CAPTAIN SPARTON'S STRANGE EXPERIENCE.

New Zealand Mail, 29 January 1902, Page 8

CAPTAIN SPARTON'S STRANGE EXPERIENCE.

In 18—• I was first mate of the Monico, one of the Red Bing Line, and then ono of the best-going boats in the Atlantic service.

I had run across (while the ship was in dock from Liverpool to my home near 1 Doncaster to see my sister Patty before her marriage. Sho was engaged to a young Lieutenant named Rupert Row- i ling, a wealthy, eccentric country squire in Yorkshire, and it was not only a good > match for her, but Rupert, whom I had known from childhood—we were atschool together—was one of the hearti- j est and most genuine fellows you’d find ; in a day’s walk. When I arrived at Doncaster I was j surprised to find things all in an uproar. J Old Rowling, had, it seemed, taken some offence at an innocent hut misunder- | stood remark of Rupert’s, and had flown I into a terrible passion, swearing he ! would disinherit him. Rupert, who was j a high-spirited young chap, gave the old I man a bit of his mind, and they had a j | violent quarrel, which ended in Mr Row- j ling turning lxis nephew out of the house ! and forbidding him ever to show his face 1 there again. That was on a Thursday, a ! fortnight before my visit. On the evening of the quarrel Rupert called on my sister and told her of what had taken place, and they agreed to . postpone tho wedding for the present. He then left, as lie stated, for London, where ho was duo to join his regiment j on the following Saturday. | The next morning (Friday) everybody | "as startled at hearing that old Jona- | than Rowling had been found dead in : a plantation on his estate. Ho was lyj ing face downwards, and had evidently been shot in tho hack by someone, the bullet having penetrated to tho heart and killed him instantly ; and on a medical examination, it was ascertained thattho murder—for such it doubtless was—must liavo been committed on the previous night-, for death had taken place many hours before the body was found. Tho fact of tho quarrel between the deceased and his nephew was already public property, and suspicion at once pointed to Rupert as the probable culprit. The police soon ascertained Rupert’s movements, which showed that ho had called on Patty, as I have stated, and that ho caught tho next- express to London, tho time between his leaving Patty and the starting of the train giving him plenty of opportunity to commit tho crime had he been so minded; ‘Z lU 'h inoreov . cr ’ from my sister’s to tho station took him alongside the plantation in which his uncle’s body was i found.

Tho London detectives were put to

work, and they ascertained that Rupert had a- revolver of the same calibre as the shot found in old Rowling’s corpse, and the upshot was that he was arrested and brought before the magistrates at Doncaster.

The assizes were just approaching, and when I arrived on tiie scene, Rupert stood committed for trial on the charge of murdering Iris uncle. I could do nothing to help him, but I went to the assize town and saw him in prison. He denied all knowledge of the crime, swearing to me that ho was absolutely, innocent. I believed him, but the evidence was overwhelming. Tie stationmaster at Doncaster spoke to Rupert's rushing'into the station in .i flurry, and looking very upset; and the revolver, which he admitted lie had not used for some days, had oue chamber empty. Many other things, trivial in themselves, but awfully black when put together, wore brought out at the trial, and before I left I had heard him found guilty by the jury and sentenced to death by the judge. It all seemed like a ghastly dream. I was due to return to my ship, the Monico, and I bade Rupert good-bye. I don’t mind telling you that I sobbed like a child. I shouldn’t have felt it so if I could have done anything, even to | try and help him, but I was perfectly powerless. | My sister, of course, was in a terrible . way. and I hardly liked leaving her; but |my whole future depended on keeping j my position in the Red Ring Line, sol ■ wrenched myself away and was on board ; the Monico the next morning. I Wo sailed the following day, which j was a Wednesday, and the last thing j j heard before leaving Liverpool was that ; poor Rupert’s execution had been fisc? j for Thursday in the next week. ! Wo had a heavy cargo of goods and a | lot of passengers, but I tell you, niy j heart seemed heavier when we started jon that voyage than the ship, cargo, passengers, and all. j The Monico was considered a fast ve.| i sol at that time. She generally t° oS | just over seven days to do the passage, and wo were due in New York on t* l Wednesday evening before Ruperts execution. Everything went well till the Monday afternoon, when one of the steerage P sengers, a man named Charles Lapp mole, fell down a hatchway, breaking - back and receiving internal injuries, n° which the doctor said he was bount* dio within four or five hours. R very sad, of course, but couldnt helped, and although anything or sort puts a gloom over the ship, - 1 .] # too much engrossed in my own tm to think much of it. But just atW* bell (half-past six) the captain cam ‘‘Sparton be said, "you were teg me about the trouble your sisters had got into. It’s a most extraor thing, but the man Cappormole a , • . telling the doctor a tale about his. , : re shot his father’s landlord m Y_or’ g and that he believes this accide judgment on him. I have seen n > ho says the name of the m ? n ,, ~a n i» dered was Rowling, which 19 J > „ ff jll you mentioned, I think, and it y . cr j como with mo to the ‘hospita , | the poor wretch is lying, y° u his yarn for yourself:"

