New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-10-22
No Mercy For Pirates.

New York Sun
] have several times heard my faith
er, who was q Lieutenant aboard Of
e. NJ. S. Spitfre, tell OF his adventures
among the pirates who used to make
the coasts OF Arabia and Persia such
terror to seamen. It took many
years and plenty of hard knocks to
clear the seas OF those gentry, and the
crews OF the war ships received more
wounds than prize money. One story
in particular, which heard my father
tell several times over. had peculiar
interest for me, for I.had seen the
vessel spoken of in dock at Liverpool.
will give the yarn in his own Ian.
guage as near as can:
eve had run across from Laccar
dive Islands to the Gulf of Alden, and
were just inside the Island OF Soco-
ira when we picked up sailor float
ing on q plank. 1t was about o clock
IN the morning, with little or no sea
running, and the lookout saw him
when we were yet a mile away. How
he was preserved from the sharks
has always been a mystery to me.
When we lowered a boat to pick him
up he was fairly surrounded by the
hungry monsters. Through the
ships glass I counted nineteen cut.
ting the water around his float, and
! could rot believe that the boat
would be able to reach him before he
was drawn down. If Providence ever
makes q special effort for poor hui
mainly it made a grand effort TO
preserve that sailors life and
permit him to fulfill his mission.
He was drawn safely aboard the boat,
and when he had a glass OF grog we
got his story. He had been a second
mate on board an American brig
named the True Flag. l think she
hailed from Boston, but am not sure.
saw her in Liverpool three years be-
fore this incident. and painted en- her
stern was the first American flag
had ever seen except at a distance.
This was the reason remembered her
above all the others.
The American had been up the Gulf
and into the Red Sea, and had come
out with part of a cargo, and was go
ing back to Mirbat to finish loading,
when he was attacked by three pirate
dhows. This occurred the evening be-
fore, and only twenty miles north OF
the island. The attack was made aft
cr shutdown, and while two other
merchantmen were in sight. The tlhows
had been noticed lowering about,
and their evil intention was sus-
pected, but it was little the crew
OF the brig could do to defend them
selves. They had a few old muskets
and cutlasses, but the dhows ran the
brig aboard, poured fifty or sixty
men on her decks, and the fight was over
III five minutes. The mate knowing
that all was lost. had gone overheard
with q plank during the confusion,
and the wind and sea had drifted him
down across our course. There was
no doubt that eve-y man aboard the
brig had been cut down or saved for
captivity and ransom, and that the
vessel had been thoroughly plundered
by that time. but it was just such an
incident tina. we wanted to hear Of.
We hadn' t had q brush with the pi-
rates for several weeks and were getting
rusty for the want of work.
The Spitfire was, of course, a sail
ing ship. She was snug craft of
thlrty-six guns, with strong and
ready crew, and the first thing done
after hearing the sailors story vas to
heave her to in the light wind and
transform her from thought and
trim man-of-war into a merchant
| | a1 al 81
it was not the first time we made the
change to deceive the pirates. Inside
OF three hours the best glass aboard
OF a dhow could not have told Spit
fire OF the Royal Navy from Sarah
Jane Of New Bedford. And then we
beat up to the north for further news
concerning the brig The wind was
light and battling, and when night
came we had seen nothing. Just at
dark, however, a French bark COM
ing out OF Keshin reported seeing
three dhows and a brig standing i'm
for q bay between Mirba5 and the
latter piace-a hiding place and rem
devious, as we dad previously been IN
formed. We could do nothing going
IN there IN the night, but we stood on
till pretty well liz to the coast and
then prepared to lay off and on.
After midnight we got Il stiffish land
breeze and had to run to sea. and it
was well that this haDpeneds SO. When
morning came we could just make out
the coast range Of mountains through
the glass, and the breeze was dead
against us. It was only well into
day! light when the dhows were espied
coming out. We set a signal OF dis
tress and pointed the ships nose Tor
the Gulf, but we took good care not
to run too fast.
The success of the evening previous
had emboldened the pirates. / don't
know what a sort of a looking over
they gave us from their mastheaas,
but they We're certainly deceived as to
our Identity. They did not come
dead at us on the start, probably IN
tending to give us a bit of investiga-
ton, but no sooner did the signal OF
distress become plain to them than
each dhoW altered her course and
bore straight down. Did not our