A TRAGEDY AT SEA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1008, 23 September 1882, Page 3

A TRAGEDY AT SEA.

An account of a shocking tragedy on the high seas was related in the Thames Police Court during the trial of John Anderson for the murder of a sailor. The ship Cuttysark sailed from London on May 5, 1880, for Singapore, having on hoard the prisoner as chief officer and the sailor since killed. The steward’s story was that while the ship was rounding the Cape of Good Hope, John Anderson had struck the deceased over the head with,a capstan bar, from the effects of which he died the following day. The captain then, confined the mate to his room to which the steward carried his meals. In the beginning of September, while the ship was anchored in the roads of Auger, the prisoner told the steward that, he had arranged with the captain to make his; escape, and during the night he disappeared. On the second day out from Auger the captain committed suicide by jumping overboard. The ship was brought back by the second mate. John Anderson, who had made his escape, shipped as second mates in the Mariande Gottebohn, and on the ship’s arrival in London was apprehended. He claimed that the act was done in self-defence, hut the matter evidently preyed on the captain’s mind, and led him to commit suicide.