The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 12, 1897, Page 17

MORNINC x . DECEMBER 12. 1897 o lonely cabin on an ancient pacer | the Pacific Slope nearly twelve years ago. | men who bore the same name, but the | g, near the once fim Vuiture | H: came to Southern Uiah and New lonely, unmourned death of the wander- e, in Central Arzin: t more th Mexico f then he went to the Puget inx prospector would at least have given @ month ago, there died a very old man ion; in Sonora, Mexico, he was | a fitting end to the career of the most ac- ned Cyrus W, y ntil Christmas day of this year be wo ve rounded out the fortieth an Had be lived d f the most terrible crir known to the whali indau<rry in e Pac fic Ocesn, in which o Cyrus W mer was chief r and exe- he mutiny of tLe crew of the the cruel buichery of its ing officers. n at the ummer, 7, in the tchei ge, and tmas uried nis nAch mo ning, pald Melie lieard from next. He ha< wandered every- where on tlie slope, stopping in no place | more than a twelvemonth. He wasa re- | ticent man, had no compenions or com- rades and never spoke of his earlier years toany one. He hed been a soldier, jor he | waliked erect and put forward the left foot first in walkine—a thing that r and remembered by frontier: He had boe sailor, for he could tie more knots in a rcpe than a cow-puucher. He came frcm the Btates, but no one knew Pirom what State. Among the landsmen of the trontier, with whom he lived in bis latter vear< but few of those he came in contact with remembered, or perhaps had the century. cursed and most noted marine criminal of To be condemned to live, with the consciousness of that awful guilt upon him, was, no doubt, a more terrible fate for theringleader of the Junior mutiny than the speedy death on the galiows| he so richly deserved. | Many a man and woman in New Bed- | ford, in their horror at the crimes of Cyrus W. Plummer and in the heat o their righteous indiznation when the skill of such famous lawyers as Ben Butler and | Richard H. D:na saved him from the ex- | treme penalty of the law, deciared that justice was at anend in New England. But if the iaws of man fail at times, ap- | { the same man? ever heard, with what abhorrence the | parently, they but fuifill the decrees of | veople who believe t t New England speak the name | the Great Law, wherein justice is truly a | i c d among them are some | Cyrus W. Plummer. blind goddess and the scales unerring. | knew Cyrus W. Piummer, wanderer, | Itwould iea thank'ess task to specu- | Tie fate that sent Cyras W. Plummer a ‘ pr 57, hermit, since nis advent on | late largeiy upon the identity of these two | living wanderer weighed better than man | | treated, | retired, the enormity of hiscrimes. These crimes were nurtuted in discon- tent and hatred for lawinl anthority from almost the day the ship Junior sailed out of New Bedford harbor, July 21, 1857, and were executed with an extraordinary ferocity and malice on Christmas morn- ing, when in latitude 3358 south, longi- tude 16.7 east. The Junor was com- manded by Captain Archibald Mellen, of Edgartown, Conn., with Nelson Provost and Henry Lord, of New Bedford, as mate and second mate resvectively, and John Smith of Boston, third mate. The owners were David R. GGreene, Robert B. Greene, Dennis Wood and Willard Nye. She was provisioned for a two-year cruise after the sperm whale in the northern Pacific. The cap'ain proved a nard taskmaster, und Mate Provost was said—at the trial which followed the capture and return of the mutinecrs—io have been an excep- tionally crusl man. It waj also testified that the focd was of a very inferior quaiity an! that the men were not oniy il but underfed. However true these charges may bave been they could n no munner huve pailiated the crimes of | Piummer and his followers, but mer.ly bave increased the rasponsibility for them. When bat five weeks out mur- muriags and mutterings of insubordina- tion began to come up from the fore- castle. Cyrus W. Plummer, a boat- «teerer, hailing from Providence, R. I, disliked the idea of zoing to the northern whaling-grounds. He found the men dissatisfied and growling over their poor fare and rough treatment by the officer: and it was not long before he had a suffi- cient following among them to warrant hifu in an attempt to seize the ship. All the mutineers were sworn by Plummer upon the Bible to hang together. When off Fayal, in the Western Islands, the first attempt was made. It proved unsuccessful, anda Piummer and his men were punished for it. A few weeks later a second attempt also proved | futile, but the third essay, made