T W as thunderstruck. I got the third officer to take my place for a short tune ®nd hurri^ off to the side of the injured

Bi statement was somewhat ramMin? but with the help of a clergyman, ' i,‘ a passenger, we reduced it to writing in a tangible shape, and it was about something like this : “I Charles Cappermole, lately residing . M ar ten’s Hole, near Doncaster, Yorkshire but now a passenger on board the s s . Monico (Captain Marner) in mid-At-lantic haring men with an accident by falling down a hatchway, and being, as X well know, within a short time of death do make this solemn statement and declare the same to be true, so help m a farm labourer, and until recently was living with my father and mother at Marten’s Hole, where my father rented a small farm under Mr Jonathan Bowling. The same farm had been in the posssession of my father ail his life, and of his father before him, and it was our whole living.

“Mr-Jonathan Rolling had a disagreement with my father last year but one, just before Michaelmas, about some hedges which he insisted my father should renew, but which had always been replanted before that time at the expense of the landlord. My father refused to replant them at his own expense, and Mr Howling gave him notice to quit, which expired at Michaelmas last, and he subsequently turned my parents and myself out of the farm in the middle of the winter.

“My mother was in a very feeble and delicate state of health, and the eviction caused her death, and my father, being broken-hearted and ruined, was compelled to go into the work-house. “1 determined to emigrate to America, and with the assistance of a benevolent society, I obtained my passagemoney and outfit and enough cash in my pocket to prevent my being turned back as a pauper on landing in the Uniteu States. I booked'my passage in the s.s. Monico, but before starting on the voyage I saw my father in the workhouse. His misfortunes had so shattered him that he was dying, and exasperated and filled with indignation, I determined to be revenged on Mr Rowling, who ria l been the cause of my mother’s ani my father’s deaths, and my ruin and emigration.

“I had bought a revolver to "uke vvj t ii me, and tramping to Doncaster, I laid wait for Mr hording on the evening cf 'Thursday, May, 24 last. I kne>v Dot it was his habit to walk through the plantation, which adjoins a lane cahr.d Danks’s-lane, every night between egLt and nine o'clock—his purpose being a. see if any rabbit snares had been laid by poachers —and I hid myself behind some bushes in this plantation, close to the path. I presently heard footsteps, and directly afterwards I saw Air howling walk along close behind where i was hiding. As soon as he had got vast me I stood up, and aiming the revolver at him,l shot him in the back, its Idled up his arms, and with a great cry 11 face downwards, dead.

was nearly dark, an i I crept out of the plantation into the lan? v-nlKut anyone seeing me. I walked ih:r. night to Wakefield, along by-roads weil l.mivn to me, and thence, on following cm vs, to Huddersfield, Ashton, Manclu v.er, heirton, and Liverpool, from which port f nas to take passage to New V’ork. In Liverpool I heard the murdw 'Spoken of for the first time, and, to my surprise, I found that Mr Rupert Rowling (Mr Rowling’s nephew) was charged u * never thought for a moment that they could find him guilty of the murder he had not committed, and I ook no steps to let the truth be known, hen I afterwards learnt that he was convicted of the murder and sentenced ° death I knew I ought to go back and own the deed and save him; but I could j bring myself to do so, and I went on oard the Monico well knowing that I was leaving behind me an innocent man o be hanged for the murder I had com•n ted. The revolver with which I shot Mr Rowling is in my box. All of which * true, as I declare.”

