DISPUTE AMONG COLOURED SEAMEN

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 96, 17 January 1921, Page 7

DISPUTE AMONG COLOURED SEAMEN

FRACAS ON THE HIGH SEAS.

The crew of the Cape Natal comprises, among others, five coloured men, and the latter are not quite a happy family. Their differences were ventilated in the Magistrate’s Court on. Saturday morning before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S;M„ when an able seaman named Laban Brown, a negro, was charged with assaulting another coloured seaman named David Morris (Mr. J. o‘Donovan) on January 3, on the high seas. From the evidence it .was gathered that Brown was at -variance with the other members. of the coloured crew, and on the morning of January 3, at dawn, while Morris nas at the wheel, Brown came up from below and threw a lump of wood at him which missed its mark. Brown finally secured a deck scraper, and struck Morris on the arm with considerable force. The chief officer, who was on deck at the time, called for assistance, and had the “two mon separated. The chief officer stated in court that Brown was the aggressor, ami that there had been previous complaints from members of the crew regarding his threatening behaviour. Brown,, who was loquacious, said: “Well, ‘Jedge’, the whole ship is up against me.” , „ . The coloured chief cook of tho vessel wanted Brown bound over to keep the peace 'because the latter had threatened to throw him overboard. Eventually Brown was ordered to be imprisoned until the vessel sails.