John Miner (Schooner), U12786, 20 Aug 1900

AS A ‘PERSUADER’
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      SCHOONER CAPTAIN FLOURISHED A REVOLVER TO MAKE HIS CREW WORK
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      THEY WERE "GREEN" AND SCURRIED BELOW WHEN A SQUALL HIT
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Joseph Recor has laid a complaint against Capt. Edward Cummerford, of the schooner John Miner, charging him with assault. Commissioner Graves will hear the case this morning. The Miner was bringing down a cargo of cedar post to Detroit and the alleged assault occurred Monday afternoon when the big squall struck the vessel on Lake Huron.
Recor avers that the captain caught him by the throat and choked him, threatened him with a revolver, and when prevented by the crew from using this weapon, seized an iron bar and threatened to brain him.
When Deputy U. S. Marshal Cash P. Taylor served the papers yesterday, Capt. Cummerford told another story. He states that he commissioned an acquaintance to hire some hands for him and Recor was one of those engaged. He says none of the party was a sailor, and they knew nothing about handling a vessel. When the squall came up Monday afternoon Recor was at the wheel and the captain ordered him to put the helm to starboard, but Recor put it to port. The captain jumped to the wheel and pushed Recor to one side. The squall frightened the green men, he says, and they went below, refusing to come on deck to shorten sail when ordered to do so. The captain put an experienced sailor at the wheel and then got his revolver and used it as a persuader to bring the men on deck. This, the captain says, is the extent of the alleged assault.
      Detroit Free Press
      Thursday, August 23, 1900


Schooner JOHN MINER. U. S. No. 12686. Of 273.32 tons gross; 259.6 tons net. Built at Detroit, Mich., in 1866. Home port, Chicago, Ill. 134.4 x 26.0 x 10.4
      Merchant Vessel List, U.S., 1895