The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 285 - Bully Bob Waterman

Episode Date: July 24, 2017

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine celebrity ship captain Bully Bob Waterman.SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. Hi you're listening to the doll-up this is a bi-weekly American History

podcast each week I Dave Anthony read a story from American history to my friend who has no idea what topic is gonna be about. I did not know you were here. Yeah no we did not know. We just did one. I was looking over there I was doing an intro to a podcast. At this podcast. My podcast. Our podcast. Excuse me. Our podcast. The one we do. Yeah. The doll-up. Got two lift drivers to listen to the doll-up so let me know if you see a bump. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bump. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gara. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is

not gonna become a tickly podcast. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hell queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle. And do my thing. Hi Gary. No. Has he done my friend? No. No. If you can't if you do here at Thunder it's because we're recording this in Washington DC in a hotel room and there's outside outside of this hotel room is the worst weather known to humankind. Well and you know the thing is that it's so humid here that as normally I'd be like great rain but what it really means is just awful humidity. Hot wet rain. Yeah. I just I walked on the street and it's like these

people are all walking like they're dead like they died already. Yeah. Then they have to get somewhere. No it was kind of like walking around a cartoon. March 4th. Sure. 1808. Alrighty. Robert Waterman was born in Hudson New York. Okay. To Thaddeus and Elizo Waterman. Sure. The third of four children. Okay. All of whom lived past childhood. Wow. Yeah. It's shocking. That's that's a hundred percent. That's a lot for them. His father Thaddeus was a Nantucket whaling captain who died when Robert was eight. Okay. Died from whaling. Let's just pretend like that. Can we just say he was eaten by a whale. Yeah. He was eaten

by a whale. Thank you. The family moved to Fairfield Connecticut and Robert's mother died in 1820 when he was 12. You know we know how she died. Can we say we're also eaten by a whale. Eat by a whale too. The boy that the odds of having four kids live and then the parents both being eaten by a whale. I know it's crazy but that was astronomical. That was the time and that was Connecticut. Yeah that's Connecticut. So he's 12 which means he's basically an adult back then. You're on your own. So what is your wife. She's eight. What does 12 year old boy do when he's on his own. Well he went to see aboard a China trading ship. Of

course. I was gonna. That's exactly next time. That's exactly what I would do. Yeah. Yeah. Get on a Chinese ship. So there were well established trade routes between the US and China. American ships brought back T silk and opium. Sure. Which we which we do find. Yeah. Robert Waterman was once ordered to climb the ship's mast to look for land while strong winds were blowing. When your last names Waterman do you have much of a choice but to become pretty aquatic. None. You've got to get involved somehow. You don't have a choice. Yeah. You're a waterman. Legally you have to. And meet the ocean boy. Back in the water. Put him

back in his pool. Put him in his pool. Throw the fish tails at him. After slipping Waterman managed to quickly grab onto a rope but ripped out all of his fingernails. So that's just life on the boat. And when he slipped someone was trying to say there's water man. But he was like how are you. That's not true. Is that true. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. It's in the book my parents read by Wales. This was his life for many years. Just walking and slipping on a ship. By 1821 at the age of 21. Okay. Sorry. At 1829 at the age of 21. Okay. Robert Waterman was said to be the finest first mate. The youngest first mate on record. I put finest in there

because I was thinking he might be pretty. Maybe. In my mind there's a very. Is he falling. Pretty gentleman. Just blossom in front of him. Fine. If you want to assume these are. Yeah. Very attractive man. So he's got a shirt off a lot. This is. Wow. He's doing push ups. Yeah. So sweaty. And then and then Dave was here. And then down the crew quarters things are tight. And there's a lot of massages. We should probably spoon for heat. So this is when he was on the freight ship Britannia which became his first command during a trip to South America. 21. 21. 21. Yep. I mean he started at 12. So you got a bit of a jump.

That's true. So in 1836 at age 37. Waterman accepted command of the cotton freighter Natchez built in New Orleans and owned by the Manhattan Merchant Company who I think we're all big fans of. Yeah. He started to become known for his speed and finding new faster routes. Okay. So it's like a fucking ship. Innovator. Sure. Route. Quickener. Is that. Possibly at a. Term. No. I think so. I don't think so. On the Natchez he sailed to the West Coast of South America then to China and he did it in nine months 26 days in the passage home from China in 94 days. So these are records. He's killing it.

He's fucking killing it. Right. In 1845 he sailed 3955 miles in 78 days six hours setting a new record. Okay. His crew is not the best. Oh another captain wrote quote the crews they shipped were a caution. Packet rats they were called and that was an insult to the rats. Okay. Brawlers sea lawyers pimps sea lawyers I don't I don't know what just happened there. I get brawlers and pimps drunkards no goods all and then he throws in sea lawyers. I represent the octopus. Well that's why you're in a group with ruffians because there is no need to represent an octopus. I would actually like to call to the

stand the grouper. I am suing plankton. I represent seaweed and on behalf of coral coral coral who has an actual case. Yeah. Actual case. Yeah. So all these guys liked short runs. I didn't like to go on a long journey. Sure. I get that in and out. Yeah. Sure. A few weeks at sea and then the dives of Liverpool or New York till they finish their pay then another ship and another drink. Young Bob bully Waterman should be considered one of the smartest skippers in the American Merchant Marine. He was a character around New York. Kids followed him. Sailors cheered him.

