe their misery. Some
of the poor fellows rayed ike madmen,
and accused him of ofconspiracy TO take
their lives. Others demanded liquor,
and swore that there was plenty to be
had, but that it was withheld to tor
ture them. Irons had to be resorted to
i'm extreme cases, anda few were with
difficulty restrained from jumping over
board.


The working of the ship devOlved
upon the old sailors. Fortunately the
weather was fine, and but little was
required to be done to manage the ves-
sci. Gradually, however, the whole
party began to recover, and i'm less than
three weeks happier set of men never
trod ships deck. The duties of each
individual were soon determined upon,
and az rapidly as the crew were report
ed well they were assigned to such
work as they We're best able to perform.
The captain had provisional his ship
with view of keeping out as long as
possible, and be hoped to be able to
remain at sea at least three months be-
fore finding it necessary to enter port
COR supplies. ~-.~u


There was some difficulty eXperinced
at first in appOrtiOning the work to the
men. The captains subjects for refOr-
nation We're not used to anything very
laboriOus. Some had never seen a ship
under sail, and had had 10 experience
except in the counting-rOOm. But the
voyage had not been undertaken for
instruction in navigation, nor for profit
to the owner. Capt. HOpper's para.
mount object was to reform his men
and restore them to liyes of sobriety
and industry. 10 this end he had de-
termined to bend all his energies, max
ing everything else matter of secon-
dairy importance. He had promised
not To divulge the names of those who
sailed with him i'm fact, it was natu-
rally understood that the vessel was a
sort of bethelship, and that all had EN-
barked with view to lasting improve
ment and permanent reformation. The
minor details of the voyage are unin-
teresting. The work alOft was done by
the old sailors, and that below by the
inexperienced portion of the crew. 1t
was not until they had reached the Gulf
of Mexico that anything of importance
occurred. The weather had been mild
and the ship had been lying nearly be-
Gained for several days, when one
morning the Captain went Oh deck and
found q majority of his crew drunk.
His astOnishment may be imagined.
How such thing could occur was be-
yOnd his comprehension. There was
not drop of liquor in the ship to his
knowledge, and yet his crew were un-
mistakably intoxicated. Some of them
known only to the captain as mild and
inoffensive men, had suddenly become
demons. The few who were sober
gathered around their commander and
Obeyed his orders ciieerfully.


A desperate tight ensued. Reason
did not enter into the contest On the
part of the mutineers. The battle was
for the mastery of the ship. The ex-
perimental portion of the crew had
drunk until they became madmen.
They had determined among them
selves to run the ship to land, ne mat
ter where. The Captain and the few
who had rallied around him were driv.
Ell between decks, and the matches
were battered down over them. In
this situation they remained with but
little food and no water, for five days.