Telegram-herald., 1890-01-16
BRAVE mKs. ALoRlcA.
Al old salt Tells of a. EAoOantsr with
ArSb Flrstss


ArSb FlrStss-
one season back ia the so's J shipped
aboard Of a British ehir, the Swallow,
70 make voyage fcom Bombay cp M
Persian Gulf and back, writes "a old
seaman in the Boston Commercial Bal
letin. She VAS an old craft and poor
sailer. and her crew OF twelve men wss
made up of four or five natl0nalities.
renem Der there were Two kanasas. or
Sandwich islanders, one Lssoar. negro
or two, and the others were Ailerlcans
English and Dutch. We hai scarcely
left Bombay when the captain was taken
sick with fever. Ills name was Aldrlch,
and MS wife. who vas a woman Of thir-
". always sailed With him. She now
took command in q general way, and
this 20 the satisfaction of the mates,
though both were thorough sailors. l
heard one OF them say that she could
take an observation or work a dead
reckoning and ] saw from orders she
gave that Size knew all about a ship.
We had good weather and made good
progress until after we we're above Mus
cat, in the Bay Of Ormuz. Then, ons
forenoon We got a squsll which did nob
last ten minutes, but which brought
down our fo-- and main togallant masts
and carried away a sail or two. There
was only light breeze after the squall
had passed, and we were lying u and
hard at work when an Arabian dhow OF
about two hundred tons burden came
steaming down the coast. We zero
within four miles Of the rocks and
mountainous shore, but she was two
miles inside OF US. She was no sooner
made out than the first mate became
anxious, and Mrs. Aldrich was sent for
- come on deck. She took good looh
at the stranger through the glass. and
SIS she Ulrned away she queried Of tho
mate:
Can we depend on the crew 10 fght?"
81 hope so, ma'am," he replied.
"Have them come aft"
All moved aft. and ] can remember
through all the long years just how she
looked and every word she said. She had
a worried, anxious look, and no wonder,
and there was trembling in her voice
as she said
Men. you know that your captain IS
sick. Yonder comes pirate If there ever
was one. II he captures us, those who
live through tho fight will 90 into tho
interior as slaves and worse. If We are
all agreed we can beat him oft. What
do you say?'
Wen fight 10 the lastw shouted one,
and the cry was taken up by all.
Thank Cod" she fervently ex-
claimed. "Giya them brave fight and
no one can be blamed If we are defeated.
Sooner than fall into their hands l viii
blow the old ship sky high and all Of Us
with hcr"
We had no can non. but we had fifteen
muskets, lot of cavalry sabcrs. and tho
captain had not lodged about those wa
ters with his eyes shut. He had two or
three years before purchased a dozen
hand-grenades or stink-pots, such as
are used by the Chinese. These were
brought up with the rest and found 70
be fused and in good condition The,
weighed about two pounds apiece, and
each vas inclosed in a net. so that 1t
could be tossed quito a distance. We
loaded our muskets, took our stations,
and were as ready as we could be. Tho
captains wife alternated between the
deck and the cabin. lie was out OF
his head, which was the better for him,
and she had his revolver ready for use.
Down came the dhow, foot by foot.
with never a cheer from the crowd OF
cut-throats on her decks. There was
menace in their silence but it had no
effect upon Us. We were determined 70
fight, and 70 fight 70 the last. got tho
first shot and knocked over man in
her forccastle. and then al began 20
b.aze away. She did not FIRE in return.
but forged upon our quarter. and could
see fifty Arabs, each one armed with
crease. crowding against the rail 20 be
ready % board.
"Now. beave." yelled one Of the sail
ors with the bombs. and both lighted the
fuses and heavcd away.
Before We could tel what damage had
been done the dhow was alongside She
threw her grapnels but they did not
catch. and she rubbed ou- whole length
and went ahead - VIC saw her failure
VIC biazed away again with the musk kots.
and cverv ball found man. She sailed
like a witch. and before she could he
checked was cable length ahead. She
had just put her helm over when there
was an explosion. followed by great
sheet af Fame. and Nc saw that She vas
hard hit Confusion ro Ened from stem
20 stern in = moment. and We added 70
IL bv peppering away ~ fair range. All
sblazo within Eve minutes. she fell %.
heade3 for shore and vas nm on = reef
about a nile away Wn saw some save
tlemse Ives hT boats and RATS. being
swept uron 'he shore bv thc tide. hut it
vas Afterwards learned tbat upward n
f1-tv-svo men were killed or Drowned.
and thattte loss of the 1bov broke pa
bad gang q pirates
Ms Af5rica vas IN deck through e
a. eu-rar tho revolver into Tire
crowd as t.a 5bow passed Us. and when
All 7rss over she veot down fo her bus
bard vth q fare only Ettle vfito-
al mouth uc-e firmly sst Sae d3
rt -et-s~ ter woman 81 weakness nrtlI
sne cane FL -bs-z gs T1en she t-asa
serr ard --sd e- a-relf. t1s. Exc a
woman
ws-hi-e for 9ett-rfnr Br-sd.
Tre~- see-s te 20 m ut ~ fts f~-