A TALE OR BLOODSHED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 151, 20 March 1908, Page 4

A TALE OR BLOODSHED.

SCHOONER CAPTURED.

A COOK WITH A TOMAHAWK,

FATE OF THE CAPTAIN AND MATE,

A remarkable tale of piracy and-murder in the Pacific, rivalling scenes of bloodsheddopicted by It. L. , Stevenson in "Tho Wreckers," was unfolded oil March. 9 : by tourists who arrived at Sydnoy; from tho islands .by tho German steamer Germania, which returned from a criiiso to the Marshall and Caroline groups.

It was reported a few weeks ago (says the "Sydney..-.Morning. .Herald" of March 10) ■that the trading' schooner Laurel, which had boon on an extended cruise .in tho 1 Gilbert and Ellieo Islands, had m'ado a sensational discovery in the shapo of. tho wreck -of an unnamed and unknown sailing vessol, which was in possession of two' men who declined to i give l -. any information concerning them-, solves or the.ship,, of. which they had charge. While lying at Apamama'Lagoon in tho Gilbert Islands, Captain Malcolm, tho master of the Laurel, noticed from lus cabin door tho two masts of a fore-and-aft schooner with no sails set. He" concluded at once, as. she was on the weather side 'of the island, that' sho; was .either stranded or.;, had .anchored to save herself from drifting ashore.' FINE VESSEL- ON THE REEF, . Captain, Malcolm arid tho engineer of tho Laurel immediately proceeded-to the , scene in; tho. Laurel's launch, and found a fine American-built schooner hard aftd fast on tho' reef. ,- She jras so far up that tho engineer (Mr., Dunn) was" able .-to wado put to her.', Mot by. two-..men, lie asked for.- the' captain, j and was told by the elder one. that ho was in charge. Mr. Dunn asked where tho rest of tho ~crew. were, but ; did not. receive, a satisfactory answer. Ho then render any assistance,that was required, but tho offer was declined.

Two days later both tho-survivors paid a visit to Captain 'Malcolm of tho Laurel, and suggested -.that ho should take them on., to Fiji, but the native magistrate at Apamama had already warned the captain not to takothem if ho were asked'.' Tho dusky ni'agistrato evidently had an,idea that everything was. not just as ; it should have , been, andhe' told Captain' 'Malcolm' that lie "'intended, to send the men on. to, Tarawa, the headquarters of -tho, British/Resident' Commissioner in tho Gilbert Group, where they would ..have. ,-.an. ( opportunity., of ..explaining their position'to the'authorities.-" They re-' mained- on.j tho Laurel for.- some' time; and Captain, Malcolm asked them a number of questions, but ; they wero;-'apparently not desirous of giving any . information with regard to themselves. They. :were, however, moro communicative than on the previous occasion. , /' " , STORY OF THE ELDER MAN. ' ; In; answer, to Captain - Malcolm, tho elder man said'.'hi^-namo'-was J.'Tnylot, and'that ho . hailed from; Manchester,' -while■ tho younger man's namo was G.' Jackson, /and that ho camo Loudon: . He. also, stated that thoy wcro boiind for Tahiti. In tho..course; of; conversation',;Captain. Malcolm 1 - pointed, out that : /tho' vesspi had ribnaino . painted' Yon "-her/-; and. asked'/Taylor what ho colled her., In,a hesitating manner Taylor replied that they intended to call her tho White! Rose. '■ " Slio 'used to '-bo- called tho Puelcho of Valparaiso," • continued Taylor, " from which port we .'sailed" oii- October. 10." Ho had purchased her,/ho isaid, from' a Mr;-Usshley, at'that port.' - Taylor-was .also- asked if lie had a register, but stated that tho; provious' ownor Tefiisod "to part with.it. It wi! also learned thit they were without a clearanco. '•

It subsequently .'transpired that the vessel was a fore-and-aft schboner;named tho Neuvrq Tigre, of about 50 tons, which sailed under tlft' .was; cmploybd'.tfiutfi of Callao in the. coastal .trade. . The survivors '•were'' taken charge of' by-tho' n'ativo magistrate and conveyed ..by Messrs. Burns, Philp, and Go's, steamer. L. J. Kenney to TarawhV'tho.libadquarfers' \of" .the. 1 CJ'overn-' ,inent,;. ajid > placed under arrest.,' .;r : .