while cruising between New Zealand and New Holland, was, for a tirce at least, horribly successfal, Sail had been shortened for the night and the captain and bis three mates had leaving the d-ck in charze of Plummer. Atan hour after midnight the cabin was attacked by Piummer and his men, some armed with hatches, others with whaling-spades, whi.e Plummer and two of his heutenants had firearms. captain’s stateroom was entered first, and without an instant’s warning the com- manding officer was shot in his bed. Two bullets from a double-barreled rifle in the hands of the ringieader entered the cap- tain’s body at the left side and buried The | themselves in the wall of the cabin. Captain Mellen sprang from bis berth ex- claiming “Oh, my God, what is this?” He was answered by Plummer with an oath and the information that “It's me.”’ Plummer then seized the heipiess man by the hair of the head, puiled him out into the cabin and buried his hatchet so deepiy in the captain’s skull that it could not be extracted. In the meantime the third mate had been attacked by Cornelius Burns of Little Falis, N. Y. Smith was killed with a whaling spade, which was run clear through his body several times. It was plannea that no quarter shouid be given the officars, but the ferocity with which | their lives were sacrificed stamiped the | mutineers as inhuman monsters. ‘Whaile Burns fonnd a fiendish joy in the death agonies of Third Mate Smith, Richard Cartha of Albany, N. Y., struck at Secona Mate Lord, who was in nis berth. The whaling spade missed 1ts mark and dented the berth boards. Cartha | aimed a second blow, but Lord caught the weapon and wrested it from him. Then Cartha drew his pistol and emptied | all its barrels into the brains of the second | mate, leaving him dead in his bertk. ‘What a carnival of blood for a Christ- mas morning! But tbe iale is not yet told. John G. Hall, a New Bedford man, male the attack on Mate Provost. Hall i thrust his gun muzzle inte the mate’s room aund fired both barrels. Then he flet from the dark room, fearing to be alone an instant with what he supposed was a corpse. But Hall was a bad shot and Mate Provost escaped with a wound in the rightshoulder. The clothing of his bed was set on fire by the discharze of his gun and this communicated to the woodwork. Plummer and snother of his | men looked into his room and Provost | begged of them to extinguish the flamas and not let bim burn io death. They bru- tally closed the door and went out, leav- ing the mate to the flames. Provost now | made a great effort and crawled out of tne cabin in his nightclothes and hid him- self. Aftera while Plummer ordered the | tire put cut; then th» ma'e was missed and a search instituted for him. He | could not be found, however, and the mutineess began the work of cleaning gecks. Captain Mellen's body was ghted with a heuvy chain-and Plum- mer himself cast it into the sea, yelling loud enouch for all hands to hear, “Go down to heli and tell the devil I sent you!” | When all the bodies were consigned to | the deep the fiends began to think of the | bip. In the capacity as leader Plummer ndertook to navigate her.JjHis plan was | history to make the nearest land, but neither he nor any of his lieutenants knew the first thing abou: navigation. After five days of knocking about, during which time the | ship was at the mercy of any squall or | storm that should have crossed her path, another search was made for Mate Pro- vost. He was finally found in an almost exhausied condition in the hold near one of the water casks. The desperation of thirst had enabied him to crawl there, but be had no strength to leave. It was for- tunate for him that he had never ill- treated Piummer. Cartha and ths others at si:htof him were for completing the butchery at once, but Piummer was in command and he knew the need there was for a skilled navigator. On Provost's promise to navigate the ship under orders of Plummer his wounds were dressea and hislife spared. But he was kept in irons all the time 2::d had no freedom whatever. In this condition he direcied the sailing of the vessel 10 the ncarest land, and on January 4, 1858, that land was sighted. Then began another chapter in the brief ol it unparalleled crime. Plummer, Carths, Burns, Hall; Wiiliam Sampson of Buffalo, N. Y., Jacob Ricke of New York,. Cnarles H. >tanley of Pen- field, N. Y., Adam Cannel oi Bauffalo and Joseph Brooks of Uuea, N. Y., and William Herbert of Newark, 2 men who made the atiack on the ship’s officers—threw overboard everything on the ship that was in any way connected | with or sugeestive of