Even his own men they were proud to serve under such a captain. He made them all heroes. He was a smart dresser and soft spoken when his shore bully so he's he's like a he's like a boat celebrity. Oh okay that's cool. So it's like because he's making fucking records like he's like the dude that's right. Yeah he's a Chuck Yeager of his time. Sure he's yeah he's the boat guy. It's cool. It's fucking crazy. A society woman on one of his ships said he was tall and gaunt

profane and even cruel on the ship's deck but he was a gentle and kind to women. Okay. This was a time when it was difficult to find sailors ship owners and captains complained because they could not get young men to become sailors. All right. From the daily Alta California newspaper quote when the men the ruffians and cutthroats were all on board and down in their quarters sleeping off the poisonous Shanghai liquor. Well that's loaded. Is this an editorial? They remain for some hours in a state of beastly

insensibility until the stern voice of the first mate orders sleepers do come on deck. Perhaps out of a crew of 20 or 25 men there can be found but half who are fit to work the rest too drunk to stand. Wow. So that's drunk. Yeah I mean that's that's why it's called a party boat. It is a party boat. I didn't know. Once the ship set out it became quickly obvious who were the experience sailors and who were the green hands. Okay. The green hands wouldn't even know the meaning of words being shouted by the captain and officers. Right so that's

an easy way to tell. Oh yeah for me I'd be like what's a the stern is the witch. Port side man get moving. What. The stern. Port. God damn it. Are you talking about an after dinner wine. Starboard fool starboard. Starboard. Yes. Oh that's a movie with Michael Douglas. Oh my god. Where they create like a like a secret court. I'm thinking of star chamber. I represent star chamber. I'm the star attorney. 50% of men on the ships had no idea what they were

doing when they got there and had to learn fast. Okay. And it was dangerous work hungover tired and drunk man did not make for a good crew. The officers took to beating the men shall we say to motivate. It's an interesting tactic. I mean it works. Yeah. Quote the officer. I think we've learned it doesn't work. No that's how this podcast gets done. If you're not funny the beating you get people don't people don't know but I when we do the podcast

I have a sock full of batteries. Let's not peel the curtain back too far but yeah Dave has a sock full of batteries and you know sometimes there's a dud and when there is Dave will look at me and he'll hit the stop record button and we'll take about 20 minutes and you know Dave will just welt up my back and the back of my legs with a sock full of D batteries. Right. Now continue. This is the same way He-Ha was made. That's exactly right and I'll tell you the product is almost as good. Thank you. Yes. Quote the officers led by the

captain generally come off victorious when the men with numerous cracked heads and bloody faces turn to and go to work. Wow. So it. So they're beating the shit out of the crew and then they're working to make them work. Okay seems pretty straightforward. From the Daily Alta quote men who so impose on the master of a vessel cannot be treated gently they must be forced to learn their duty in short order. This force forcing process is anything but pleasant to those who have to submit to it

and he creates among the men. Why do you think the numbers dropped. I don't know why they kick guys to work on the ship. Was there a reason that people didn't want to go out for these. I don't know you know millennials are lazy. It is millennials it is total millennial behavior. So it creates among the men themselves a most woeful state of demoralization such as fights in the quarters with each other collisions with the officers on decks and in fact there is no end to the state of utter discomfort and wretchedness. There are many sea captains who would be

glad to see some of these great abuses end but they are perfectly powerless in the grasp of the dollar loving owners. So there we go. Right so so the the ship's captain the owners I mean just want their ships moving and bringing in product so they don't give a shit how they get a crew right and anybody with a brain is not getting on a ship now because it's so brutal right so they're just grabbing people forcing them to

work because they need to make their runs in time so they're just brutalizing human beings sounds cool the living situation for sailors was horrendous okay they live it doesn't sound like that they lived in a den under the deck at the forward part of the ship it was usually triangular in shape around 18 feet long that's pretty tight along the sides were bunks some of which had to accommodate two men a couple of bros it's just

that's a seniority imagine the smell that's a seniority situation what do you mean like newbies the who you newbies bunk together yeah but if you if you've been if this isn't your first rodeo you're sprawled out comfortably in your 18 foot triangular room in your own bed yeah have you ever seen the movie cabin boy yes it's a lot like that that's very realistic that was a documentary wasn't it many slept without covers the door was just a little square opening in the deck and then there was a climb down a steep ladder

that was covered in grease and dirt that's good it smelled horrendous you called that well Dave I think I think it's easy to make those calls often at the bottom there was water ankle deep sure this is really cool this is fun a grimy lamp was continually burning as the ship rolled from side to side they'd see and hear the swash of filthy water on the deck that actually sounds kind of calming though well it sounds calming when you've got what's happening behind us classic dc yeah

and this is why shanghai man was the rage the president just tweeted from the New York Times quote hundreds of sailors were captured in the city usually in the saloons and beaten into insensibility to awaken when the ship was at sea and the captain in absolute tyrant so the we heard this on some on another one but just beating and throwing them on ships and then you're like oh no yeah shanghai kelly and it might have been in another one too yeah but that was the thing you would you know it was there was a huge market

fair it's a huge market seems a little unfair well don't be drinking and hanging around okay since it is inevitable that the sailor ashore will spend his money without a thought of tomorrow he lives a slave to the crimps the crimps uh that's an eddie murphy movie sure in 1846 the manhattan merchant company was building a an opium running clippership called the sea witch for robert waterman to command well nothing strange about that sentence

as he waited for the vessel to be constructed he met and married cordelia sterling he left soon after on the sea witch so he got married sure new york uh herald sometimes i don't know who's the sea witch the boat i'm on or that cordelia he's funny too he's funny too sometimes i don't know no no it was enough yeah yeah yeah just quit with your head yeah yeah the new york herald quote this is the most regal vessel we have ever seen and no less striking is captain bob

