The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-12-14
THE MINDLESS DEVIL.
A GruesOme Tale Of Piracy in the
Chinese Sea.


that she was sold to q corporation known
as .'The Golden Tea company 1t was
composed Of five British tea houses, and
it had four ccasting vessels in its trade.
This steamer was wanted to establish q
line to the Hoo-Kioo islands in the Pa
cific ocean, but mere particularly to the
island of Kiu-Siu, where the company
intended to establish a branch headquar-
tiers.
The Fairfax was a side wheeler of
about 600tons burden, and noted as being
very fast. She was changed about a
great deal in making repairs, and whenI
went aboard of her as a wheelsman l
found several things to excite my Curl
osity. The cabin had been done away
with, and in its place was an officers
messroom aft and a comfortable dining
room for the men forward. The space
between was used for herths and storage.
l noticed that a great deal of the interior
woodwork WAS covered with heavy sheet
iron, which had been painted to resemble
wood. The doors were very heavy, and
were further protected by metal. The
engine room was entirely inclosed, and
when | came to the wheelhonse l was
surprised to find it so arranged that iron
shutters hung on the inside could be
closed to make a little fortress of the
place. Two rifles and a pair of revolvers
comprised the armament. When | came
to ask questions of the mate he informed
me that we were going among a lawless
and desperate lot, and were prepared for
any emergency. In addition to what /
had seen he showed me a six pound field
piece on the promenade deck and a score
or more of rifles in a room set apart for
an armory.
The steamer made her first and second
trips without adventure. The crew in
each instance was composed almost en-
tirely of white men-English, American,
German and French sailors. who had
been picked up in Shanghai. The cook,
steward and stokers were natives, and
on each trip we carried quite a number
of native passengers. On the third trip
about one-half of the white crew had to
be replaced by natives, and when we
left Shanghai we had sixty native pas
sengers. I remarked on the singular
fact that all were men, and the mate
explained matters by saying it was a re-
ligious body on their way to a famous
temple situated on the island we were
crafty, villainous lot, and my fellow
wheelsman, who was an American
named White, predicted that w should
have trouble with them before the voy-
age was over. We had scarcely left
port before we saw to it that all our wea-
pons were loaded, and we got 1.-THE hang
of the iron blinds so that we could shut
them quickly. One of us would cer~
tainly be in the wheelhouse, no matter
at what hour trouble might ONE.
AS the steamer only had a small load
of freight, and that was all in the hold,
the party Of natives were quartered on
the lower deck. The weather was very
mild and they did not need covering.
The distance from Shanghai to Kiu-Siu
is about $50 miles. AS we left port at 6
o'clock in the morning, and averaged
twelve miles per hour until 4 the next
morning, we were pretty fairly across
the big bay or straits created right there
by the lay of the coast and the location
Of the islands. I came on watch at 4
o'clock. 1t was then fairly daylight and
the sea was smooth and everything quiet.
NY chum gave me the course, reported
that there was nothing new, and went
off to turn in. He had scarcely disap-
peared when / rose two junks dead
ahead, and five minutes later the lookout
on the bows reported them to Mr., Gra-
ham, the first mate. 1t could lot have
been more than two minutes after this
when / heard a shrill cry of "Murder!'
followed by two pistol shots and a rush
of feet, and l realized that trouble was
at hand. [ rang the bell for the engi-
neer to stop and then shut and secured
my blinds, and I was not q moment too
soon. The wheels had scarcely ceased
to r~evolve. when 1 heard the patter of
feet outside, followed by EXPLANATIONS
of anger and disappointment. Then |
used the speaking tube to warn the en-
gineer, and he speedily Informed me
that he had made himself a close pris-
oner.
My iron shutters were provided with
portfolios, and when l looked down upon
her bow deck I saw the dead bodies of
the mate and lookout lying there and
covered with blood from numerous knife
wounds. None of the natives was in
sight, but directly a fierce yell arose
from the lower deck, followed by pistol
shots, and / knew that the saffron faced
wretches were numbering the white
men as fast as they could get to them.
They left me alone for about a quarter of
an hour. Then about half a dozen of
them came up and demanded my sur
render. From their dialect | knew them
to be Coreans. They called to me in
that language, saying they had full pos
session Of the steamer. had killed all but
two of the crew, and that my life would
be spared if / promised to do as they
directed. communicated with the en-
gineer, found that he was all right, and
he added that the captain and some of
the crew were i'll the armory and pre-
pared to hold out to the last. | then in
formed the pirates that | could not think
of surrender, and as they began batter
ing at the door with a capstan bar l
showed the muzzle of q revolver out and
killed one and wounded another before
they could get out of range.
There was only a gentle breeze blow
ing, and that was at our backs. The