the whaling in- | dustrv. And when twenty miles off the Australian shore these men left the sbip | in two boats, taking with them everything serviceable that they could carry away. They made a landing at “Ninety-mile Point.” Atonce Mate Provost was liberated by the remainder of the crew, who Lad stood neutral or secretly loyal from the first, and the Junior was taken to Sydney, New South Wales. Here the tragedy was re- ported to the United States Consul, and immediately the Englisa authorities’took action. The Austr: @ tered out in fuil force, and in less than two months had run to earth all the | mutineers exc:pt Burns and Hall, who have never since been heard from. Eigut strong cells, made of Australian ironwood, were buill in the steerage of the Junior, four on each side, for the re- ception of Pi mmer and his men as soon they were turned over to the Un:ted ates Government. The cells were made of heavy iste, cut in the form of an equilateral triangle, with the avex point- ing inward. The joists were tnen heavily siudded with large-headed nais, driven clear in, to prevent cutiing away the tim- bers. Captain Alfred Gardner of Nan- patrol was mus- | | tucket, who was th>n in Australia, was | engaged to bring the vessel home. As there werc now but six free sazilors on board, English sailors were shipped for the return vo A guard of six men | was placed over the mutineers, and | waich was kept nightand day. Of course, P.ummer made an attempt to escape and recapture the ship, but it failed, and only resultea in closer vigilance. He tried to bribe one of the guards. News of the awful crime had long ago reached New Bedford, and when the Junior dropped anchor inside of Palmers Island, near the Fairhaven shore, on the evening of August 20, 1858, and the next day made a berth at F.sh Island, she was the center of attraction for hundreds of curious ones. Her prisoners were tried in tne United States Circuit Court at Boston, Judges Sprague and Clifford presiding. It was the most c:lebrated trial of the pe- riod, Only Stanley, Cartha, Herbert and | Plummer were tried for murder and mu- | tiny, the others being held on charges of mutinous conduct. It was said that Plummer was related in some way to the late Charles Sumner, and that money and influence would be exerted 1n his behait sufliciently to save him and his three companions from the gallows. The latter part of this prophecy | proved true enough. Although buta voor | ssaman Plummer came to trial with a }uriumut array of legal talent to defend | him. His counsel were Benjamin F. But- ler, Richard H. Dana, Sydney Webster and J. L. Adams. The services of Rufus Choate were expected, but for some rea- son were not secured. The testimony ad- | duced at the trial was substantially a i corroborasion of the narrative already | given, there having been eve-witnesses to | | every detail of the great crime. Plummer was found guilty of murder and the other three of manslaughter. In March of the succeeding year he was sentenced to death, but a few months atter the death sentence was commuted to life imprison- ment, and he went into the Charlestown State Prison Juiy 9. | Tnat Plumm friends in high p no doubt, for on July 25, 1874, acting Governor Talbot | signed ‘a pardon for him and his prison | avors were opened. Nothing authentic bas evar been heard of the man since, but there are many of the older generation who knew Cyrus W. Plummer, wanderer, | prospector, hermit, that believe that the old man who recently died in the lonely cabin at the ali-but-deserted piacer dig- gings was no uther than the Cyrus W, Plummer who so narrowly esczped the zallows for the perpetration of one of the most cruel murdersever committed in the southern seas. LukE NORTH. had c2s there could b2 Thers was not much history made at the vattie of Newtonia, Mo., on September 30, 1562, no more, in fact, than to occuvy a 1.ne or two of yr:nt in the Government re. ports, 2na that Lit of print officially dry and commonplace. It was such a small affair in the lives of the participants in those busy days that the survivors of it can hardly teil one the exact aate now, and when asked about it say: “Newtonia? Last of August or September, 1562.” But thirty-five years have come and gone since then, and years are <o freighted with forgetfulness that memory grow. stranger to the happiness of the old days, while watching them train past. There is a man living in California who has not for otten the date, however—a man to whom *‘Newtonia’ is a name to conjure up titter memories and a count of weary vears weightea with unrighted wrong. It was at Newtonria on