Depositions of Captain Mitchell and others of the Lathley Rich., August 6, 1874

Depositions of Captain Mitchell and others of the Lathley Rich.

In the matter of the complaint of Capt. Thomas Mitchell, master of the American ship “Lathley Rich,” against Joseph D. Ellis, steward of said ship.

Capt. Thomas Mitchell, being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith: I am master of the American ship “Lathley Rich,” of Boston. I have to complain of the untidy and filthy habits of the said steward about his pantry and table. Many times he has brought the dishes onto the table in a disgustingly filthy condition—very dirty, indeed. I have frequently spoken to him about this; and almost daily during the passage from Cardiff have been obliged to send the dishes away, owing to their dirty s condition.

The bread that he served for the cabin-table was frequently sour and unfit to eat, owing I to his negligent and lazy habits, allowing the yeast to stand too long. He would not wash the table-cloths, which is a part of his duty to do. At one time he let three table-cloths stand in the water three days; said he would not wash them; and Mrs. Mitchell was obliged to have the cabin-boy wash them, in order to prevent their being ruined. All this time the table-cloth in use was not any too clean, and his attention was frequently called to the fact, but to no purpose. He kept his pantry in anything but a clean and neat condition—drawers, barrels, cans, &c., &c., very dirty. He kept his pipe and tobacco in one of the drawers in use for keeping spices. I spoke to him about this, and told him to take them out; he did not do so, and I afterward took them and threw them out of the pantry myself. He kept his cloths for cleaning lamps, and made it a practice to clean and till his lamps in the pantry. He did this, although we had an oil-room expressly for the trimming of lamps, lining them, &c. Yet he would do all this dirty work in the pantry, and keep all his dirty fixings in the drawers used for the purpose of keeping things necessary for the cooking of the-food for the cabin.

I have to complain that he neglected his duty, and made the cabin-boy I have on board do his duty for him. He would not turn out in the morning and get the coffee, but make the boy do it for him; he would lay in his bunk all the time; often did not make his appearance for duty until after 6 o’clock in the morning, when he should have been out at 5 a. m., ready for duty, get coffee for the mates, &c., &c. When spoken to regarding these matters he was sulky, and did not try to do better; in fact, continued the same in his conduct as before.

I have to complain that in his capacity as steward he has had charge of the stores of the ship, and he has abused the trust, not being at all careful of them, and has be n very extravagant in the issuing of them. The tea gave out long before we arrived at our destination, owing simply to the fact of his wasteful and negligent, lazy habits. The sugar was male away with in a most wonderful manner, having issued and used up; besides all the molasses used, two barrels of sugar on the voyage from Cardiff to Hong-Kong. Since I have been master of a ship I have never known of the stores of a ship generally to be wasted in such a shameful manner as this steward has done, to the loss of the captain and owners of the ship.

I consider this man is a very bad man, indeed, one liable to breed trouble on any ship between the master and the crew. I have to request that he may be removed from-the ship at one, for fear of further trouble; his presence on the ship is prejudicial to good order and discipline, every moment he stays there, and I shall not take him on the ship, if I can help it, again.

Regarding his conduct further during the voyage, I have to call the chief officer, sail-maker, and cabin-boy, and, if necessary, my wife, who is on the ship with me, and Can state more fully than I regarding some things that have occurred on the voyage.

