Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-10-17
The Depedations Of These Desperate
Sea ROBBERS Date Back Several
Centuries.
Account of the Method Pursued to
Gain Possession of Merchant
Vessel.
Manner of Capture and Execution of
Pirates on the Standard
at Annoy.

Annoy, August This is the home of
the famous pirates of the China Sea.
Three hundred years ago the old Dutch
navigators referred to this district as the
crule5t and most bIoodthlrsty in the
world " As soon as the young pirates
reached manhood s estate they would join
the band OF some great corsair and sail
away in their clumsy but powerful junks
TO the waters frequented by the argosies
of commerce.
These were the seas between Hong
Kong and the Philippines, the Malay
Straits and the Indian Ocean, Venturous
Chinese nirates have gone so far west as
tie Red Sea, and long before the discovery
OF America by Columbus had visited the
Pacific shores Of North and Sotuh
America.
The Chinese records state that in 1850
pirates from Quan-tung had sailed mary
moons across the eastern sea Pacific
ocean,, until they discovered a great land
where there were many natives with fine
cities, volcanoes, pr0tdsiOn of gold and
silver, and where the officials wore cos
TUNES made of birds plumage No one
can read the description without identify
ing Mexico, Central America and Peru
As a result OF these discoveries the Chinese
government sent embassies to these coun-
tries in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen
turtles The emba sizes returned bearing
rich presents for the emperor, and describ-
ed the people they had visited as polite,
peaceabe and prosperous STanQest of
all, they reported that these nations had
much trouble and many wars upon their
frontiers with the red-skinued race, SINH
Tar to the Malay sayages with whom the
Chinese were always in hot water.
rHoJ SANDS ~ THE PIRACY BUSINESS.
At the beginning of the present century
piracy was well nigh universal in this part
of Asia. At least half million men ere
more or less engaged in it as a profession.
The civilized powers made short work of
the evil England, as usual. took the
leading hand in suppressing the practice,
and showed no mercy on either junk or
mariner that displayed the slightest
of buceaneering.
Portugal and Holland were more diplo.
matte and economical They would em-
ploy one band OF pirates against another,
and third against the survivors Of the
two.
tiOn of cheap firearms, they induced the
Leaders Of a Hakka pirate village to make
war upon and exterminate Chinese
pirate village OF 2 600 population, and the
year following prevailed upon To 1ens TO
make a night descent up6 the Hakkas
and kill almost every man, women and
child No one can read the local records
of this district without seeing how high q
value was setu pom piratical crime, and
how yaIueless aud insignificant has been
ana Is all human life.
Ten years ago it seemed as if piracy
were utterly extinct, the vigilance Of the
authorities ON the one side and Of the
foreign naval commanders on the other
was relaxed to such an extent that the con-
dition of affairs here became the same as
what prevail to-day along the coastof our
own country,
The pirates and the criminal classes
from whom their ranks are recuIted per-
ceiyed the opportunity and took adyant-
age of il. At first they confined the depre-
dutions to vessels belonging to their fellow
couutrymen. They prospered, and in al
most every attack We're very success stui
EmhJldened by success they became very
yenturesome and reckless, and last winter
extended their operations to European yes
sells and European steamships. Their
work eliminated last Christmas In the
capture and looting of the British steam
ship 'Namoa one of the handsomest
crafts that ply these waters. The pirate 5
killed the captain and several passengers,
besides woundiug a score, aud robbed
every soul on board.
-rutyrt3 Nfprtror, ov pppeu .vTaN
Their mode Of operation is rs simple as
il is ingenious. Through their spies they
learn when it is probable steamship or
its passengers viii carry large amounts eff
treasure Ihey 90 on board as Storage
and deck passengers, each one carrying
his bedding and cooking utensils and dis
guised to resemble innocent. hard-work-
ing coolies When the ship is at sea out
of sight of any other vessel they rise en-
masse, kill every person who makes any
resistance and imprison the officers aud
crew. While one detachment Is robblnA
all the passengers, the mail and treasure
room, the second Is steering the ship and
a third is attending the machinery and
boilers below fhey take their capture to
some point where their Juuks are await
ing them. draw the fires aud anchor the
steamer. They transfer their plumber 70
their own craft and are soon lost la the
tortuous waterways and intricate channels
of the coast
The system worked perfectly in the case
OF the "Namoa. but IL produced 4 reae-
tl0u Of which the pirates never dreamed.
For twenty -four hours there was more than
Consideration in Hong Kong Annoy and
other chinese cities III WAS dumb ~tupar