September 30, 1862, that a shadow fell upon his life, a shadow that has hungabove him ali these years, and time, wnose calloused palm is unkind to mostof u<, to him has also been unjust. This is the story: On the 30th day of Feptember, 1862, a division of General . Frederick Salmon’s | command, consisting of Companies B and E. Missouri State militia, cavalry and part of the First Missouri Cavalry, in a!l 180 men, was camped among the biack oaks near the village of Newtonia, Missouri Colonel—afterward Brizadler-General— J. 0. Shelby, with a force of men, was occupying the same territory, and had moved up near the Federal picke Jine on the previousnightand made camp. Knowing a Federal force to bein the neighborhood Shelby ordered Colonel Hayes of Westport, whose command had been merged into Sneliy's, to detail a party and mak: a reconnoissance. Colonel Hayes, being a man of great {irit and undoubtedly bolding the Union forces in the hichest contempt, deemed one man a sufficiently strong guard. The choice fell upon Si Porter, a voung Missourian, one of the 1600 hard riders of Shelby’s famous brigade. It chanced that day that Colonel Hay s was arrayed in the uniform of a Federal officer' which had been fcund among some supplies captured the dey pefore, and as clothing of any kind was bard to get and uniforms. were almost unknown among 1600 | paizn and so far removed from the seat of war, it was no uncommon thing for men ana officers to aon the captured uniforms | of tueir enemies. His companion was | clothed in citizen’s garb. T:e small scouting party had been gone butatew minutes wher Porter galloped wildly into camp ard reported that Colonel Hayes had been killea. | *“Killed? Who killed him?”” questioned | the soidiers. “The Feds,” was the man's reply. “Rode up to a picket an’ he shot him.” The news was carried to Colonel Sheiby, who at once discredited the man’s story. eaking of the incident many years afterward, the General said: **Colonel Hayes was a brave but cautious | man, and I did not believe that he had been rash enough to aavance within range | of the Federal pickeis. I conciuded at | once that he »nd his companion had dis- | puted over something and the man bad shot bim., He was a hot-headed ymnu:l fellow, and it was nouncommon thing for | | the men to chafe under and sometimes ! openly rebel against the oraers of their officers at the beginning of the war, The | | men of my division were men of the | kreatest couraga and endurance, but used | to a free and independent life, and they found the rigorous discipline of army life | | hurd to bear at first. ‘The man’s story seemed so improbable that I ordered nis arrest.” The vrigade then went out to find the enemy, and about three ‘miles away came | upon a small force of retreating keceral cavalry whose flight was quickened by a few shois taken at them at long range. | The chase was given over, however, and the men of Shelb,’s brigade returned to camp. On the way they found, about a quarter of a mile from camp, the bodiy of Colonel Hayves with a bullet hole in the back. That circumstance gave color to the sus- | vicion of the men and officers that the | colonel had been shot by thie soldier who sccompanied bim, so the suspected man was brought before a court-martial to answer. 1ie protested his innocence, and as no lirect evidence to the contrary, at lesst not sufficient to warrant his execution, could be produced he was discharged. Colonel Hayes was popular with the | regiment, baving many peighbors and personal friends in 1t, and a bitter feeling both men and officers so early in the came | arose against his supposed slayer, which | clared his innocence to the end, but few | home with | could not turn his back upon the camse he | deemed just. of the outlawed Quantrell. finally culminated in his being drummed in Qi grace out of the army. Porter de- if any, beieved bim, and as he rode away with tne biter tauuts ana curses of hi- | companions in arms tingling in his ears | his heart turnei against tiem and all} mankind. There was no place for the branded man to hide his shame. He could not return the disgrace upon him; be | So he headed his horse for the Kan-as border and sought the camp He could hide his identity there. No one in that com- pany of free lances would pry into his | past. So the man with dishonor Ihrusll upon him sought to Lide it by taking more of its kind. How long he remained in company with Quantre!l only himself can tell, but while with that desperado’s band he courted a girl in Ray Connty, Mo., thedaughterofa | blacksmith. Parental objeciion stood in the way of a peaceful