John Devoy's Catalpa Expedition

[ XII ] The Expedition Wound Up After Many Difficulties—John King’s Narrative of His Part in the Work—The Fenians in Australia Had a Rescue Project of Their Own—Meeting with Breslin—How He Ran the Quarantine

139 [ XII ] The Expedition Wound Up AfterManyDifficulties—JohnKing’sNarrativeof His PartintheWork—TheFeniansinAustraliaHadaRescue Projectof TheirOwn—MeetingwithBreslin— HowHeRanthe Quarantine In last week’s issue pressure of space made it necessary to leave out part of the Catalpa story, and the work of cutting it in a hurry was botched. One of the interesting things left out was a letter from James Reynolds, who had been obliged to go to New Bedford to endeavor to make a final settlement of the voyage, but was unable to do so, owing to difficulties created by some of our friends here who wanted to treat the whole matter as a huxter ’s225 bargain, or the sale of a cow or a pig at a fair, instead of treating our Yankee friends as men who had rendered us a great service at considerable risk to themselves and their business. Captain Anthony’s action had made it impossible for him to enter an English port again. I had arranged with him that the Catalpa was to wait off shore outside the three-mile limit and the men were to be taken out in boats procured in Australia, so as to keep the Captain and ship from being made amenable to international law. When Captain Anthony got to Bunbury, however, he at once saw that no boats procurable there would be fit for the work, and that ordinary oarsmen unaccustomed to work in the open sea would be utterly unable to cope with the conditions. He therefore determined to take the men off in the vessel’s whaleboats, pulled by his own men, and to take charge of the work himself, regardless of consequences as to his seafaring career. The result showed that but for this 225. “A person ready to make his profit of anything in a mean or petty way; one who basely barters his services, etc., for gain; a mercenary; an overreacher of others.” O.E.D. The ExpeditionWound Up 140 decision of Captain Anthony the attempt at rescue would have been a total failure. The committee fully recognized the extent of the obligation that this bold and generous action of the captain had put us under, but we were hampered at every step, not only by the public circulation of slanders against ourselves, but of damaging statements in regard to the agent and the captain.226 The same men who spread these stories of improper handling of money were also busy sowing distrust of our Yankee friends without whose help we could have done nothing. They were described as a lot of sharks anxious to make money on the poor Irish, and Reynolds and I as either simpletons imposed on by shrewd Yankees or dishonest men in league with them. We wanted to deal generously with all the men who had enabled us to carry out the rescue, to make a good impression that would be of service in future enterprises. Our critics insisted on making a huxter ’s bargain with them and treating them as if we suspected them of a desire to cheat us. Their campaign of slander had some effect on our people and made the work of winding up the affair peculiarly difficult. Many journeys had to be made to New Bedford and our Yankee friends did not fail to see that a hostile influence was at work against them. The following letter from Reynolds will give a better idea of the situation than anything that could be written now.227 226. Among other items, Goff and his allies issued a circular in June 1878, charging that the Clan had been “robbed of nearly $20,000”; Richardson allegedly allowed a gross cost overrun; Anthony sold tobacco abroad at great profit; thousands of dollars in provisions were missing. O’Brien and Ryan, 1, 224. 227. The final negotiations were unfortunately full of ill feelings among the various parties, as Reynolds makes clear in this letter. Hathaway wrote Devoy less than a month after the Catalpa’s arrival, expressing, in a forthright manner, concern that no word had been heard from New York and wanting to know about a final settlement and disposition of the bark. Carroll wrote Devoy soon after that “those N.B. people set a high value on their services.” Looking at Richardson’s settlement figures, he suggested getting a good lawyer. Even Breslin was impatient about settling. In an 1877 report, the Clan committee seeking to make settlement with all Catalpa parties found that...