nn 9 a , p u pei ™ ol ° signed this statement, 4 t" e clergyman, the captain, the docRf) ;,-d myself witnessed it, and shortly vIZ five , bGl ? (half-past ten at night) theK°i e C rp d ’ being buried at sea aext day, Tuesday. “ le Jancboly and depressed, anxious time b<?f ° re ’ but ' now be S au

statement was of no use to the n , C ?i U d .Jl et the knowledge of it to I a i7 tes , ™ in time on Thur.d/ * nend Rupert’s execution against tte m °w ing ’ and * v ' as a race course dun V -v? e ore ’ * u ordinary afternoon ork on Wednesday Would be ah fOUr °’ clock > which England. We “bfi ° f °^ k night in weather and l!o i d , llad favourable wo kept on we fi m! i C i o v go . od way > and if before; but on t!? be 111 time > if not mto a dens c foo T n CS i ay mornin g we ran foiled and f hoH: ■ d our , course was imI sought the f S r? S slo ' ved down, fctly v4a t was d m v’ ld told him exlosing time. p o de P end ing on our not paptain Manier a v bn( ; fellow, was thised with me ’ \\’ C I*l fully sympa- *!. r ’ a .nd considered 6 • , doka t ed the matfew minutes Tn rec i m’ ad round for a danioTO® 0 l” 11 * 1^ 1 " ahead ™ * d soc no distance to

to the fog, but the captain at last determined to do it. ’ “I’ll do it, Sparton,” he cried. “I feel that this man was sent on board my shift and injured so that he felt Himself dying and bound to confess, by Providence, and if I don’t try and save Rupert Rowling I shall consider I have been the cause of his being hanged. If I do try, and anything happens to our ship, then may God preserve us!”

To which I answered, ’ ' solemnly. “Amen!” Rushing off to the chief engineer I briefly explained matters to him, and gave him the captain’s orders. The engineer was a . big, hard-headed Scotchman, and gripping my hand in a grasp like a rice, he cried:

■ ‘Til make the ship go, Robert. But it 11 be a bad thing foV anything we run into- I’m thinking. It will that.” Well, we tore along through the fog a *l day Tuesday. I was in a dreadful state of mind. On the one hand I was all anxiety to reach port in time to cable to .England and stop the execution of Rupert, while, on the other, we were risking the lives of the crew and some 150 passengers, to say nothing of the ship and the cargo. I didn’t leave the deck' for a moment all day. I promised the captain I would not leave a stone unturned to ensure the safety of the vessel. We put three times the ordinary' number of men on the. look-out, and kept fog-horning and whistling all day long, but by a merciful Providence, we had a clear course. We only sighted one vessel, about midday, but I could not discern 'what she was. Towards night the fog lifted and the stars shone. McGre'ig, the engineer, now had the Coals piled os at a fearful rate, and wo shot through the water like an arrow; but early next morning the wretched fog came on again. Wo were, of course, nearing land, and the risk of collision was every minute more serious. We kept on our mad career. The passengers knew there was something queer about steaming so fast through a fog, but I answered them all: i; Oh, we’re all right. We’re on our usual track, and nothing gets in our way.” Thin was true to some extent, but the risk was enormous, and every mile that we got nearer land I got more and more nervous.

However, to cut a long story short, we gained New York Harbour at 3.50 on Wednesday afternoon, after nearly running down an outgoing steamer some twenty miles out, and which we avoided by th.o skin of our teeth. As soon as we arrived I hurried ashore, by the captain’s permission, and hunted up the British Consul, whom I dragged off to the Cable Company’s office, and we sent a joint telegram from him and the captain to the Home Secretary in London. I also wired to the Governor of the gaol where Rupert was waiting execution, to Rupert himself, and to my sister. Tho message to the Home Secretary was a long one; I remember it cost mo about £5. I waited at the cable office for a reply. It came within four hours, which was pretty quick work, as my message would not reach London till about nine o’clock at night, English time being about five hours ahead of New York.

Rupert was respited till our evidence could be brought home and inquired into, and in less than another month I had

the pleasure of shaking him by the hand as an acknowledged innocent man, her Majesty having, in the peculiar fashion of English been pleased to grant him a “free pardon” for an offence he had never committed. However, all was right at last. Rupert succeeded to his uncle’s .property, and married my sister Patty in due course. But the two days following Cappermole’s confession were the most anxious time in my life. I was thoroughly upset and almost prostrate for a week afterwards, which is saying a great deal for a strong-nerved sailor.