The New York herald., 1879-02-10
HOW ENGLAND WAS HOAXED.

THE GRAVE POSSIBILITIES OF PIRATE" IN
Br1T1sH WATERS FROM WRONG
PREMISE.
Tho London Daily Telegraph Of January ~ prints
lengthy leading article on the mysterious ship
ported to have been seen by the. ship Raston near
Cork. After carefully stating the information re.
ceived by the Admiralty and expressing great
prise. the Daily Telegraph says:-
Speculation to the mysterious occurrence
ses-that the stranger was war vessel belonging to
. foreign government but for some occult purpose
disguisng her real charscter; that she was pirate;
Touching the theory Of the suspfcous craft being
foreign man-ofwar. 1t has been suggested that the
steamer was one OF tho Eusssn cruisers recently built
in the United States, aud provided with ''petro-
leum equipments" correspondent reminds
that in paper read last before the Institute Of
Naval Architects it was pointed that the British
Admiralty would do we'll seek for some efhcacious
counter agent to that fearful combustible petroleum.
which st That period was being adopted as q weapon
of war by the kussian government. This is state
ment which obviously requires verncation befors
Il IL accepted. Tho Russians certainly for6ore
TO petroleum In the recent campaigns IN
which they have been engaged on land; and.
moreover. the government nave long since given
IN their adhesion to the general agreement among the
European Powers not to use explosive bullets, but 1t
would be premature TO decide what engines or what
destructive substances Russia " any other govern
ment might not use in any naval warfare Of the fu
ture. General Butler bombarded Charleston with
''(sreek Fire. which was probably some prepara.
ton OF naphtha; and naval commanders in highly
scientific age might find petroleum equip
mcnt" serviceable in . fight the COM
munards found petroleum TO be in the streets Of
Paris in May, 1871, and as the Byzantines Of the
Lower Empire found 1t thousand years ago. Rus
sis however ie not Just now az war with any ciyi-
zed power in the world. and the time has not yet ar
rived for her cruisers to roam about tile high seiS
burning and destroying the eneniy's vessels. The
captain of ship who made use OF his petroleum
equipment" supposng him 70 have one. in time Of
peace would be utter savage and monster. Besides.
Mr.. Adams was told from the steamer that she had
the of tho burnt vessel on board the strange
ship had been . vessel In disguise, she would,
supposing the fire in the merchantmen TO have been
accidental have done her best not only to rescue the
crew. but she would have proceeded to land the dis
tressed seancn at the nearest port To have carried
them away ss prisoners would have been simply
declaration Of war against the government of which
such seamen were subjects
SHE MUST A PIRATE.
He tthe commander of the kaston) distinctly
states that he threatened from the steamer with
the burning of his own ship If he said word about
the burning craft. Taking the accuracy Of this
statement for granted. the steamer from which such
. menace, under such circumstances, was uttered
could only have been pirate. Assuming that
there Is ship called the lialston. and that there
other way out Of IL. Science has very good reason
for not positively dsbclievng IN the existence Of the
iievc in the legend of the Flying Dutchmxn Il
however. Mr.. Adams sworn to tell the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, theju would be
bound to believe him unless distinctly rebutting
evidence adduced to the contrary. The 'sus-
picious steamer must have been pirate; but is IL
range the seas in the year OF grace 1879 with
impuntty The Alabama was q corsair. but her
comings and goings universally known. Tho
fcderzls would have hanged Captain Semmes for .
pirate had they caught him; bur European govern
ments regarded ham a. the commander of q priva-
tcer who only made American federal mer-
chantmcn. and he was allowed 20 rcft and recoal
wheresoever he wished. In what harbor could
purely piratcsl steamship obtain coal With such
crew - that described by Mr.. Adams she may have
been OF burden sufficient to carry enough Goals to last
her fortnight, but when her supply or fuel was
haustcd she would have been bound TO put into port
70 make tho customary declarations. TO her
and to exhibit her papers, 1t Is to realize
the possibility Of piraca junk in the China seas
in tho Stras of Malacca of schooners OF like char
actor hovcring about the Spanish Antilles. or of
few feluccas questionable anteccdents lingering in
the Grccisn Archipelago; but pirate. with rvo or
six hundred men aboard her, s;earning about the
Atlantic and coming in daring proximity to the Cove
or Cork 10 q phenomenon which would require the
most serious attention and investigation. Ii there
has been really pirate ship in British waters tho
swiftest available steamers in the navy should forth
with bc despatched in pursuit of the objection
ablc craft. Indeed Her Majestys gunboat
0oehawk has been actually sent in search
of tho pirate" but has returned with
out any tdings Of her. II would seem to DO
thought that inutiny which recently took place ON
boari . Liverpool bark may possibly have some con-
nection with the tale but at Cork the whole affair s
regarded q hoax. To render the hoax theory how
ever. acceptable Mr.. Il Adams must be a wholly inn
sginary person. In the ncsh bound to believe