marriage, but Si Porter bad met 100 many stern faces and hard hearts in the world’s ways and turn- ings to be flou‘ed in his desire by a coun- y biacksmith. One night, when the smithy fires were out and the smith asleep, he rode under the window of the girl's room, ook her on the horse bahind his saddle and rode away. | They were married, and then, the one horse was the sum of the man's weaith, he lifted his wife to a seat on the crupper of the <addle again, turned the animal’s head toward the Arkanses line and gal- loped into the night, the night big with the thousand unseen and uuknown dan- gers of that time. It was a long ride for a man from Ray County, Mc., 10 Arkansas, and a fearful ride for a man withouta friend by the wayside. But, for a man and woman | monnted as they were to undertake, it was a daring thing even in those davs of dar-| ing deeds. | Torunaway from an enemy is one thing; | but a shot from a clump of hagel or a treetop, Irom an enemy unseen, is quite | another. | They went saf=lv over the rurged miles, and made t eir home in Arkansas until | the great wave of war mount d to its fuli height and broke. Then i} e wereamong those from the broken South who sought a home here by tne Western sea. And here in this land the man with the cloud | upon his life prospered. His two daugn- ters were sent to Paris to be educated, and he was counted a prominent man when he turned his face toward his native State oneday, thirty-three yesrs aiter the t me hie had been driv-n in disgrace from the Confeder:te ranks. He trusted that time nad duided the edge of bis old com- | mander's resentmont, and he longed to | ses him again arnd clasp his hand with a | soldier’s greetin . | General Shelvy was then United Siates Marshal for the Western district of Mis. souri, a servant of the Government, to aid in preserving its peacs and enforcing its laws on the very ground where he had so ably and gallantly opposed it in the past. | told ot his bome in Kansas City. *He introduced himseli and extended his hand,” said General Shelby, in re- counting the story. *‘Iremembered him well, ana I told bim that time had not rec- vnciled me to the past nor taught me to civemy hand in friendship toa murderer. He turned wituout a word and went away.” He went into the shadow again, the | shadow which he had striven to outlive, | only to find it deep above him after the lapse of bali the measure of a human life. And time has been unjust to him, for he is innocent. There is living proof that the story ke the death oi Colonel Hayes was true. J. I Scrgzins of Lawson, Ray County, | Mo., was corporal of theguard on the Fed- | eral side, on duty September 30, 186: He vlaced the picket who shot and killed | Colonel Hayes of Westport. Mr. Scog- gins, writing of it, say “Colonel Hayes was shot and killed about 800 yards south of Meajor Richie’s stone barn by our picket goard. I wasa non-commissioned officer on duty that day and heard a shot, but not apprehend- ing anytning unusual I rode leisurely out | and met the guard with what afierward | | proved to be Colone! Huyes’ sword, belt | and pistol. When I met him he hela out | a kederal officer's regulation infantry | | sword, with the remark: ‘I've killed a | captain.’ Nothing more was said at the time. | “On looking around I saw a column of | cavalry moving norihwestesly in the di- | rection of Neosho. Our small force of 180 men marched out on the road leading to N osho and formed, but were soon com- | pelied to rerreat, losing one man killed and three taken prisoners. “I aiterward learned that Colonel Haves | bad detachea himself from his command | and with one companion rode boldly up | to our pickets—two only at that point— | and ordered them to surrender. The | guards, taking Colonel Hayes for an offi- cer of some other Federal command by 1 reaton of a Federal uniform he wore, al- lowed him 10 approach very near before hey became aware of their mistake. B “When Colonel Hayes flourished a pis- tol and demanded their surrender one of | the guards fired on him. His companion put spurs to his horse and escaped. ““Colonel Hayes was killed by a citizen soldier boy, wearing citizen’s clothes, not yet having drawn his uniform. Ido not remember bis name, but he was a member | of the First Reg:meut of : ““One man, Joseph Woods by name, now living in Ray County. Missouri, who was poorly mounted, abandoned his horse when it failed him, and hid himseifin a clump of busnhes by the roads.de. He re- mained hidden there until night, and heard Colonel Hayes' men talking of his deeth as they passed by oa their return trom chasing us. *“When that