The Petrel Affair.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XII, Issue 1740, 22 June 1886, Page 2

The Petrel Affair.

THE CONSULATE INQUIRY.

(Extracts from the Evidence.) Peter K. Levy testified hff was a West Indian* and was a boat steerer on the. Petrel. When going down the forecast!© to get some tobacco the captain came up to the cooper and kicked him, and split his nose nnd blackened his eyes. The captain kicked him Again far leaving work, ml he made some reply, when. the captain caught him by the neck and said, if he (the cooper) had been a young man he would have killed him. After that witness saw Foley whip the cooper with a rope, pull his whiskers out, and duck -him.' He did not^ see - 4;he captain or Foley whip hint' any more, but uearcTthV captain taunt the cooper thatiGacd tier at *home was violating fhis (the cooper's) wife. The cooper replied, "If you; were at home you would not say that." Qhe^ captain replied he would. Witness had', also seen the second . mate (fytendoza) strike, ;slap, kick, and slam the cooper down on deck. In reply to the Consular Agent; wit- 1 ness said Be saw the cooper afttr he was/ dead, and the soars on bis face. Hg heard the men complain of a lump on his body after he was dead. Frederick A, Gill, a deserter from the Petrel, detailed the ill-treatment .the cooper t. received during the butter mci dent, saying Foley struck the cooper with the head of the butter keg on the face twice, and blood flowed from the cooner's nose and ears freely. The captain came up and ordered the cooper into irons, with one pint of water and one cuke of hard bread per day. The cooper remained m irons three days, and then returned to duty. This was for faulty making of the meat kits. - fie was again put m irons after., this. One day the, captain taunted the cooper about his wife's infidelity, saying that a mannamed Gardner was then living with her at New Bedford, the captain on the same occasion kicking him on the nose and ordering him into confinement m the sail-pen.- Again,' when the cooper asked for water, the captain went to the sail--pen, opened the door, and struck the cooper m the face three times. Witness saw the second mate, Mendoxa, knock the cooper down on the main batch twice, put his head m water, and threatened to murder him. Witness saw Foley scrub the cooper with brick, canvas, sand, and urine, till the »kin came off his face, hands, and body. The cooper said, "Have mercy on me, . Mr Foley, have mercy." The mate scrubbed harder, and then threatened to put salt on his body. Subsequently witness saw Foley pull out the cooper's whiskers by handsfull, also his hair. Folay also bit the cooper's ear. The captain also kicked the cooper one day m the face, knocking him into blubber, because be .said -there was not much money m blackfish oil. The captain cursed the cooper's wife, and ordered the cooper to have first masthead m the morning and last at night. He saw Foley and the captain beat' the cooper with a knotted rope frequently, and the cooper cried, v I am an old man; hare mercy on me" Mend(Z» next abused the cooper by throwing him across the fore* hatch and stamping on Lis breast with his heel. The cooper was carried below to his bunk, where he lay groaning and moaning a long time. Witness heard a day afterwards that Foley took the cooper some soup; The cooper refused, saying, "You murder me by inches. The captain is paying you to poison me." Foley replied, ••• NoJ cooper, although I have treated you like a dog, I would not poison you ; I would rather take twenty years' m prison." Foley then tasted the soup and spat it out, and ordered witness to throw it overboard. After this the captain came and : looked at the cooper, and sent him medicine by Foley, who told witness to make him take it. The cooper groaned. Witness spoke to the cooper. He did not reply. Witness gave the cooper the medicine; and m about twenty minutes the cooper gave a long, groan and died. Froth came out of hianosa and mouth as black as a coal. The captain was informed, and he ordered the cooper's removal to the forebold.' Witness, with Foley, Jb'iji, Nicho* las, Laurence,- Tryman, and others, dressed >the cooper next morning. He had a lump on his back, which was black and blue. His shoulders and throat were black and -blue. . The next abuse was to Herbeit Lake. Hiu legs were swollen. Witness did not know whether it was dropsy or not. Mendoza, kicked him. Foley also one day tbok off Lake's shirt and scrubbed him with brick, sand, canvar, and urine on the hands and body. Witness