Charles Pera, chief officer, being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith: I have to say that the steward, Ellis, has been an awful dirty man; he has been very dirty, indeed; not a meal was passed but that the captain or the madam has been obliged to send plates back to the galley from the cabin-table, on account of their being dirty. I have seen dishes come on the table with the marks of his dirty fingers on them; and very often the bread has been sour, not fit to eat. I have also at times been obliged to set two of the boys on the ship at work to clean the dirt out of the pantry. The flour that he used in cooking he was in the habit of keeping behind the stove, in an unfit place, when he had a proper place to keep it. The fact of the matter is, he has not attended to his duty at all as steward, but the cabin-boy has been compelled to do his work for him. On several occasions he has ill used the boy, whipped him most severely. While the ship has been lying in port he has been out of the ship about every night, without leave, never returning until the next morning. When Captain Mitchell spoke to him about the neglect of his work, I heard him say he “would do less in future.” I have to say, also, that he has used a large amount of tea; enough for the whole voyage was used up in a very short time; did not take proper care of the stores of the ship; allowed the cook to take what he liked. I consider that he was not a steward in any sense of the word; did not know his duty, find was dirty and filthy in the extreme. The table-cloths were dirty all the time, and he said he would not wash them, although it was his duty to do so I consider that a man of this kind is very apt to bring about difficulty between a master and crew, through his neglect of his duty in the care of the stores of the ship; that he is a very bad man for any ship. Temper very bad I have seen him fling the dishes about in the pantry, and exhibit, in various ways, a very bad temper indeed.

Charles Parker, sail-maker and third mate, being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith: I have to say, regarding the steward, Ellis, that he neglected his duties; did not keep things clean; aside from this, he has frequently abused and ill-treated the cabin-boy on the ship. I have seen him strike him in the forward cabin very often, ill-use him, and use very bad language to him; the boy all the time doing his duty for him, on account of his being too lazy to do his own work. He kept his pantry and store-room in a filthy condition; would not keep anything clean. The chief officer has often set the boy to work to clean the pantry out for him, it having got in so filthy a condition. He did not pretend, to do a single thing, in fact, that properly belonged to him to do, but would lay in his state-room and make the cabin-boy do the work for him. I don’t consider him a good man for a ship; he makes a great deal of talk—a kind of sea-lawyer, and one that would make trouble, at the first opportunity, between the crew of the ship and the master: he has a very bad temper indeed.

George Abraham, cabin-boy, being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith: I am eighteen years of age; I shipped on this ship as cabin-boy. Regarding this matter, I have to say that the steward, Ellis, has brought the plates on the table in the cabin, day after day, in a dirty and filthy condition; so bad, that the captain and Mrs. Mitchell have been obliged, again and again, to send them off the table. He kept the flour, used for food for the cabin, back of the stove in the pantry, instead of putting it in the flour-bin. He would hang his clothes up over it, and let them drain down on it. He trimmed and cleaned his lamps in the pantry, setting the oil-lamps on the bread-board. I have often, after he got through, gone and wiped the oil up myself, I think him a beastly, lazy man, very dirty and slovenly in his habits, more like a beast than a human being. On the voyage out he often, without any provocation whatever, would beat and ill-use me because I would not do all of his work, and he would want to go in the galley and smoke. I have done about all his work during the last part of the voyage, while he would go and have what he called his evening sleep. The only times he misused me was when the captain was not about. I have often had to go to work with one of the boys on the ship, by order of the mate, and clean out the pantry, it would be so dirty and stinking. In one of the drawers he left his pipe, cigars, and tobacco, where the food was. In the store-room he kept his stinking oil-rags, socks, &c., &c., in drawers used to keep the spices, &c.; used to prepare the food for the cabin. At one time, in the galley, he caught hold of me, tore my shirt, and struck me in the face and on the head until I bled at the nose and ears; this was because I was in the galley, doing something for the captain instead of waiting on him. At another time I had been up and attending his duty in the morning, getting the coffee for the mate; when I came back to the state-room to turn in for a moment or two, he got after me again because I did not bring him coffee while he was in his bunk; said he would fix me, and a short time after he caught me in the galley, and, putting my head between his legs, he beat me with a boot, and then threw me against the partition and struck me in the face with his fist when he heard the mate coming. At another time one of the men brought a keg of butter to the cabin-door. The steward was too lazy to bring it in, and I told him I was busy waiting on the madam; he then threw a large carving-knife at me, cutting my leg about one inch, (witness showed the scar;) the knife then struck the door and stuck there; the knife was a large one, used in the galley by the cook. I have complained to the madam about my treatment, and to the captain the last part of the voyage, and the captain told the steward not to have anything to do with me, that 1 was his servant, and he did not intend that I should be abused. Many times on the passage he has threatened my life, and has caught me by the throat and neck, and slapped my face with his hand. I occupied the same state-room with him, and always had to clean it up after him. He was a very dirty and filthy man about his duty, and imposed on me and most cruelly treated me throughout the voyage. I have often scrubbed the room out. The place where he lay was all of an inch thick with dirt, and he often went with his work in the pantry without washing his hands. If the steward stays in the ship I must leave; I can’t stay; I am afraid that he will kill me. I shipped as a cabin-boy, and my duty was note has to attend to the captain and the madam. The steward had no right to order me about or to make me do his work.