:7TE R RIB L E STR UC CL E! 'A • D ASH "FO Rl- - THE RIGGIMC. During'.the, trip'tlio .younger-man becaino communicative and told the'cook the thrilling story, of .their'cruise., Ho .said that, his name was Jaclisonj but that ho also went by the 'ria'mo of Skorrett:'., He was 20 years of age, and an Englishman.; His companion, 'Joseph Mortimer, who was about 40 years of ago, was a Belgian, and ,was employed on 'tho vessel,as cook.. Tho'Nbuvro Tigro,' lie said, loft Callao-.iwith.'- ri cargo 'of 'coke for one of tho constat ports.... There was a crew of four; all tqld /h inchi(ling thb.captiiin, mate, "Mortimer, and 1 himself, who was engaged as cabiri boy. It' was apparent that ■Mortimer ■had previously planned to take tho ship, for thoy had -not "been at sea many hours before lie made a bloodthirsty attack on tlio mato.The mate was attending to'somo portion of tho, rigging; when tho/cookj who had secured a tomahawk, crept tip bohind him and'aimed a;.blow at.his head. ,:-i -.; ■■

At that r instant tlio"'.mate moved, : and instead- of killing, him,••as was-intended,,tho blade , struck " his {arm, causing-, .', a severo wound. Tho mato •■then, grappled with his assailant, and attempted to: wrench tho tomahawk from his:'grasp,) Mortimer, howover, is a powerful man; ana tlio mato was greatly handicapped w'itlr'his injured arm. After.,, a desperate struggle, lasting some minutes, ho found he'.was unable to overpower his antagonist, and made a dash for tho rigging. Mortimer'"was taken aback by this move, and tho fugitivo .reached the : rigging boforo lie was aware of his intention. Mortimer again rushed'at' him, and mado slashes'at him;with the tomahawk)- but the mate by this, time had reached a place of safety.. ; - .;' .. ,

>• AN ALTERNATIVE: THE SEA OR A BULLET.

The commotion brought the captain on deck. Before ho could arm himself, liowevcr, Mortimer spied him, and, leaving tho mato in the rigging, at once turned his attention to tho captain. Boforo tho captain could get anything with which to defend himself ho was stuok' on the head with the tomahawk, and rendered unconscious. Mortimer now had full charge; of tho ship. Ho hurried to his bunk,' and secured a rifle, which he had secreted.... After deliberately -loading it, he pointed it at the .mate,- and threatened to shoot him if he did not jump overboard. The 'mate attempted to : pacify the now infuriated man, but without oft'ect, and after ,arguing for some minutes ho took a header from the rigging into tho sea. He was seen to ,riso to'tho surface and swim, towards, the shore; but a few minufcc3 later ho disappeared, and was apparently drowned.

By this time the captain, who had lain whero lie was struck down, had recovered consciousness, and -Mortimer gave him tho option of being shot or jumping overboard. Ho. chose'the latter course, and immediately leapt over the rail. Young Jackson, who had been sui eye-witness of tho terriblo 'deed, took no ipart -in it,, and when tho captain jumpod overboard-.ho throw him a plank. He was unable to say whether the captain managed to socuro tho plank, but was strongly of opinion that ho did not see it, and was drowned. Tho vessel was then fourteen miles off the coast, and it is extromely improbablo that cither of tho men wero saved,. 'MORTIMER COERCES JACKSON. Mortimer 'made Jackson or Skerrett promiso to stand by him, arid ; assist;him.to navigate tho vessel. Jackson was'afraid that ho might meot the fato of his shipmates if ho refused, so' ho at onco fell, in with tho, plans of his companion. The cargo of coko was jettisoned, and tho naino of .tho vessel was then erased. Tho elder, man said ho intended to call her tho White Roso, and sail for Australia, where he would disposo of her; Tho perilous voyage was then commenced. Neither man' knew much 'of navigation, and' tlioy always sailed, with the- wind: It was surprising, therefore,' that they ' reached -so far without meeting with disaster. Howovcr, at'B o'clock ono morning, tlioy brought up at tho island of Apumama, ill tho Gilbert Group. The vessel went well on to the reef, and is n hopeless wreck. She is lying on tho weather siclo of? tho island, and as the north-east trades will soon set in, she is likely to broak up quickly. On landing at tho island tho nlon were ignorant of their position. As they had

110 papers on board, tho Native Magistrate took charg6 of them and sent them on to larawa. • , COMMUNICATING WITH CALLAO. After tho cook had heard the thrilling story related by Jackson, 'lie repeated it to Captain liandley, of tho L. J. Kenney, who placed' tho men under arrest, and 011 arrival at Tarawa handed them over to tho authorises., Tho prisoners will probably ,bo sent to Fiji. As the outrage was committed 011 a foreign vessel on the high seas, it 'is highly improbable that they will ho dealt with in Fiji. Information will doubtless bo forwarded to the° authorities at Call.lo, and tho prisoners transported tlicro for trial. Mortimer remained very reticent, and although questioned frequently refused absolutely to say anything 011 tho matter. Jackson's confession was also shown to him, but 110 again, refused to mako any statement as to tlio truth or otherwise of tho statoment. Tho two men had previously been shipmates, having joined a Chilian warship at Liverpool for a voyage to Valparaiso. Tho Native Magistrate has takon posses-, sion of tho schooner. The survivors were evidently well stocked with provisions when thoy commenced their perilous voyage, for there was plenty of fresh water on board, and enough biscuits and other food to last some weeks. ■