Cairo evening times. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-03
The Man Who Defied the Pirate.
from the San Franchises Bulletin.1

From the San Franchises Bulletin
Among the victims of the pirate Shenan-
doah who arrived here by the whaling bark
Milo, was Capt T. g. Young, master of the
whale ship Favorte of Fair Haven, which
with the others, was burned by order of Capt
Waddell. Capt. Young is between 60 and 20
wears old, and belongs to the John Brown
stamp Of mortals, who believe in fighting the
devil under all circumstances, and never let
ting right back down to wrong however great
may be tho odds against her. Accordingly,
when on the 2Sth OF June he found himself
cornered by the rebel pirate with no chance
Of escape, he proceeded to make preparations
for the coming conflict with such means as
were at hand, and had it not been for the cow
ardice-or, perhaps, prudence-of his fellow
officers and crew, one of the bloodiest battles
ever fought in the vicinity Of Behring's Straits
would have then and there ensued.
Seeing boat shove off from the Shenan-
doah toward his bark, Capt. Young ordered
the old blunderbuss used for shooting whales
to be brought up from below, together with
his revolver and ammunition. Having care
fully loaded the weapons, the old salt took his
position on the cabin roof and awaited the ap-
proach of the pirates boat As he came near
the side Of the vessel, Captain Young pointed
his blunderbuss at the officer in charge, and
shouted 10 him to g stand off, The pirate
was greatly astonished at such a reception, and
at first was inclined to think that the old man was
playing a "goak - on him; but seeing his de-
IerInlned TOOK aIrd the u1rcrriug atm or the
blunderhuss, he came to the conclusion that
discretion was the better part of valor, and Or
dered his men to paddle back with all due dis
patch to the Shenandoah. ,.. b.
By this time Captain Youngs fellow officers
began to get shaky in the knees, and fearing
that matters would come to serious pass,
they took the precaution to steal away the old
mans ammunition and even took the caps off
the weapons already loaded. Having done
this, they, with all the crew, crawled into the
boats, lowered themselves into the water, and
left Capt. Young alone in his glory, sole oc-
cupant of the vessel. The Captain thinks this
was shabby trick; it was hard enough for
him to fight the rebels alone anyhow; but to
leave him with nothing but a bomb-gun and
revolver uncapped to answer the broadside of
the Shenandoah, was putting the odds alto
gether too heavy against him. He did not
back down, however, but kept his position on
the cabin roof, and awaited the flash of the
enemy's guns. He had some experience of
the uncertainties of cannon balls and shells,
having run schooner with supplies up the
Potomac in the earlier part of the rebellion.
Besides says he, Il have only four or FIVE
years more to live anyway, and I might as
we'll die now as any time, especially as all l
have is invested in my vessel, and it l lose that
l will have to go home penniless and die a
pauper." ss.- gs.
While thus reasoning to himself he heard
the officer of the Shenandoah give the order to
fire, but fire low Without deigning to rise
from his reclining position he coolly awaited
the result of the order, but no fire came. Soon
he saw another boat pushing off toward him
from tie Shenandoah. 1t seems that after the
order to "firen was given, some one on board
the pirate discovered that one of the Shenando-
abs boats was in range, and hence the order
was countermanded. When the pirates boat
came alongside the second time, the officer in
charge ordered Capt Young to haul down his
colors "rn see you ID tirst,n replied
the captain. ''If you don't do it will shoot
you,'' said the officer. ''Shoot and be id, ~
said the captain. Hereupon the officer droppei
his gun that he had raised to shoot the captain
and ordered his men to board the whaler.
Capt Young had by this time discovered that
the caps had been moved from his weapon,
and being without means Of defense he could
offer no resistance, and was therefore Obliged
to allow himself to be taken. z
They conveyed him on board the Shenan-
doah, and Immediately ordered him to be put
in irons and sent to the top gallant forecastle,
at the same time telling him that If he was in
any way saucy they would gag him. sentry
was placed over him, and he was kept there
for four hours, or until he was put aboard the
Nile, to be brought to San Francisco. He was
robbed of everything, including Sl2O in money,
gold watch, and even his shirt studs. He
also had library OF 900 volumes, which was
stolen from the Favorite before she was com.
mtted to the fines. AS he was about being
sent:away from the Shenandoah, Capt Wad.
dell directed that the "old grey. headed devil, .
should not be allowed to go on board the
Maury (the other bonded vessel that was sent
to the Sandwich 1slands,) ''for he was mt
fit company for ladies' The Maury had "a a
passenger the wife of whaler who had died
short time previous in the Arctic Sea- With
this compliment for his gallantry, Capt. Young
took his leave ofthe rebel pirate. The Favor
lite had 500 barrels Of oil and $500 pounds of
ivory. Capt. Young owned one quarter of the
vessel, and with her destruction he has lost
the entire savings of life. time.