THE "PETREL" ALLEGED MURDER CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7693, 19 July 1886, Page 6

THE "PETREL" ALLEGED MURDER CASE.

THE ACCUSED DISCHARGED. At the Police Court, before Mr. H. G. Seth Smith, R.M., the Petrel" case was resumed on Saturday morning. Edwin J. Reid, master, and Charles Henry Foley, first mate, appeared, on remand, on the charge of murdering William J. Britton. Mr. J. P. Campbell appeared for the United States Consul, Mr. T. Cotter for Captain Reid, and Mr. J. O'Meagher for first mate Foley. The interest in the case was manifest by the large attendance of the general public. The proceedings were continued by th examination of the second mate Mendozs, called for the defence. Mr. O'Meagher elicited from him the following evidence: At the time of the butter keg incident the mate did not strike a blow, but simply rubbed the lid on the cooper's face. VVitness described the first scrubbing of the cooper. 1 looked down the hatch. The cooper was stripped. The mate and Kenny were down below. The latter scrubbed the cooper with a piece of canvas. That was all I saw. I never saw anybody scrub the cooper with a brick. None of the witnesses had ever told me of the cooper being scrubbed with a brick before the charge was laid. Before he was scrubbed, the cooper's body was dirty with his own mess. Witness detailed the incident in regard to the cooper being sent to the rigging. I was alongside the booby hatch on deck. There were a number of onions in the rigging. The cooper put one of them into his pocket, and the mate inquired what he had put it into his pocket for. The cooper replied, that he was going to eat it. The mate said, "You thief, you have stolen it." The mate said, "Come here to the rigging," and taking the bight of a rope, told him to stand against the rigging. The mate passed the rope around his neck, making it fast to the rigging. He told him to stand there for punishment for stealing onions. The cooper stood there for over half an hour, and was let loose by the mate. 1 saw the mate strike the cooper two hard and heavy blows some time before leaving Fayal, and there were marks after the cooper died. In going to the watches in the rigging, the cooper would get up sometimes and one of his shoes would drop off, and the cooper would go on up without it. Before the statements made at Russell he had never heard of any complaints being made of cruel illtreatment of the cooper. At the time of the lead poisoning, he had not observed the vomit of the men, but the cooper's was not coloured. The treacle cask was close to the sail pen, and the cooper could have got at it. Cross-examination by Mr. Campbell: When the men were called aft and the captain addressed them, he did not add the words, "I will shoot the men down if they come aft in a body," in my presence. The cooper was put in irons when he was put in the sail pen. His hands were first ironed, and then when he broke out his feet were ironed. The cooper was in irons for three weeks, off and on, but I Am not prepared to oontradiot the log book, as I do not remember further. The i sides of the sail pen were staffed up with whalebone, as there were plenty of rats in the ship. The space over the door was about four inches. The cooper got his face soratohed in the Bail pen by rubbing against the nails on the boards of the partition. I saw the first mate bite the cooper's ear once. His ears were swollen from being frozen by the cold weather, and the mate told him to keep them covered up. My ears were swollen in the same way. I saw the first mate slap the cooper on the face once. The mate had the rope made for the purpose of scaring the cooper, not to punish him ; but he was often hit with it. The cooper never did his work, but be w»b still in the watch at the time. Iu regard to the tying to the rigging, I did not watch the cooper, all the time he was there. We were putting onions in baskets at the time, and I attended to my work on deck. The night of the cooper's death I was in my cabin, and could not see the first mate, but heard him come down, and I went to the door. I never heard the captain make any objections to the mate helping the cooper in his pains. I am certain that it was the night the cooper died that the mußtard cloths were applied. It is not a fact that the cooper was sent to do heavy work ; he was put to such work as he was able to do. I was driven to do things to the men, sometimes without drawing blood, of my own accord, and on my own responsibility. Mr. O'Meagher briefly re-examined the witness in regard to the evidence elicited by Mr. Campbell. Mr. Cotter said he did not propose to call any more evidence, and submitted that there was not a prima facie case of wilful killing against the captain. Counsel at the same time quoted from " Clarke upon Extradition," which he put in for the information of the Court. Mr. O'Meagher submitted that he did not propose to call any evidence on behalf of the first mate, and held that do prima facie case

had been made out to warrant the accused being committed upon a charge of murder. ; His Worship,, addressing the accused, said: Edwin J, Reid and Charles Henry Foley, some acts of illtreatment have been proved against you, and which have been admitted by you. ■ If I thought there were any acta which would justify a prima faoie case as having been made out against you I should grant the order of commitment to await the surrender to your country on the charge against you. Ido not think a prima facie case has been made out against you. Therefore I shall order your discharge. Mate Foley : Thank you, sir. The accused were immediately placed at liberty, and left the Court, mingling in the large orowd that thronged the building and its precincts.