soldier returned to camp three davs later we learnea that it was | Colonel Hayes wno had been killed at Newtonia. “He was well known to many of our command, at least tour or tive of our men having driven freight-wagons across the plains for him in the fifti “I never knew the name of the man who accompanied Colonel Hsyes, ana whom the Confederates suspected of hav- ing killed - him, but he is surely innocent. “Atleast noneof B and E companies buve ever believed or thought otherwise than that our picket guarl shot Colonel | Hayes. Nothing could change iheir beliel. “Two of us at least who were on duly that day saw enouzh to be satisfied that it | was not Colonel Haves' companion who | shot nim, and none other than our pickat guard.” Two years before his death Geaeral Shelby was shown the proof of the man’s nnocence. “I am sorry that I wronged him,’” he |said. “If T knew his address I would | write to him, but I only know that he | lives in California. Poor feliow! It has | been a iong, long time.” So, af er thiris-five years of waiting, Si | Porter can come out cf the shadow, and if | time has worn awav the stain of the days | that he rode with Quantrell he will find | many hands outstretched 1o welcorae him as one of the few now remaining of the | most daring brigade that bore the Southe | ern colors; the brizade that carried the | flag they had built great hopes upon be- | yond the border of the land that was not large enough for two flags, and buried it | with tears in the waters of the Rio | Grande. | It was only one little tragedy of the | great war, one man’s sorrow and shame | » little trageay in the light of the wor! | great business, which Time and Justice | have not found in their way to set arizht ‘ tiil now. G. W. 0. Some Time Ago. BRAVE PIPER MILNE AND “COCK O’ THE NORTH’ The following is the tune which Piper Milne played as the Gordons rushed across the bullet-swept ridge to dislodge tas Portrait of Piper Milne, Taken enemy on Dargai Crest, and which he continued playing even after he was shot through both legs: AT THE DARGAI RICGE. | It stamps a page on history, the fight at Dargai Ridge, | When vainly the men of Derbyshire, and of Dorset, strove to bridge With rank upon rank the zone of fire that appalled like the rr_uelsfrom’s swirl ; But the hail of bullets descending swift beat back the struggling lines, And the Sikh, at war with his brother, the hope of conquzst resigns. Mark ye that the sky overhead flung down a brazier’s heat, And the soil of an alien land spread its hostile dust at their feet. But the strong north hearts, with their dark allies, would avenge an outrage don=; The troops forgot the san ever shone, or the earth drank deep of gore, They heeded aione the hillsmen’s taun‘s and the hell that raged before. Through the fire zone swift and safely the tropic-born may crawl, But our Britons, erect as their oak trees, must breast the storm or fall. Still the shouts increass, ani the battie-flags from the tribesm:n’s stronghold wave; A thousand bullets, like one blast, mow left and right; death rides the air, And a bright mosaic amidst the gray he scatters everywhere. They are beaten back, as.the simoon blasts the tender grass; They raily again, they advance, and the chasm they strive to pass. The soldier-cailed on the commander at | The cliff looms high with its warring hords, and thsy may not mount but to die; Stern on the angry day there falls the ward “‘retreat,” the only shrift For all who lie not stricken mute beneath the dust’s gray shroudlike drift. Then the cry falls loud and clear, ‘‘Gordon Highlanders, advance,” And proudly their leader makes reply, “O urs a soldizr’s doom to chance. Men, stand ye firm; be thine the task to cross the zone and seize yon height.” They marched as fearless as ever they trod their heathered hills in peace, For their tartans covered the sons of sires Than aut on the alien air /1 22 quiva-=d a A tau ' o the foe, 2 promise to the Szsls: It bresthad of their brae; in 2 vauaun | r.o —iviners, 1w nere to cheer you stil, BN For a hero’s soul is a thing that soars apart from mortal pains. You read, with a tight’ning lip, of gaps in And of him, sore sp:nt, by the rock, who who died for a land’s release. lilting lay; 22 who fought that dav. s, 21d it challe ged g im defea’; ey read in tne ruggea straius, the living wall, cheered with his pipe’s shrill cally And decree that his name, with the Highland tune, shall ring through coming time; For by fear cast out, and by hops within, The hilismen routed, the slaughter stayed the daring deed was done, , and the Highlanders had won. CLARA 1ZA PRICE.