saw the captain abuse Sandford Beach by striking him m the face twice when Beach went to him saying he had toothache, saying " That is the way to cure tbe toothache for you." He saw the captain strike Landlaw with a spyglass, and Marion with an iron hoop, and saw the captain iake Tom Cook by the throat and. strike him m the face twice and kick him. He saw the captain abuse Charley Jones, kick, him twice m the stomach for sending him cold coffee, and threaten -to murder him if he did it again. - Charles E. Bank, seaman, deposed that he was a Swede. Witness' deserted because of cruel treatment. ■■ Witness give confirmatory evidence of the captain's taunting the cooper about bit wife's infidelity. After his death the cooper's body was brought on deck ; witness saw bruises on his fac, and scar on left forehead* His eyes and ears were swollen, and blood tnarki were on tha face and neck. The hands were full of sores. After being sewn up the captain read thd burial service, and he waslet go overboard. He had also heard the officers told by the captain to knock the men down with clubs. The captain had told the men if any of them ran away and he got them back again h© "Would l kill them. . Witness related' the circumstances of Apella's getting his leg broken ; also the fact that the captain went ashore at Norfolk Islapd, but left the man on the ship. Oa the gaptaio's return he ordered Apella on deck, and told him to try and get round. After the man had been up on deck about tun minutes he fell, and broke his leg again. Manuel EUobj cabin boy, fifteen years old, deposed to having been knocked and kicked' by the captain, and taken by Foley into the forehold, stripped naked, and beaten -.with a double cord till he was black. Foley had also knocked him down and- kicked i him. -Witness also test fi id to the cooper being kicked m the face by the captain ; also to his noso being split . with the knife. The cooper was bung by the rieok when tbe vessel was^ifFayarby'Foley. His feet . were not touching: the deck for about four minutes. The cooper was' pit m the iaiUpen, irphpd, and kicfctd ; ■:• The coopor died about 11 o^clock at night, after befog confined for four ' days to his b«d. He saw the cooper washed with brick, sand, canvas, and urin«. The boy asked to be protected: as if he went on the ship he was afraid he would be killed, ahd he wanted to die on the shore and not on the ship. James Donaldson, (a negro), said he had been struck by the captain, and mates Foley, Mendoza. Ooncalei, and .Morgan. Witness also gave confirmatory statements of the captain giving orders to the offioers to knock the; men down with haudspikes. He saw the cooper strung up, and Lake beaten by Foley. .'■'■■" Harry W, Swain, seaman, deposed that he was one of tbe deserters from tHe Petrel sentenced, to .a month's imprisonment. He ran away m consequ«nce of ill treatment. He had seen the cooper ill- treated. : Witness then went on to confirm previous statements as to the oaptain dashing the cooper to the ground and tantalizing him about bis wife, stating that Gardner wan then with htr also to the oaptain kicking the oooper on the nose, and Foley biting hia ears { ah o to the oooper being scrubbed by Fnlty's ordani m the forehead with bn#k, land, owvai, and urine, and to tb» oopptr'i being tt«l«t op by ?be ntrt In, tha Wf fing. a»4 bain* hut will* • wpa> wi wit* « kw* q* tht

ads. The. second officers throw the oper across-tha .fbr<alutch and then:, jumped on his stomach with the heels of his boots. This wm about a month be- v fore his death. SawTtha second officer jump on him a second time at the wind" iog machine. Had scan -Lake scrubbed i with brick, Sand, and urine" tilt his flesh was raw, and saw the second jump on him too.' Foley had . ropeseudod htm and driven him aloft. . H° had seen Lake, when not fit to go oror^ the sida do so, he being swollen up, witness thought with dropsy.. He was lost overboard one day when attending to a want of nature. Foley had beaten (a mt*n up ia the rigging with a piece of wood till h« nearly fell off the fodtrope. Sand ford Beach went to the captain with a toothache, when the captain struck him ih the face. The captain had struck him; at the wheel with hit fist. The' captain bad also struck Thos. Cook m the faoe, and while Cook; was sick he was sent aloft. The captain had beated the steerage boy m the t ace with his fists, and kicked him m the stomach. The fourth officer, Morgan, had thrown billets of wood at the men. Witness had seen the men at the wheel spattering the deck with blood. ;:.;