Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-06
. A PIRATICAL TALE.
A "Put-up job" and How It Did
Not Succeed. "a

A reporter for the Sun. who was
walking along the water front on Har.
lem River. above the Astoria Ferry. the
other day. got acquainted with one ot
the men employed on big barge that
was tied up at pier. After a short
talk he was invited down into the cabin
of the barge Ito see the old man. "
The cabin was simply a section of the
hold cut off by bulkhead. and fitted
for the home Of the two men who
worked the barge. These two men
were brothers. and the old man" ws
their father. He was over eighty yeau
old. but was able to read a newspaper
comfortably by the aid Of spec1.cles,
The cabin had a stove on one side, four
hunks on the other. a table. several
chaifs. lockers and chests. The walls
were covered with picture cards and IL
lustrations from comic papers. and. As
the place was scrupulously clean. 1t was
IN uch more attractiye than one would
have supposed possible while looking
nj the rough exterior Of the boat. Just
over the upper bunk hing curious
( gun. The old man. seeing the stranger
evssg il took il tnwn. 1t had bar
, rel about two feet long and three inches
thick at the butt. The muzzle fiared
like the muzzle of an oll-fashioued
| cannon The stock was shaped some.
thing like the stock Of an odd horss
pistol. except that IL termin ated In .
! round -ban about one and ons-hsf
inches in diameter The barrel was
brass and the stock mahogany. brass
mounted There was an oid-fashiupet
Hsnt iuck. br which II might have been
fipsA The bore Of the gun vas ex-
actlv one inch in diameter. and not
rif1ed.
Il got it 10 Sisel, in the Gulf Of Mex
ice when . bos." ".said the old man.
1T was made in France, As the inscrip-
ton on it shows. That was my first
voN age.
The old man placed the gun across
his knees and began rubbing the brass
mounting with a piece of oily flannel.
although they were as bright as il
already polished on that day. When
he SsS urged TO tel how he got il be
satd: EE = rEi
Fl ~as on the brig Merto. . slow tub
of about one hundred and twenty five
tons. She sailed out of this port bound
for ports in the Gulf of Mexico with an
assorted cargo. That was in the fall of
1875. We had long passage down
the coast. Ii was eighteen days before
We reached the Bahama Banks. but this
did not seem TO worry the Captain-or
the Supercargo either. for that matter.
Being the only bov in the crew of
twelve men. | had to play the servant
in the cabin for those two gentlemen
every day. and stand my watch at night
bes des. After I'd been aboard few
days l began to notice that the Captain
never talked TO the Supercargo about
ANYTHING except the cargo and the in
surance and the specie they were to get
AT their destination. and the probability
of meeting pirate. The Supercargo's
hsns, was Waldo. After swhiie /
ksrred that he was half owner Of the
vessel. and that this voyage was, in
some wsy that l didn't Understand. to
makea great fortune for him. and that
the Captain. a sharp-nOsed Yankee
named Norton. was to get a good
share also. When | told the men in
the forecastle about the talk in the
cabin. they listened very closely to
what was said about pirates. and all
agreed that the numbering old hoohef
We were IN would stand no show II
overhauled bv anv Of the vessels that
were flying black flags down that way
IN those days. Why, Mantanzas, in
Cuba, was headquarters for the wopt
lot of cutthroats ever seen. and the
officers in the garrison even owned
shares in the vessels.
While We were making across the
Gulf smart young sailor that never
said much came to me when / was on
the lookout one night and said he was
pretty sure We wouldn't meet any
pirates going down, but he advised me
to buy some sort of weapon that
would Kill every shot and get it on
board without the Captain seeing it.
the first time | got on shore. That
seemed curious to me. but | didn't
think much about it, being too busy
planning ways 10 get a little extra
sleep. and wishing could get sick so
Nohlth laNt W ~Ol So HdIu
After tedious passage across the
Gulf we reached Sisel. in Yucatan. |
There was no port there worth speak !
ing of. but big pier ran out through |
the surf. and We discharged some cargo /,
there. We were there five davs. One !
evening 1 WAS on shore wandering
around the forty or fifty rude houses !.
that composed the village when I was
invited into one of the houses On the .
wall of the the single room hung this .
old bfunderbuSs. When | saw IL I re- 7
membered what the young man had
said, but the owner wanted dOubioon /
for it, and didn't have any
doubloors. told the sailor about j, {
the next 3ay. was greatly astonished .
when he an once gave me the coin, and
n voice that WAS very much like an
'rder told me to get the weapon before
q |
'Trom Sisel We sailed to Campeachy.
Re had TO nchor outside the bar there, I
because there was only six feet Of
water over it. We discharged some of
the cargo into the queer lighters made,
Of the trunks of trees holloRed out into
canoes. Then We went to IaG,Ina and
10 Tampico. and there we sold the last
Of our cargo. heard the Supercargo
lay that We had had a very profitable
voyage so far. There was over fourteen
thousand dollars in specie on board,
besides lot Of indigo, cochineal and
ogwood. We reached across the
iulf into the longitude of the Bahamas
without ever seeing sail; but one
night, just after we'd sighted Moro
light. a big sloop. ranged up on our
weather quarter and hailed us. | was
below at the time, but the young man
mas on deck. He jumped down
nto the forecastle and shouted .Pi-
;atesr Then he bauied me ont of my
D1k,- - !, - -. 4