waterman's fresh young bride she swung the bottle of champagne against the hull and christened to handsome his ship sailing out of new york so this is like page six like he's like a fucking celebrity right right he's like a boat celebrity yeah he's a boat slam newspapers wrote about liberty yeah and newspapers at this time are a celebrity we're writing a lot about ships of course i mean god it's such exciting stuff shipbuilding and what ships arrived in port sure and who and what cargo was on them oh my god i mean

i already want to just get all the info i can on these exciting tales ships also brought letters and news from around the world and the other side of the united states papers would announce the arrival of a ship three weeks from new york or a month out of china and people are like oh my god the papers wrote of waterman and the sea witch setting a record of 81 days from china in a monsoon quote on her second voyage captain waterman brought the sea witch to new york on march 15th 1848 76 days out from cranton

a new world record record for a sailing vessel they're all very exciting that is i mean just the blood is just yeah you can feel it you can feel it things really opened up for the american clipperships in 1849 because of a british navigation laws which were ended and that ended in english monopoly on trade also the discovery of gold in california to get manufactured goods to san francisco you needed a ship quote for a dollar in new york you could rent a hotel room in the

aster house a dollar in san francisco bought a single egg so there's like a money to be had in ships right okay from an old sea book quote though federal legislation legally prohibited captains from flogging their crews they freely wielded belaying pins which are metal or wooden rods used in the sail rigging marlin spikes a large spike used on ships or their bare fists all to keep the crew in line sounds like flogging so it's illegal but accepted

like everyone knows that's what's happening everyone's like yeah we yeah you beat the sailors i mean what are you gonna do most of our drunk anyway so what are you gonna do you gotta hit them with a big spike right let's not do anything about it america not us in 1849 bob bully waterman turned the sea witch over to his first mate and started captaining steam ships okay he ran gold seekers between new york and california gold secrets seekers gold seekers so he's running the gold rush guys

from new york california and making shits loads of money sure made enough money to buy a farm and then announced he was retiring nice i like that bully he moved to susan valley in california northeast of san francisco there he got into a partnership and became successful raising cattle and growing lima beans to sell gold rush miners okay so a classic lima and cattle story sure the miners like the beans huh love the beans cool but apparently the sea called bob waterman back

she calls me here i go to sleep at night in the beans and all i hear is the sea a crashing cordy i might need to make another trip out to the sea daily alta california august 16th 1850 quote the favorite nerik steam ship the northerner and captain waterman arrived in the harbor at dawn yesterday morning there was delay of six or seven hours because of the non-appearance of the health officer at the ship's arrival in the harbor the passengers many of whom were sick with panama fever were kept in suspense until it suited the convenience

of his quote medical majesty to permit the vessel a free pass to the city shots fired so what that dude just didn't show up and these guys had a they had to wait on the ship even dying dying a malaria oh my god the passengers thank waterman for the kind inhospitable treatment they received which thanks for the illness rendered their voyage most agreeable except for the dying part besides them but captain waterman wasn't too fond of steamships and he went back to his farm

okay then nl and g griswold company decided to build a hundred and fifty thousand dollar clipper ship called the challenge oh boy this was twice what they spent on any clipper to date all right so this is a big deal it's a big deal someone's blowing it out clipper nation but they regularly made between 400,000 and 700,000 from a single cargo it's a lot of money back then right so 150,000 ship is going to pay for itself yeah the challenge was 2100 tons 240 feet in length 46 feet across

25 inches deep who are you going to get to run this and to captain the most expensive ship they wanted the best of course they invited captain bob bully waterman to sail the ship in 1851 it was rumored he would get a $10,000 bonus if he put the ship into san Francisco in 90 days oh dear neat what i just we have our plot the bus just went 55 newspapers went on and on about the ship quote the ship sides are smooth as cabinet work and every line in woodwork

corresponds with the rest and we're crazy and a broad side on her appearance is truly beautiful she could not have been more perfect to the eye i'll be honest when everybody went home that night i went around the back and had sex with the vessel i found a vagina on the boat they call it the challenge because you couldn't find where i put it after that little part i read the article newspaper article continued with three columns filled with detailed descriptions of the ship types of wood used on the decks for the

beams in the cabins etc the size and construction of the sails dimensions beam size legs well first of all it doesn't matter the size of the beam it's what you do with it but i it would be great to live in a time where this was life was so simple that you were like honey you've got to read this article on a boat my god the beams down in the deck are remarkable this is just i the more the better i this is a fascinating story of a boat four inches across this beam this unbelievable i would like to get my eyes

on that ambitious so ambitious ambitious and smooth i hear it has smooth i hear the sternas of a vagina oh yeah i've had sex with it oh yes tremendous yes don't tell helen on his first day as captain before you've been setting sail bob bully waterman argued and fired his first mate okay good start as the challenge was at anchor in the new york city harbor a boat from a nearby ship rode alongside okay so they've got like a buddy boat

it's a rowboat guy comes guy comes in a row boat from a nearby ship okay let's just say hey it was james douglas okay who was known as black douglas who was one of the toughest first mates in the fleet okay he hailed captain waterman who immediately recognized him black douglas explained that he was forced to be tough on the crew of the ship he had just left and so now was unsafe for him to go to port because he was gonna get just yeah come up and yeah he'd

he'd been bad okay he'd been a bad bad boy so he's looking for a job and wanted to immediately go back to sea this worked out pretty well yeah i mean if you're just rowing around looking for a job you're fired hey you're great you need to go out again get up here boy what is this a movie waterman hired douglas on the spot as first mate a tough first mate is exactly what waterman was looking for quote he knew strict discipline would be necessary with this crew since it was comprised of criminals sick

