A Steamboat Inspector on Trial, and the Men Who Kicked

Supervising Inspector Bermingham's court of inquiry into the charges brought against Capt. Bryant, inspector of hulls, may come to an end today. The prosecution virtually closed yesterday, though it reserved the right to examine two additional witnesses before the final adjournment. Counsel for the defense stated last evening that these two witnesses were George Sletten and the purser of the Flyer. They will be examined this morning. The morning was consumed by the prosecution, and in the afternoon witnesses were called in the interest of Capt. Bryant.

The first witness was George P. Thorndyke, purser of the steamer City of Kingston. He testified that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, Bryant paid fare when traveling on the City of Kingston. Witness did not know whether Bryant had staterooms or not. Previous to that Thorndyke was instructed by the managers of the City of Kingston to carry the inspector of hulls free. There were trips when witness himself passed Bryant.

On cross-examination by Arthur Griffin, who took L. C. Gilman's place, Mr. Thorndyke testified that the freight clerk assisted him at times in collecting fares and it might be possible that Bryant had paid him the fare.

Special Treasury Agent Leslie Cullom was next placed on the stand at his own request to correct a point in the testimony which he gave on Thursday. Mr. Cullom stated that, when questioned by Attorney Gilman for the defense on Thursday as to why he had not interviewed the officials of the Puget Sound and Alaska Steamship Company, he could not recall the names of those he had seen. While on the way to Tacoma he had refreshed his memory. When he was investigating the charges against Capt. Bryant in 1894 he interviewed Capt. Roberts, Edward Clements and John Brondo, and each spoke favorably of Capt. Bryant and said he was a fair and impartial officer.

Samuel Kilduff, of the Kilduff Bros., owners of steamers at Whatcom, gave testimony to the effect that Capt. Bryant's reputation among the better class of seafaring men was good, while among the dissipated class it was bad. On another point witness said he had talked with and knew forty pilots and mariners, and out of this lot Capt. Brownfield was the only one who said anything against Bryant. Mr. Kilduff had talked with Capt. Brownfield and the latter had spoken favorably of Bryant.

'Mr. McAlpine came on the stand in this case and testified that Bryant's reputation was bad. Do you think he was guilty of perjury for doing so?' asked Mr. Gorham, for the defense.

'No,' said the witness, 'but Capt. McAlpine told me Bryant's reputation was good.'

Anton Nielson, a master and pilot, testified that he heard C. F. Kraft offer to bribe Capt. Bryant to give the steamer Quickstep a passenger license, and Kraft told witness so afterward. Witness had talked with Capts. Kilduff and Brownfield and they had a good impression of Capt. Bryant.

The defense opened its case in the afternoon by calling Capt. George Roberts, of the steamer City of Kingston. He said that he had been a master of steamers for fifteen years and had been in the steamboat business for twenty-four years. During the past few years he had been master of all of the large steamers. He never knew of Capt. Bryant being in the insurance business and did not know of his selling life preservers. No one had ever told him that Bryant had a bad reputation or that he was incompetent to fill the position which he at present occupies. On the contrary, the witness believed that Bryant enjoyed a good reputation and thought him a competent man. Roberts said he did not find Bryant arbitrary in his dealings with him.

Under cross-examination the witness admitted that he had not conversed with many others concerning Capt. Bryant and he could not tell what his reputation was in the minds of the general public. The witness further stated that his business threw him mostly among masters and pilots of the larger steamers.

George H. Lent, the marine engineer, succeeded Roberts on the witness stand. He had been engaged on the steamer City of Kingston for about nine years. Mr. Griffin asked him if he knew Capt. Bryant's reputation for fairness and impartiality among seafaring men. The witness replied that he had never heard anything against Bryant.

Mr. Gorham, in cross-examination, wanted to get at the value of the steamers and the capital stock of the companies for whom the witness had worked, but Inspector Bermingham did not consider such a line of questioning proper. Mr. Gorham said the prosecution was desirous of showing that Capt. Bryant always treated the head men of the larger vessels with consideration and respect.

Capt. Nelson, of the tug Pioneer, testified that Capt. Bryant's reputation for fairness and impartiality among seafaring men was good; at least he had never heard that it was not. He had never heard Bryant charged with being arbitrary or with unjustly discriminating. Nelson said under cross-examination that he had been master of the Pioneer for two years before that he was on another tug. Mr. Gorham got out of the witness that he had devoted his attention at sea a great deal of his time, and that therefore he was not competent to tell what Bryant's general reputation was.

The next witness, Capt. J. K. Lennon, said that he had been a master of vessels for thirty-one years and had been acquainted with Bryant for twelve years. The witness, according to his own statement, had never had any occasion to know Capt. Bryant as an arbitrary man. He believed that as a rule his treatment of pilots was fair; so far as the witness knew he had never refused a competent man a license or granted one to an incompetent one. When asked whether he had been pretty closely associated with Capt. Bryant, the answer was in the negative.

'Weren't you arrested at Edmonds some years ago for making a false arrest?'

'I was detained two days.'

Inspector Bermingham said that the witness was not on trial, and Mr. Gorham stated that he was questioning the witness concerning the arrest because he wanted to show that both he and Bryant had been mixed up in it. Inspector Bermingham would not permit the prosecution to go into the matter.

John Lavin, a marine engineer who has been employed on the Sound for six years, was examined as to the competency of Capt. Crossett, who, the prosecution claimed, had received a license from Bryant notwithstanding that he was incompetent. Lavin said he believed that Crossett was entitled to a license; he had known him for a long time, had worked with him for a number of months, and he considered him a thoroughly good man.

