The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-08-12

Captain Wadde!!-' Captain, | have to inform
you that you are on board the Confederate man Of
war Shenandoah. Before proceeding any further, |
propose to lay you under a solemn oath to tell the
truth
An oath TO truly answer such questions as might
be propOunded was then administered.
Captain Wsddell-" What is the value Of yosr
ship ?"
Capt. Halves Forty-sir thousand dollars"
Capt W. What quantity Of oil and bone have
you on board 2"
Capt. H.-"One hundred and fifty barrels OF oil
and three thousand pounds of bone"
Capt. W. How many pounds sterling IS your
oil worth 2"
Capt H am not accustomed to reckon ster-
ling money. 1t is worth one dollar per gallon"
Capt. W." And your bone -
Capt =" Two dollars per pound"
Capt. W That makes %hfty.fve thousand dol
lars in all"
Capt. H.-"No; taking into consideration the
wear and tear Of the vessel. il is not worth over
forty-six thousand dollars in ALL"
Capt. Wsddell then drew up a bond for S46. 200.
payable upon the acknowledgment Of the indepen-
dence of the Confederate States Of America, and
compelled Capt. Halves TO sign il. on pain Of having
his ship ransacked and burned. The bond having
been signed and delivered. Now said the pirate.
81 shall put on board Of your ship ninety paroled
prisoners of war"
Capt. Halves demonstrated. as he had not the
necessary provisions and water to take 80 large q
number.
Capt. waddell replied that he didn't care You
had better send your boats for the prisoners as quick
as you can, as | shall detain your clearance until il
is done. Come, come ~ said he, impatiently
bear n hand about il. l have other work to do"
While Capt. Halves was complying with the de-
mands Of the pirate, the Sophia Thornton W. s cap
tured- The Milo had then on board the crews Of
the William Thompson, Euphrafss and abigail.
A prize crew was then put on board the Sophia
Thornton. and the Shenandoah made after the Ji-sh
Slcft, which she captured and burned. The pirate
then returned and spoke the MILO, asking Capt.
Halves, very politely. if he " would be kind enough"
to come on board. Upon going into the cabin, Capt.
Waddell Informed him that Capt. Williams. OF the
Jireh Sgyf, wished to see him, to engage passage
for San Francisco. The same objection regarding
want of provisions and water was made as pre-
viously. Capt. Waddell then said, IL you want
provisions you must take them from the Sophia
Thornton. and you must take her crew also;"
which order was obeyed. Upon leaving the Shenan-
doGh, his ships papers were returned to him, with
the exception Of the register. for which a receipt was
given, and a clearance, which read as follows
This is to certify that l have this day taken the
register of the ship Milo, of New Bedford, that ves-
sci having been ransomed by me this day, for
S46,O 600 under a ransom bond.
C. s. steamer Shenandoah, at sea. June %. 1865.
Witnessed by w. Is. SMITH,
Acting Assistant Paymaster, c. 8. N.
This is to protect Capt. Halves, of the ship Milo.
from capture, on his way to San Francisco. Cahfor-
MIA. JAMES l. WADDELL.
Lieut-Commanding, G. s. Navy.
Behring Sea, 22d June, 1865.
While conversing in the Shenandoah's cabin.
Capt. Waddell remarked, This is a deplorable
war" YES" replied Capt. Halves, and no one
deplores it more than | do"
Capt. Waddell continued ~ suppose. Of course,
you look upon this matter as the fortune of war. and
understand that l have no personal feeling"
Capt. Halves made no reply. During the CONVEX.
sation, Capt Halves remarked that he first supposed
the Shenandoah to be one Of the Russian telegraph
vessels. Capt. Waddell rejoined "Yes, am q
telegraph"
Cant. Halves describes Can't. WaddelI as a man
about 40 years Of age. 8 feet 9 inches high. Of a dark
complexion, pleasant spoken, and polite and gentle
manly in his demeanor. The officers of the Shenan-
doah are mostly young men /; their uniforms are OF
a sort of grayish blue, and very similar to those Of
our own navy.
Captain Wsddell had read in some of the North
ern papers that there would be no danger Of the pi-
ratical craft appearing in those waters. as her officers
and crew could not stand the cold. When the pa
rolled prisoners were being transferred to the MILO.
he remarked to one of tho captains, " You will soon
be in San Francisco give the naval officers my
compliments, and tell them We stand the cold first
rate"
Statement of Capt. Tucker. of the $3.50
phia Thornton"
On the 22d of June, the Shenandoah came up
with the Thornton about forty miles northeast Of
Cape 1haddeus. Upon her approach, the former
ship attempted to escape by pushing into the Joe.
when the Shenandoah fred two shells over her,
which brought her to. She was then boarded by a
boat commanded by Lieut.. Scales. and the captain
ordered on board the steamer, and directed to bring
the ships papers. Upon arriving on board. pretty
much the same process was gone through as with
Capt. Halves. He was sworn as to the value of ship
and cargo. and finally asked il he had any specie on
hand. Capt. Tucker replied that he had ninety dol
lars. which Waddell demanded. Capt. Tucker then
handed him the money, at the same time telling him
he should be destitute upon arriving at San Fran
cisco, and asked O portion OF it back. mo. sir"
said Waddel, " your people have ~beggared me and
my family and taken away all our property. and 1
can't see any good reason for accommodating you"
The Thornton was subsequently, ~plundered Of
everything the pirate needed, and then set on fire.
Statement of Capt. Hathaway, of the
"Euphrates.o
Uog IF raro Thoddono an tha OO1 ~ Tuna .han
o large steamer made her appearance, with the Rus
sian flag at her mizzen peak. Her actions in the
feet appeared singular, aid the Euphrdtes was put
about and ran from the suspicious craft. The steam
er, however, was too fast, and soon overhauled the
Euphrdtes, when a beat came alongside, and the
captain was ordered to gather up his ships papers,
take two suits of clothes, and report Immediately on
board the Shenandoah. Some men from the boat
then boarded the ship and were ordered TO build q
IRE IN the hold. and the ship was soon in flames.
Capt. Hathaway and the crew Of the Euphrates were
then taken on board Of the steamer and paroied, and
on the next day took passage On the Milo for this
port.
The statement Of the other psroled captains are all
to the same effect, and do not differ materially. 10
every instance the chip was robbed OF her papers.
nautical instruments and small stores.
Whereabouts of Uncle Sans Navy
What is to be Done!
The U. S. Navy on this coast consists Of the fol-
lowing vessels The CyGne, 81. .Hary'S, Sdginotc,
SarGnGc, Lancaster, WGteTee, and Cdmdnche. Un-
fortunately all these vessels, with the exception Of
the latter, are absent from the port. The first two
the Cyane and st .Mary's-are sailing vessels. aud
are now at + Panama. The Wdterse sailed for Psna-
ma some three months since. and was last heard OF
at Salvador. The Saginaw is cruising off the Gen.
trail American coast, and has been away some time.
as has also the Sdranac. now at Acapulco. The
Lancaster. with the Admiral on board, sailed for
! ACapuicO about a week ago. The monitor CQmlaChS