and shanghide men enlisted while they were drunk in waterfront bars indeed some of them were among the most desperate characters that ever sailed out of the port of new york i just have all the bad decisions one makes when intoxicated waking up on a ship oh not good just but waterman really didn't fully understand how horrible his crew was until he was actually sailing off the coast okay so he was right and at that point he's seriously considered taking the ship back to new york to get another crew

but then he realized it would cost the owners quite a bit each crew had already received three months advance wages which they would keep after being fired and they need to have to go and find a new crew and pay them the same amount right not to mention the loss of time turning the ship around so he decided to keep the ship on course okay the crew of the challenge was made up of 56 men and eight boys okay eight boys i think you i don't know a lot about this time but i think the boys are for eating you eat the boys is that true i think so yeah

to avoid scurvy oh okay so if i know my man got a lemony's ass if i know my medicine after giving orders to douglas waterman called all hands on deck and gave a speech in which he said that the men would find out that they were on board a good and comfortable ship with plenty to eat and very little work to do uh-huh it's gonna be fun boys i think at the end of this you'll have a good time the challenge this is all about the challenge is not to have fun all right everyone gather around we're gonna

play some songs play some songs yeah we're gonna sing and play some songs play songs we'll play some songs like on the okay sale but when the officers gave them orders he told them they must willingly and quickly obey he also said he hoped none of them had brought pistols or weapons on board as those sort of things make trouble at sea well we have some foreshadowing i hope you haven't brought the gun or a machete or anything of that nature it get it gets weird out here

yes it makes the flogging difficult when your arm it's very stabby yeah but he was apparently not dealing with a normal crew daily out the quote these able seamen were not sailor men at all but black legs of the vilest type who had taken the job as a means of getting to the california gold mines okay so no interest in doing the work just looking for a free ride uh a black leg at that time was a swindler a cheat possibly from the long black top boots professional

sports gamblers war then that's a giveaway i didn't know that they did that yeah well if you want people to not know that you're a great gambler just wear shoes not boots sneakers yeah some sneaks some adidas and then things got immediately bad according to the paper quote it also developed that many of the men had contracted a loathsome disease most difficult to cure at sea and at one time 17 of the crew were laid up and off duty with many more crewmen faking illness and injury that's great the fake

but i gotta say if if you're sick and i assume if you're sick like stuff's coming out of you on both holes okay then i don't want to be downstairs with you in the sleeping area no i'll work remember how we heard about how guys handle that situation on a boat there's a rope yeah yeah yeah oh god there's a rope it's a wiping rope yeah yeah yeah yeah from a sailor's diary quote thanks for the callback off the cape we took a snow squall it lasted two days and during the time we did not gain a mile on our passage during the gale we lost three men

it was on a cold morning and the sail was flapping very hard the sailor next to me was thrown overboard by the sail and drowned oh wow about five minutes later two more went one struck the deck and was killed the other went overboard and drowned oh such cold weather i never saw in my life the ship was rolling her rail under both sides the sea ran mountains high and would come over the sides we had the worst passage that we could have done that sounds horrible such a set of sailors there

never was before in any other ship in this wide world out of 56 only 10 americans now maybe you won't believe it but i tell you it is the truth out of the 10 americans seven of them were boys wow so there's three adult americans okay i don't think that makes a difference i don't think it makes a difference but he's upset that it's mostly foreign guys the only americans are right little little ones right they took our jobs that nobody wants water may continue north but the trade winds pushed him back this guy filled dark

with clouds so he could not fix his position by the stars and had no idea where he was when the storm broke the challenge was 66 days out of new york and they had not yet reached the equator in the pacific okay while the chances of setting a record passage were gone he still wanted to make a good time can he hit the 90 days still no no okay it was uh what he was known for right after all so he's still gonna do it because of his crazy pride it dictated uh and he was soon taking his frustrations out on the crew

even though two men just died of dysentery that's a terrible way to go after 108 days the challenge sailed in ascent to the harbor flying the distress flag a rival clipper ship the flying cloud had made it in 89 days oh snap yeah yeah and how many of them died of dysentery they got it right up huh yeah the daily alto reported the trouble of the ship uh on october 30th 1851 quote the arrival of the challenge this splendor clipper ship commanded by captain waterman whose

arrival has been so impatiently awaited at this port arrived yesterday at 1 p.m the challenge has experienced an unusual mortality 10 men having died on board since the ship left new york a few days before her arrival a difficult paper just sounds so boring yeah okay so it says 10 men yeah died right so a lot and then it says a few days before her arrival a difficulty occurred on board between the first mate douglas and some of the sailors the mate

having been stabbed he got stabbed yeah douglas got stabbed the challenge is the largest ship that has ever visited this port and is a beautiful vessel ah here we go yeah get to the meat of it after reporting on the stabbing and the depths the following paragraphs of the story described the ship in detail but let's not bury the lead types of wood uh-huh length of sails oh sure size of cabins etc is that news that could be divulged at any point it doesn't need to be the

day that it comes in when 10 men are dead captain waterman informs us that she is a noble sea boat and behaved well off cape horn during these storms okay for sure so they just don't even want to hear it well if you're reading the story you're like i want to hear about the stabbing oh hold on how about those beams oh look at the beams why don't they have pictures with these stuff oh they don't have pictures yet excuse me i was saying why don't they have pictures with the story in the paper but they don't have pictures yet they don't have photographs

photograph cameras haven't been invented son emet brown what that's a back to the future joke a terrible one but the people of the city seem to be more focused on the deaths and whatever happened on the ship they were they were like hey it sounds like a great ship tenor dead yeah okay basically good so there are normal humans rumors and reports swirled about the conduct of captain waterman and first made black douglas towards his crew during the voyage

