The initial focus of this volume concerns the heinous murder that took place on board the United States collier Abarenda in 1908. It soon comes to light, however, that the brutal death of the ship's second in command was but one of a series of terrible tragedies that befell the Weichert family. In their day, each of those incidences quickly became sensationalized stories in newspapers across the country. With the passage of time, those events slipped into obscurity - until now. Chapters include: Robert and Viola Weichert, with accounts of their wedding and children; Walter Robert Weichert's Sea Service, touching on Abarenda's First Officer, with testimonies of Third Officer Harry M. Bostwick and Seaman William Easton of the U.S.A.S. Abarenda and the official report of Walter Weichert's death; The District Court of Porto Rico [Puerto Rico]; Carpenter Dickson's Trial, with a chronology, statement to the petit jury by Judge Bernard S. Rodey, verdict and cause for an additional trial; Master Worley's Trial with complaints by three seamen; Irons; Weichert in the Spanish American War; Widow's Pension; The Weichert Family without Walter; Chief Officer Walter Robert Weichert's Final Rest; More Tragedies in the Life of Viola Weichert; and, A History of the U.S.S. Abarenda. An index to full-names, places and subjects completes this well-written work.
