When a suicide occured aboard one of James Moody's ships in 1904, the event was covered up. The entry in the marine death's register stated that he had 'fallen' overboard, and the Captain told a newspaper that the boy must have fallen when the ship took a sudden lurch. Moody spoke very frankly of the circumstances around the incident in a private letter, and indicated that this was the boy's second attempt. He seems to have taken it almost for granted that the incident was covered up, even though it involved his fellow apprentices - including Moody - having to give a whitewashed version of events to the Consul in NY.
Of course, that was in 1904. One would hope that a rash of suicides among a particular group of crewmen would draw more comment today, but then again...look at what has happened in recent years at military camps, and how slow authorities have been to look into the spate of deaths. What nationality do the boys tend to be, Monica? Philipinos?
And yes, kitchens are brutal places...even in a country with rather good workplace practices such as Australia, I have a friend working as a chef who tells hair-raising stories of the abuses that go on within the industry.