the next day the daily alpha reported quote we have made particular inquiries respecting some of them and will state that however true a certain portion of the reports may be there are many that are absolutely false and it would do well for the public to reserve their opinion at least until it is known which of the stories can be relied upon okay but the sailors were talking fake news and they started gathering in large numbers in boats and on the wharf hoping to catch

waterman and douglas to lynch them okay so they not not polling great no things have things have gone south for bob waterman sure bully but waterman had gone on shore the day the ship arrived and was now said to be hidden in a secure place okay not douglas however the boatman and sailors gathered on all sides of the ship to prevent black douglas from escaping the crowd on shore increased to hundreds oh boy many thought there was no possibility of douglas escaping so they rode up toward

sandsome street tied the boats and walked down to the wife wharf to join the crowd okay the left side of the ship farthest from the wharf was now unwatched okay dumb plan yeah they had the ships around yeah and then they were like a bunch of guys i'm gonna be with that hey there's a bunch of guys over there i would hang out with the group of guys so they went over okay so they were like he's not going to be able to get out of here i'm so confident he won't let's ignore one side of it the whole side right

douglas then leapt over the side of the ship into a rowboat a friend had waiting for him the two men rode toward the city so now everyone's watching oh they can see they know they see him yeah right because he came out from behind the boat and and there he is uh and a bunch of sailors then went after them in their boats okay in their row boats yes everyone it's a murder it's a rowboat death rough it's a it's a a row race wrote death row death row we got it they followed him uh so he lands and they

followed him to where he lands hoping to catch him and hang him but after he jumped after he got out of the boat he ran into some bushes okay boy they were really not prepared for things that you think they would be it's hard it's hard once someone goes into bushes in the 1800s forget oh he's in the bushes we almost had him almost dust came and they were unable to find douglas rumors hit the streets one was that wadam had cleared the ship's decks of a crowd by pointing a swivel cannon at them

but he was not at the ship okay so rumors are fucking that these are okay right so people are now fake news losing it fake news the next day a large crowd of sailors gathered near pacific wharf and arrested captain lands the man who has had assisted douglas in the rowboat his name is captain lands yeah i mean it's a good name waterman and this guy's captain lands i mean you were you were born into a job clearly and i'm dougie row uh after a quote uh series of outrages

lamb told them where douglas was okay a series of outrages the bush a series of outrages is nothing i never want written about what's happened to me so it's a beating a store on uh a street near montgomery they went and searched the building but he was not there a pair of pants were found in the store aha that were recognized and swore by some of the men on the ship to be douglas he's out there bottomless running well those are his pants jimmy he's out there running like daffy duck hey larry you were on the ship of these

his pants oh yeah those are definitely his pants we got him yeah he's naked out there yeah let me sniff him and then i'll tell you for sure what's going on now right now yeah those are his those are his don't do that again i mean let me have a sniff and then no no no no no those are definitely i don't even need to sniff them those are his i feel a nauseous those are his like boat nauseous those are his hand under me and let me put jammamine let me put my face in the crotch and sniff just jimmy just put my

face in the crotch and sniff does jammamine work for when you're freaked out oh yeah these are his these are his look smell that crotch you tell me those i'm not gonna smell the crotch those are douglas smell that i know i will smell the butt part how would i know how the butt part smell let's smell that's him that's him i'm a hundred percent let's do this i'm in i i'm gonna bring the pants with me as a matter of fact you know keep sniffing him and maybe i'll pick up his scent yeah let's go let's get out of here high five come on don't touch him come on

don't touch him come on guys hey i got somebody to lynch yeah we're gonna lynch douglas oh butt smell larry it just says on his tube still smell the crotch what are the greatest crotch smells of all time oh these are his these are not his um quote his escape exasperated the crowd almost to madness and threats of lynching the owner owners of the store were freely shouted okay a clerk addressed the mob now numbering around 200 denying all knowledge of the first mate's whereabouts

okay so what happened was is the fucking land fella captain land captain land tells them he's in some store they go he was never in that fucking store and they see him pants look like his but it's bullshit uh those are those aren't those are the pants okay hand them to me let me take a rip no let me just take a rip it's not don't ever say rip let me take a rip of the crotch let me hit the crotch real quick with my nose the mayor and sheriff came and pledged that both captain

waterman and first mate douglas would be arrested in place before proper tribunals soon after they spoke a rumor that the first mate had fled towards the river swept through the crowd and they all ran off god they are like mob 101 they are just ready to go Montgomery street was again quiet okay so now we had intrigue along with outrage from the california courier paper quote the ship challenge has arrived and captain waterman the commander has also where are nine of his crew and where is he and his guilty

mate the accounts given of the conduct of waterman towards his men if true make him one of the most inhuman monsters of this age sure if they are true he should be burned alive so i mean he just beat the shit out of people but you shouldn't say if they are truly should be burned alive that's bad island solves nothing burn him that's bad reporting that's a report what about wait for evidence that is a report if they are true he should be burned alive he never should leave

this city a live man well you just you've already said it you're gonna burn him alive nine of his men are missing and the sailors who are here declare that four were shaken from the top sail into the sea where they were drowned and five of them died from the effects of wounds and ill treatment other sailors who have been maimed were removed to marine hospital the scene at this time on board of the ship defies all description five of the sailors mangled and bruised in the most shocking manner one poor fellow died today and five others

is expected will soon be in the embrace of death one of the men now lying on his deathbed has been severely injured in his genitals by a kick from the brute inhuman form oh my god had these poor men been in a den broke his genitals that's what it sounds like yeah that's a quite a kick that's why it's called the genital breaker though oh that's right had these poor men been put in a den with bears and panthers they could not have been much more inhumanly and shockly maimed well i'm gonna throw up an objection i'm also

