The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1876-08-17
THE THAMES PIRATES.


pass - atching the cea,eles- traffic be-
low. F0r T asons shall ex plain. Grssb
bum of the detective fprc- h,s been
staying a. tl.. Il -,r .a-1... tne. aid t-.-
lng at.& "a. to l,-.tu some Vi tin. cxt---
rienc.s If that astuje officer, v-;.tured
the other evening. through the medium
of Betty, my worthy lat'liady. 10 r.
quest the pleasure # his company III
nay parlor We were soon III clu,e c.,t,-
fab, but Ora bbum told ine csus,idly
that be lad b,ci, pnaped u-.riy dry Il
his expcTIeslcs- r., nui that hr dill not II ko
To find the trnlhs Ia. gave t0 writers
used merely la spice a lot "t s,uH, into
which they dragged woman. who al
ways against all Jusiier. got the worst
+ IT u He xas now employed h. told
me, hy the master Iishterman of Lon
don 10 discover coufederacy If water
pirates OF til" Thames. aud bring them
TO justice EVEN while with me, be was
on duty sitting at the window
" II - nothing to what j. was before
the docks" he remarked. "All the
docks have been made since 1900:
and when you know that these docks
cover an area of over ni..e hundred
acres. and all the shipping previously
used t0 discharge their cargoes In the
main river, y"u may guess ~ta, n body
Of water rats the waits and strays
would bring together. Why, sir, the
West India docks alone have had tiity
thousand pipes Of rum, aud eighty
thousand barrels. and five hundred
thousand bags of coffee, and fourteen
thousand hogs of mahog gony-yes. aud
twenty thousand tons of logw0od, in
them at time What d. they do
with the logwood! Well, that's ncith-
cr here nor there. There are three
thousand loborrrs employed in the Lon
don docks. Fifteen thousand pipes If
port. and thirteen Thousand ho.sheads
of sherry Look at that The com
nerclal docks pay oHe thous ,nd pounds
year To remove the deposit of mud
which IS caused by the continual churu-
ing OF the Thames river by the steam
ers. ln former day the RATS of tim
ber used 10 be left high and dry Oh the
banks OF the river. aud there was reg
ularIy organized gang of fellows. with
some rich city people At the head of
them. whose avocAtions were Ia cut the
ropes during the night which bound
these sticks together; and when the
tide rose the separated logs would float
Oft, be picked up. and either kept. or
salvage claimed on them.
DO think that there j. much rob.
berry now in TIA, docksy No, 1t is coa-
fined within certain limit, At one
time. any man who knew his way about
could buy ta>ttnS "a'tot iot t""pcn,c
az 50. and 20 down in some of the vaults
in the London docks. wait for one or
another particular cooper. and drink rs
inuch of the best--not the wine specified
in the order. II that was inierlor-the
finest BRANDS. until it has been known
that certain butts and pipes have been
SO tapped "a TO leave but little in them
when the merchants sent To pay the
duty and remove them This practice
received It's death blow when il was dis
covered that gentlemen had been lured
Into the vaults, treated with wine,
which they could imbil,c to great ex-
tent IN the equalized atmosphere of the
/ cellar btt which. upon their ascending
/ into the open air. took effect upon the
brain. permitting them to be led 10
/ some concerted rendezvous of thieves in
/ the ncighhorhrod. aud there i'll treated
alnt robbed.
The thieves on the Thames are
known hy distinctive names and they
keep pretty much Ia their special de.
partmcut~ The tiptoppcrs are regular
Z hon Il
| light horsemen. game watermen, and
game lightermen, and mud larks, scuiflc
hunters and copemcn The river pirates
consist of the boldest and most lespe-
/ rate of the robbers; they carry on their
! operations in the night against all YES
/ ~cls badly watched. and whose crews
are sometimes murdered. and thrown
/ overheard, that the vessel may be more
securely pilliaged. and detection avoid
ed
May now ask If you are watching
for anything ot that kind
YES" returned Grabbum. Il am wait
ing here for four of these fellows. who
are sire II fall into my hands, perhaps
before the week i ont; bat il Is only a
matter of time More frequently these
chaps coufac themselves IL taking the
corlage. oars. poles, and bales of mer-
Chandise The captain 81 an American
brig. hearing noiSi, Went on deck q
look out; he saw boat row away. and
found they We're pirates who. wishing
him good evening. told him they had
lust parted his cable. and of course hs
Was adriff Having an understanding
with the watchmcn Ch1rged with TAX
ing care ot the carg1c> at night, thes
pluuderei with the greatest facility
WIcu they cannot fleet such cullu>lons
they "a: the cables of the lighters aaj
l.t lIs,n tloa'~nti they gct to a plac,
whrre they ran efrge, their object with
out fear # discovery. Small coal harg'
have hecn fourd cs,ircly empt'td dur
iug the night
"Rut. my goo,l friend. sid |, '-ho"
IA these fellows gtt over ,ho>e in charg'
Il "a ship; ssy the pil'ts
Did you no; know. SIR ,hat pilot
could he haucht overs Well, ii i, Is
the cr,vli, nf their craft, not very co'n
uso0 wa> once after strong gan4
, ot river thieves / knew that oEe Tin
Brown Was leading man amoug them
HE WAS in the employ uf a respectable
firm Il li.htera.tn cone os mv patrons
\ >m.rt fellow was Tim, and above al
>u>p.cion-hut mlnc | kuCw most %
his runs. anil one Was the NecpInt
Gl.diron. | found him in the parlo
there QUE day Tie chatfetl me--te'
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