'I know this,' said the witness, 'that when you want to find those people who talk about Capt. Bryant you want to go up in front of the Nevada saloon.' The witness admitted, in answer to a question from Gorham, that he took an occasional drink himself.

'Do you work for a salary or on percentage?' inquired the prosecution's counsel.

'On percentage,' was the answer.

Mr. Gorham started to ask the witness how long he had worked on percentage, but Inspector Bermingham said the question was unnecessary.

'I ask these questions, if the court please,' said Mr. Gorham, 'in order to show that the witness is not competent enough to draw a salary and has been working on percentage for a long time.'

Inspector Bermingham would not permit the question to be answered and the witness was excused.

Capt. W. I. McCabe, a stevedore, testified that in his business he came in contact with a great many seafaring men and they, or rather the majority of them, had always spoken well of Bryant. He had never heard anything detrimental to him. Under cross-examination the witness said it was true that he had never made Bryant's reputation a subject for discussion.

'Then how are you in a position to tell what is Bryant's reputation?'

'I get my knowledge from what I have heard.'

Capt. Edward Harrington said he had been a master for eight years. He had acted in that capacity on the Greyhound and several other Sound steamers. He and Bryant had been acquainted for a period of eleven years. 'Most everybody I ever heard talk about Bryant,' testified the witness, 'gave him a good reputation.' Harrington said he believed that Bryant had been condemned by Harbor No. 15 because some of its members had failed to get their papers raised. 'Just the other night,' said Harrington, 'a man came to me and told me to come up and tell what I knew against Bryant. I replied that I had nothing to tell.' In answer to a question from Mr. Gorham, the witness said that the person who had approached him was Capt. Struve. Mr. Gorham wanted to know the names of some of the men who had failed to get their papers raised, but Capt. Harrington would not mention them.

'Weren't you captain of the steamer Volga?' inquired Mr. Gorham.

'I was,' answered Harrington.

'She was arrested, was she not, by the United States government for smuggling?'

'She was, but they—'

'That's all,' said Mr. Gorham.

'Finish the answer,' called out Mr. Griffin.

'I intended to state,' said the witness, 'that she was innocent. Nothing was ever proved against her.'

Capt. W. Mann, of the steamer Evangel, testified that he had been master of vessels for about six years. His acquaintance with Capt. Bryant covered the period of Bryant's term in office. So far as the witness had ever heard, the reputation of Bryant was good. He had never known Bryant to refuse a competent man a license. The witness stated under cross-examination that he thought he was pretty generally acquainted with the steamboat men of the Sound. It was impossible for him to state with how many men he had discussed Bryant. It might have been forty and it might have been fifty.

Capt. James Morgan, one of the owners of the Evangel, who has been on the Sound for nineteen years, gave testimony in Bryant's favor. Bryant, he said, had always treated him fairly. The witness considered that Bryant's reputation was 'over the average for square dealing.' The witness, when cross-examined, could not say whether Bryant had ever been unfair with other persons. 'I have heard incompetent men kick,' testified the witness, 'but I never heard competent men kick.'

Capt. P. H. Hastings, of Port Townsend, who for four years has managed a steamship company operating five steamers on the Sound, gave testimony to the effect that he had known Capt. Bryant ever since he entered upon his duties as inspector. Before becoming manager of the steamship company he had been a seafaring man. As to Bryant he thought that 25 per cent of the mariners thought that Bryant was 'not on the square' and about 75 per cent believed that he was all right.

Cross-examined, the witness could not say how many captains and pilots there are on Puget Sound. He believed there were more than 50 and less than 1,000, but would not venture an estimate. The witness thought that probably fifty persons had spoken well of Bryant to him, while about twenty-five had spoken against him.

Capt. Newhall, formerly of the Buckeye, said that he had been in the steamboat business since 1868. He had known Bryant for eight years. So far as the witness knew, his reputation was good. The witness had heard men say some very mean things about Bryant. 'When I first came here, Capt. Newhall, you and I were good friends, but we had a fall out.' The witness said that Bryant, notwithstanding that they were good friends, had subjected him to what he considered an unnecessary annoyance when he took out his papers. 'He refused pointblank,' said the witness, 'to give me a captain's license.'

Capt. Z. J. Batch testified that, when he first came here, he considered that Bryant was pretty hard on him, 'but I suppose,' said the witness, 'that he wanted to know whether or not I was competent to have a license before he granted me one.' He believed that Bryant had a good reputation among seafaring men, though he had heard some good men kick.

'Would you be surprised to hear of a specific case where Capt. Bryant has been vindictive and arbitrary?' asked Mr. Gorham.

Inspector Bermingham said the witness did not have to answer the question.

'Some men,' remarked Mr. Gorham, 'live good lives. They reach a certain period in life. Then they steal a fortune and escape. You can always get the entire community to come forward and swear that the man's moral character had always been good.'

'No one here has stolen a fortune,' said Inspector Bermingham, and the witness was excused.

Capt. G. A. Swift, of the steamer Mabel, testified that he did not know much about Bryant, but persons with whom he had talked had always given him a good name. He had once spoken to Bryant about having his steamer insured, and Bryant referred him to some company. He couldn't remember the time of it, and did not know whether Bryant was interested in it.

After Swift left the stand a recess was taken until 9 o'clock this morning.