gonna throw a flag on this one also where's their den of bears and panthers yeah those who i want i want to know about this place i want to go there yeah the bears are petting the panthers it's a whole thing this animated i think the captain this vile monster has made his escape and so has his brutal first mate it is an infamous outrage to have such a bloody murder to command a ship it is noted for his cruelty everywhere and in the streets of new york he dare not show himself nor dare he now show himself in this city if he is not removed we hope this

community will not permit such a monster to sail out of this port as captain of any vessel in all sincerity we hope the monster be caught and dealt with in the severest okay we get it dude you but he needs to be killed we get it so after that editorial hit the streets the mob went back to the montgomery street store and demanded captain waterman be handed over even though they were like we're just a store yeah no give it to us the rumor was that captain waterman had given himself up to authorities

and was confined somewhere in new montgomery street so they figured it was the store sure that makes total sense was there any the crowd wanted rationale they just were okay sure okay the mayor ordered the bell of the monumental fire engine company to be rung to call together the citizens in order to disperse the mob okay so now he's getting a mob to get rid of the mob i guess yeah i get yeah basically okay the members of the vigilance committee came out i'm a big fan of the vigilance

committee in large numbers and offered their services to the mayor to deal with the mob would you like the vigilance committee the vigilance or the pound squad the vigilance committee wore red flannel shirts and black slouched hats with pistols and bowie knives stuck in their leather belts trousers tucked into the tops of their cowhide boots anything with a uniform i'm out right yeah anytime they're just like we dress like this it's like no we don't no but the vigilance committee was a

vigilance committee and they demanded that the captain and first may be turned over for the purposes of justice we just want them to wear the outfit we have the mayor told the mob quote i shall now give you just 10 minutes to disperse and if you fail to comply i shall order every last one of you to be incarcerated in the city best deal in other words we'll put every damn one of you in jail so he probably said best deal and they were all they uh jail you idiot you oh okay brainless morons i don't speak french you lump

lumps of meat or or without an active mind i don't speak spanish spanish you idiot i don't speak french you stupid shits i don't speak portugal you'll rot behind bars you'll go to jail luxembourg it's gonna be a real tent a tent daily out the quote i'm having deja vu at the end the crowd had mostly left they however soon reassembled on pacific warf and large numbers here a proposition was made to scuttle the ship basically like whack-a-mop or burn it where you just get rid of them and then

they go to another area and now they're gonna burn the ship okay they're gonna burn the challenge that's what they're saying but it's such a beauty this was stated by one person who stood atop a box that it was the owner's fault that the outrages were committed he just needed a box and a dream back at this guy oh this guy's sort of onto something wait he's saying it's oh right so he's going to the top well he found a socialist right he did uh so it's the owner's fault that they knew the character of the captain and should

not have shipped such a man no violence was however committed the u.s marshall went on board the vessel and dispersed the crowd and forming the sailors that if they had any complaint to make they might go with him okay complaints were then made and yesterday the authorities were searching for captain waterman and douglas okay papers reported it was believed douglas had run off in the direction of san jose and that there were warrants against waterman charging him with quote murder and with knocking a man down

well what why why have that on the i mean what is the point of pursuing the knocking a man down when you have nine counts of possible murder you've been charged with murder also sir in a more disgusting charge you knocked a man down i regret knocking him down do you know what that does to a fella it hurts on the inside it demeans him i know after i knocked him down i feel real bad did you say real bad real bad you're adorable and right so i know i can't stay mad at this situation or you you knocked a man down

you are charged with assassination of the president and kicking dirt i did not kick how dare you uh waterman was said to be ready to stand trial and turn himself over to the us marshall as soon as he was certain that he wouldn't be lynched by a mob okay totally fair that assurance that's fair yeah douglas was indeed on his way to san jose around 50 sailors went on the road in search of him he was found in a horse cart with two other men they were planning to take him to where he could board a steamship headed for panamon

oh yeah he was shitfaced oh boy when they found him and said quote i'm douglas my name is douglas among sailors soldiers and gentlemen i whipped him and i'll whip him again well gentlemen if you want to hang me here's a pretty tree do it like man well dav i um yep feel like knowing this time period a little bit more after doing this podcast my guess is that this guy's going to be killed by hanging no instead he was taken to the county jail and turned over to the sheriff that is very

very adult all the way to the jail douglas insisted upon taking a drink at every bar they passed and they said yes what what what what the kind of i don't know so okay uh i talked to douglas and um right he's so he wants to make a deal um he's not willing to go along with the lynching i look i know we all saw this as a lynching but i think what we really want is we want him to get a message so i i said you know okay well jail um now on the way to the jail we're going to

need to stop at every bar so that he can have a drink that's a pub girl well not what he said was it's a jail will i tell you a pub girl well no but look i i've really i push back i let me let me tell you this let me just let me just say this yeah we're gonna he wanted to get dinner at every spot and i said absolutely not i said there's no time to get dinner at 11 different places who like you negotiate well i'm very good at this and and and i actually represent an octopus and uh so so holy shit what hold on yeah you're a sea lawyer yeah i'm a sea

lawyer yeah yeah i'm a sea lawyer oh i did you know yeah i'm a sea lawyer i practice sea law get the fuck out of here hey we gotta go to lynch i just want to know i will not let him sir i am a ruffian well uh the vengeance committee sees no reason why we should lynch um was there a sea lawyer song happening there was a i think the tv show was your tv show breaker uh who knows where it was gonna go i mean it's pretty obvious what'll happen

okay so now they have dug this in the jail some papers called for calm and stated many rumors floating about were false and to let justice take its course okay sacramento daily union november 5th quote the physician attending to the poor fellows taken from the ship challenge to the hospital says that five out of the 11 under his care will not be able to do anything for themselves in the future the injuries they have received on board the ship have maimed them for life good lord i mean they were just

