INHUMAN TREATMENT

Evening Star, Issue 19659, 12 September 1927, Page 7

INHUMAN TREATMENT

CHARGE AGAINST SHIP'S CAPTAIN -

WARRANT FOR ARREST ISSUED.

Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.

NEW YORK, September 9. A complaint has been filed and a warrant issued for the arrest of Captain Michael Crowley, now somewhere on the high seas, on a chai'go of the inhuman and barbarous treatment of Fred Thomas, formerly an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, while Thomas was a steward aboard tho American tanker Manatawny. It is alleged that Thomas on tho first night out fell against exposed steam pipes and burned his hands to the bone. He cried aloud in agony all night, but received no treatment, and next morning, it is stated, ho was ordered out by Crowley, handcuffed, and tied to a rail on the deck, where cold salt water was played on him from a hose until he fainted. It is affirmed that Thomas was not permitted to leave the ship at Haiti, although the doctor ordered him to hospital. It is understood that a. complaint was made by the British Ambassador (Sir Esine Howard) to Mr Kellogg (Secretary of State), stating that Sir Austen Chamberlain is interested and is convinced of tho truth of the charges. Thomas’s arm is useless, and ho has a wife and child in dire straits.

Tho criminal statutes provide for the payment of damages as well as for a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and fine of l,ooodol for a person found guilty of such an offence.