740 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Reading Time: 4 minutes [596 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

Havana and African trade. The guns were made of brass, and I think they were long twelve-pounders.

Benjamin Brown Head: I am the mate of the Mexican. At four A.M., I came on deck and was informed of the circumstance by the second mate. When he told me this, I asked if he could still see the vessel he spoke of. He said no. I asked him for the glass, went with it to the forecastle, and saw the schooner. She was then standing towards us. I went below and called the captain, thinking she might want to hail us. The captain came up and stayed until daylight.

The schooner was then coming up with us rapidly, and we shortly saw her plainly. She appeared to be full of men. Captain Butman initially thought they were not men, but the deadeyes of the lower rigging. We went about our work as usual, not paying much attention to the schooner. However, at half-past seven, finding that she lay a great deal nearer to the wind than we could and that she sailed almost twice as fast as we did, we began to notice her movements. Captain Butman said he would like to tack and try to get away from her. We did so and stood to the west for half an hour.

We suspected the schooner from the number of men she had on board and from her maneuvers. I told the captain I thought it would be of no use to attempt to hide the money, as all our crew knew it was on board. While we were talking, the second mate came down and said the schooner was chasing us. We went on deck, and the second mate said the schooner had just fired a gun; we saw the smoke, and she was just then setting her square-sail. We consulted on what was best to be done and finally thought it best to heave to, knowing it would be of no use to attempt an escape.

Captain Butman ordered the colors to be hoisted and the main-topsail backed. We saw the men very thick upon her forecastle, from which we were hailed. We saw knives under the sleeves of their jackets when they came on deck—they drew them. They were long, Spanish knives. One of them directed the captain to go down into the cabin and followed him with two others. The captain had not been down long before he called to me and told me to bring all hands aft.

The three men then came up from the cabin, pointed their knives at us, and directed us to go down one at a time. When all the crew were in the cabin, the three men came down also and told us to get up the money quickly. They struck us with their knives because they thought we were not quick enough. We could not get the money up quicker due to being flustered and alarmed by their conduct. As fast as the boxes were brought up, they were carried on deck.

After they were all up, one of the pirates hailed the schooner and said there was plenty of money on board the brig and also mentioned something about the launch. Immediately afterward, we saw the launch coming from the schooner. The money was put in and carried on board the schooner. They ransacked every place in the vessel, seeking more money. The boatswain told me to go forward, kicked me into the forecastle, and placed a man to keep watch.

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