Many times he has made water in the wash-pan and made me empty it for him. This was in the state-room where we slept. He kept a bottle of poison in the pantry, with the food all the time—that is, it was marked poison. He also kept his dirty stockings, combs, and brushes in the pantry with the food. I have nothing further to say, only that often at night he would drive me out, and take the whole state-room to himself, although there were two bunks in it, one for me and one for him. I forgot, one time I went to the galley for the madam, and the steward and cook both pitched on me, the cook striking me with a belaying-pin.

When we left Cardiff it was cold, and we had a fire in the cabin, and the steward used to keep a can of kerosene-oil behind the stove, and would frequently pour the oil on to make the fire burn faster, or to’ light it. One time it caught fire, and blew the top of the can off. I wonder that he did not set the ship on fire many times. He was very wasteful in the handling of the stores. Tea I have seen him spill on the floor when he would go to the store-room to fill the tea-caddy. I called his attention to the fact. Sometimes he would spill all of one or two pounds. I have said it was a waste. He said, “Waste be damned,” and ordered me to throw it in the scrap-tub. He was very wasteful, indeed, in the handling of the stores.

Captain Mitchell recalled:

As soon as I knew of the fact of the steward’s ill-treating the boy Abraham, I spoke to hi m about it, and told him not to let me hear of any more of it; told him that the boy was to tend only myself and wife, in the cabin, and that he should have nothing to do with him. Before this I had allowed the steward to make use of him about his work, when not wanted in the cabin, bat finding that he not only made him do all the work while he lay around doing nothing, but also abused him, I would not let him have anything to do with the boy at all. I was afraid he would set the ship on fire, all the time, by his careless handling of the kerosene-oil; had to watch him all the time. I remember, one time, when I caught him pouring the oil on the fire from a can—a large can, holding at least two gallons. He said his mother was burned up and lost her life in the same way—putting krosene-oil on the fire to make it burn. It is a wonder he did not set the ship on fire and burn her up, for his careless handling of the oil had been going on for some time before any one knew anything about it. The morning I speak of catching him pouring the oil on, I do not think I should have known anything about it, but that the oil in the can, or the gas, did take fire and blow the top of the can off. The noise attracted my attention.

I do not consider that the ship is safe a moment with that man on hoard, and, in the interest of the owners, I have to request that this man be at once taken out of the ship. I can’t keep him on the ship. Every night he goes on shore without leave, stays all night, and comes back late for duty in the morning. I can’t have such work. It is a bad example for the men forward, and already it begins to have its effects. I can call Mrs. Mitchell, my wife, to testify, if you wish, regarding the steward’s conduct during the voyage.

Defense.

The defendant, Ellis, declined to make any statement, other than that the captain promised him a whole state-room to himself, and had not given it to him, but had put the cabin-boy in with him; said that either he or the cabin-boy must leave the ship. (Addressing himself to the captain,) “I deny all the charges made.”

Decision.

In view of the filthy habits of the steward, his careless handling of material like kerosene-oil, his wasteful handling of the stores of the ship, and ill-treatment of the boy Abraham, I have decided to discharge the man Ellis, with the loss of extra wages, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3/1873, but that all wages due to date of discharge shall be paid in full; and he shall be shipped on the American bark “Menschikoff,” Captain Bannister commanding, now about leaving this port for San Francisco.