beating gotta get guys to work man first mate james black douglas's trial started sailors testified about the brutality they received aboard the challenge quote douglas and the captain first went after the most useless members of the crew said uh george lessing pleading dysentery lessing refused to climb the rigging and douglas screamed at him go after the captain will kill you and then shoved lessing toward the captain waterman said i think we'll baptize him as he grabbed

lessing and tossed him into the drainage part of the deck where frigid waters were sloshing around douglas jumped up on the fallen man and held his head under water as lessing thrashed about douglas yanked him up and marched him over to a rail tied him to it and left him there in the freezing wind for close to an hour before cutting him free the shivering sickly man then went below to his bunk a few days later he had all the signs of acute dysentery and 12 days later he was dead

oh god even though douglas was said to be out of control with his frequent outbursts waterman let it go on and douglas soon went after another sailor who complained of inflamed legs and gave him a similar baptism in the freezing slush wow that's so that's so torturous douglas was then charged with the murder of a seaman who went by the name of papa p a p a w no not our papa okay not ours not pop pop testimony quote the old man died on board while going around cape horn he had

no socks or shoes when ordered did he bring any i don't think so you know that's a bad call if you get a drunk in a bar you know everyone smells someone has no shoes on or whatever and they're plowed is that something you're seeing a lot i mean i'm in dc yeah okay uh when ordered on deck he could hardly walk and his feet were frozen the day before he died the captain ordered some of us to let out a rope he was nearest to it so the captain beat him with a belaying pin

which is a metal rod because he was not quick enough he beat him over the head and shoulders then papa went down and stowed himself away the next morning papa was called on deck and the first mate began to question him he could hardly speak any english and douglas beat him with a stick struck him five or six times threw him down then holding him up pounded him struck him about the face ribs etc beating him for about two minutes i saw him lying on the floor of the quarters saw him laid on his bunk he laid there groaning his eyes swollen

and he could hardly see i went on deck and after an hour a man came up to say the old man was dead Jesus so in a situation like this there are two guys in charge basically there's other officers okay so you have to stand there and watch that yeah i think so okay because i in my head i would be like that's time that's mutiny that's why mutinies happen yeah the second day the union reported that abuse started even before the ship had left new york harbor well that you should i mean at least hold it until everyone's trapped in there a few days

before the challenge left a gray haired old man was brought ashore and taken off to a hospital his head was terribly cut after he was knocked down by douglas two others were brought ashore after being injured by watermen so they they they beat up three guys before the before they left for the harbour that's i mean that is i mean it's called just called getting the crew ready for the journey hey uh we should probably get off of this ship i think it's fine okay they've only taken three guys off that's true we've been

here an hour nine percent yeah yeah that's right but there was always going to be a counter on november 7th three crewmen and the second mate of the ship challenge were reigned on the charge of mutiny oh wow this was based on the affidavit of first mate douglas okay so he's so the i mean now he's like no they have their fuckers the i beat them how about they beat me so they're so douglas is the one calling mutiny because probably he's like for sure how could they not be thinking mutiny

yeah he because he was beating them up so the only way to the only way to really get away with beating them up is to say that they were mutinous right the passenger on board the challenge testified that he saw a sailor named berkinshaw come behind douglas and grab him then another sailor named smith jumped on him five or six men then started kicking douglas then watermen came up and jumped into the crowd and started hitting smith with a marlin spike and pulled him off douglas watermen stunned smith and tied him to a rail the passenger said

before before douglas tied up watermen he took off his coat before douglas tied up watermen oh sorry watermen so after what before watermen tied up douglas after after they've been beaten off of douglas douglas took off his coat and gave it to the passengers so he or she would be warm then he picked up a big a stick and started beating on other men so there really was this i'm not sure that's true okay that rings very lie sure it's that's a revision and then he gave

he was being beaten by man who are trying to mutiny and then he got free and he gave me his coat so i would be warm and then he went back to beating okay sure sure a gentleman throughout the whole beating uh five or six men were tied to the main rigging burgan shot testified that the captain broke his arm in the club then had him shackled in the sick bay first mate james douglas testimony quote i was standing on deck seeing the chest overhauled when i was seized from behind and thrown down while i was flailing i

was stabbed and there were several kicking me i struck i struck smith twice and reached out and got a stick the men ran off and captain came up and broke smith's hold the passengers said he talked it over with waterman and douglas at dinner that night they then questioned smith who said a mutiny had been planned for over a month another sailor named ralph said the same thing then waterman ordered all the men who were tied up to be stripped to the waist and four of them whipped

on November 15th this this is all happening in a couple of weeks right cool the daily alpha reported that nine of the crew of the challenge said they were willing to sail on the ship again under captain waterman what yeah it's all this is all fucked up that but that is that's like the that's it's cult shit right or or it's not that bad well what what what's happening here the paper said it is very possible that after investigating it might be discovered that there was a lot of exaggeration captain waterman had still not turned

himself in but then he finally did on November 31st surrendering to the u.s. marshal rumors were that he had fled the country but the out the daily out the said he quote has come forward manfully you can see inside the newspapers on yeah on December 6th the weekly national intelligence a washington dc reported quote it does not appear from the california papers that anybody was murdered by the captain and his mate while the following letter gives a different version of the whole affair

it says the challenge arrived here in beautiful order her crew in rather bad plight having suffered from dysentery which six men died of and three having been lost from the sails in a gale storm some of the sailors ran away before the ship came alongside the wharf and told such shocking stories of the manner in which they had been treated that a great excitement was created the paper now ran with a story that it was the crew's intentions to mutiny off rio kill waterman and douglas and quote go roving

