THE PETREL INQUIRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 162, 24 July 1886, Page 8

THE PETREL INQUIRY.

; ;TH;i«:examjh3ajabn^f^ |warcqis^ 'Said . . . tha%> jßri|dn," v^ ■, 'jbaa^i^p^ViA^oMl jin i', ; -:V the !>.-:/ BaiL't>> pen^-'and^ was'^-assisting; bno da;y * atf the ! ;-',"ftlaßt jj* 1 ' whpn^-he! nbticediKe^ he ; was and; xup « i^ 9^S ?A& u 'id) .of I .tbbaoco ■ i -.V 'The-'^^oa^twn^-ta'ppßmng'^to; ; up :]jftti:rr ; #ej.^iime^-'^t»Bk(Bd;'./; ! jthe^ cooper what : the= 7; was: l;,doiug ;? 5: there, and at the same time raised up hie foot and kicked 'thovCddp^c^behlndjvsayihg/^When--1 put ybutheretpointiug.ito the sail pen), stay there. " Sometime before this the cap- \ tain, iv taking the 1 irons I off the cooper, said to him : v Ybu'&re a^ United State's -citizen. '.

You have a ' wite at Hbnie; depending;' onyou for a living, and yeti you out here are good for nothing." . "After- being taken • out of - the sail-pen .'*. th c' cboper- was! put in witness's watch. He had a little; mark on the left f s|de of jhia nose, but no? other mark at that time. The, copper, waa nearly always late.'.in coming 1 up fojr'./thej watches./arid tho!,.mate*'iw'i^ul(l'.pick.!,up' i th9| end of a rope and etrike at hie coat tails to f snare him. When called vp r tp* goo n "duty.; he was nearly always' asleep 1 6n the deck. ! After they crossed the equator there was a' falling off in the cooper, jas *ifrhe was/thin-! nihej oft.' He^was" always* late lor his work. Whenever he was afr- bis work' be would 1: do a little, and then run away from it, leaving it undone. He never refused to T -db his-'"' wp'rkl but would nevor do it.-, He, was so dirty in his habits that he was top lazy to wash .. himself . At one,ti|ne^be captain, wag qn deck, and there; waa a Dasin of molasses there. . The cooper cams, down from the rigging, and.the captain called him for ward, and asked him if he had not swabbed the men's c pthesin molasses the previous night. The captain took a pockethandkerchief out of the baein, and rubbed it on the cooper's face, telling him to go and : wash himself, and helped him along with his feet. Nearly every day ■ after leavingHhe; equator the men came aft, complaining of the dirty habits of the cooper. He heard the men do co. In the forecastle he had seen the cooper on the steps, arid the men punching him as he c»me up: After they passed the line all the men :beeari to 'complain of pain 3in theirbreasts. The only men who| were riot ' sick ' were the ; steward ,. and Antone Joekin. They did not find out what it was' till arrival at Norfolk Island,' when the water barrel was sent ashore; andj a lead pipe was found in it. ■ On the day of ' the cooper's death Mr Fpley came down and^ asked the captain had he any objections to him and the fourth mate helping him in his pains The capcain said if they could do any good to go ahead. The mate got. some mustard and cloths and applied it to the. cooper's breast The cooper replied that he felt nice and easy. About half an hour atterwarda he heard the captain go down and ask how the cooper was, and he replied that ho felt good. On the Court resuming this morning, Mr O'Meagher began to. examine the second mate (Antonio Mendoza). The latter said :;. On the occasion of the alleged scrubbing of; the cooper, I saw the cooper below the hatch, stripped, and Foley and Kenny standing beside him. Kenny was scrubbing the cooper with a piece of canvas. I never saw or heard of the cooper being scrubbed with a brick. With reference to the alleged stringing-up of the cooper, I was on deck by the main hatch. The mate placed the rope around the cooper's neck, laid him against the rail, and fastened the rope to a pin (The witness then illustrated the experiment upon Mr O'Meagben) The cooper's feet rested upon the deck, and he remained in that position for about half-an-hour, at the end of .which time tbe mate released him, I have twice seen the mate strike the cooper a hard and heavy blow with the rope's end. I never heard it mentioned on board the ship, before arriving at Russell, that the cooper's death was caused by brutal treatment. The cooper waa dirty and disobedient I have seen the men vomiting while they were suffering from lead poisoning. ' - ■'• .. , Cross-examined by Mr Campbell : I was never driven by thY captain or the first mate to offer violence to any of the men. If I ever did it, the men drove me- to it. I never drew blood from any of the men. Mr Cotter stated that this was the whole of the evidence for the defence He submitted that there was not &prima facie case of wilful killing against the captain, and in support of this contention he drew attention to tne extract from Clark "On Extradition" (p. 190), which his learned friend Mr Campoell had ■ previously quoted. . This authority showed, that a prima facie case of wilful killing must be made out before the extradition warrant could be granted. While Wis Worship perused the authority referred to, the clerk read over Mendoza'9 deposition. ■''„. : . , Mr Cotter remarked that the reason why he had put in Clark " On Extradition " war that, the information and the Governor's warrant both charged the prisoners with killing the cooper. „ Mr O'Meagher merely affirmed, as Mr Cotter had done, that a prima facie case had not been made out againet the prisoners. „ , , - - 1 Hia Worship said: Edwin James Reid and Charles Henry Fo ley, —Some acts of ill-treatment against this cooper have un- , doubtedly been proved against you. That is admitted by ypur :i own witness. If I thought there pwas. any evidence to show, that these acts\had, , even in the most remote degree; contributed to the cooper's death, I should have no hesitation whatever in ; committing you for surrender to the authorities of your own . country. ; But I chave come .to r the, con clusion that, there is no evidence to show, that any of; these acts caused ..or conduced to the death .of the^ cooper. In other words a prinia facie case, has not been, made put. , Therefore, you are^ discharged. ;>-, t Both captain and mate then left the Court, and were followed by i^e large concourse ,pf people who bad ! thronged it; The captain i accompanied I his . solicitor^ ( Mr 'Cotter) ;%o that gentleman's 1 office in, Shortlarid-street, i while Fpley (*^© %^ mate) pr^pceeded to the; Police Station along' with (second mate),^o resume 'poßaea'fiieniofj^iq.'^rorjerty^' In the guard-HbW his. arms in a transport f pf,;plejas^ " Free^gaini:;^^llelUi«^K^lqry tk/Gfod,' as.;^ entiirj^ arbund him j andlreceived^ttieir 4 cori^grat ula) :tibtis^ith^yi3eip^pa^^ undS&ttf^ :Uhi^rStaWßieidf^pi^^ Will make^a'formakdepandi toithe ■ Goyern% :^^ ? fb'r^payln^^|bfKtnl^]^Bii ? entliiM