go roving still waterman was indicted and arraigned on a charge of assault and battery uh of frederick birkinshaw he was quickly given a trial uh though finding a jury became difficult as everyone was excused for bias was it because everybody like knew and liked him no but everyone or hated him like everyone in the town was just a divisive right but everyone in the town at this point has seen this whole thing taking place so they now it's just that there's so much vitriol that they can't

it's like the uh that dickhead who jacked up the price of aids drugs oh yeah that guy they they they cannot get a jury together for good luck because everyone's like no i absolutely want to kill him and i would love to see him rot on january 9th waterman and douglas were indicted for beating and mistreating a seaman named george lew one sailor testified quote the captain beats smithman an iron marlin spike and carried him aft i saw no one fighting with the mate douglas except birkinshaw i never heard

of any revolt or intention to take the ship i saw smith beaten with a stick at the wheel um another sailor tested money i saw no disobedience of the orders the mates struck the men because they did not open their chests fast enough i knew of no attempt to mutiny or take the ship during the trial it was learned a boy stowae was found during the voyage and captain waterman beat him tied him to a rope and threw him overboard oh my god an english sailor testified quote i saw his small head

popping above the waves the boy died of dysentery 10 days later the boy didn't die of being thrown into the ocean on a rope yeah because then they pulled the rope well still i mean it's sound i mean he's a boy yeah it's not great another sailor who was nicknamed dancing master that because of the way because of the way he hopped on his feet when while being whipped also testified oh god you just took a joyous moment and it is soiled it dancing master and the charges kept coming on january

13th douglas was arraigned on the charge of cruel punishment inflicted on a russian boy named juzi smirty sure again they had a very hard time finding a jury uh for douglas because every man had expressed an opinion regarding the challenge situation but the trials finally happened captain waterman and first mate douglas were convicted of maliciously beating part of their crew other indictments the jury could not agree on two sailors were put on trial for inciting the crew to ensort nabash

in subordination and revolt but they were found not guilty bully waterman was convicted but the judge refused to sentence him uh but what he's done for boats i feel like i uh i'm gonna have to step in and say that while he is guilty of multiple murders is in boating is i'm a i'm a big fan of i will not put a boat celebrity in jail no um james douglas was convicted of murder for beating a crewman to death

and for assault on other crewmen but no sentences recorded wow he was released soon afterward a free man he though he never served on a merchant ship again well so he had to find it why was that well punishment enough he had to find a new job okay that is tough that is you try switching jobs in your in your 40s well and also having to say you know goodbye to the murder time that's tough he had he had to like fun a guy he had to like go to like a a training school of some sort or technical school i'm a chef

i uh actually realized that my passion for cutting and stabbing uh came in very handy when you know making an original recipe sauce for say a penne or uh you know i i love to braise pork shoulder i like a chicken fried steak i'm gonna beat the shit out of that stuff just beat the beat it i make i love to make a pizza and then just put my fucking fist through it what's happening you know and then just cut it and spit on it because it's useless to me and then i throw it

in a tub of like 30 degree water you could die in there piece of shit on my face i make a homemade guacamole uh and the key is a little bit of garlic and i know that sounds crazy but it's a little bit of garlic and i'll make that and then i'll just put its face on a curb and i'll just stamp it wait i'll just stamp right on the head you know i'll be avocado okay well we're actually not looking for a babysitter no okay so yeah so yeah the first 21 criminal cases

of the new u.s district court for the northern district of california were connected with the murder or mistreatment of semen by captain bully waterman and douglas on the challenge sure the new york hill reported uh oh no wait oh wait the new york harrell reported on may 6th 1852 quote second mutiny on board the challenge because of the harsh conduct of captain waterman and his mate douglas during the passage around k-porn the ship obtains such a bad name in san francisco that great difficulty was experienced in obtaining

sailors to bring her to china and it was only by payment of advances of $200 apiece that 40 men can be persuaded to sign an agreement they were about 150 miles from china when the sailors came forward and told captain lands uh-huh that they would not go to hong kong they threatened to throw him overboard and bring the ship here themselves under such compulsion captain lands very prudently steered for this place although the destination was shanghai june 26 1852 captain lands of the

challenge died of dysentery what happened to bully bob waterman you ask yeah bully bob waterman was appointed port warden of san francisco just a few months after being found guilty and not sense that seems good that seems good while serving as the port warden he went give him a title that has warden and he went back to his farm and grew eucalyptus trees from seeds he brought from australia in 1856 he laid out the town site of fairfield california named after his hometown in connecticut from 1865 to 1875

waterman was the us inspector of holes in san francisco regarding his investigation into a ship disaster waterman said quote the press can howl as much as it likes but the investigation shall remain secret cool he died on august 8 1884 at 76 years old wow so he just got to he just got a new sweet job yeah no you don't pun i mean you know that's like what happens with the cops so not all the cops are bad but you know but so what what this was is that basically everybody

on the ship was horrible so it's not like it's not like who done it it's not a who done it it's that just everybody was just fucking garbage right i mean there were obviously there were guys the kids and the old guy and what whatnot no i i do think that that kid who they tied a rope on and throwed through into the ocean had a coming but aside from you know those sort of innocent victims but all the guys who were there because they wanted to be there were fucking monsters yeah right just lunatics yeah you know lunat that's

that's why i think you probably did that job back then i didn't do it because you're you're basically going you're basically like i'm gonna sign up for fight club on a boat like you're you know you're gonna get beaten you know you're gonna be people the whole things are fucking total nightmare i that didn't come across in the story that's fair we signed boats we signed boats