The morning call., 1892-06-12

the poverty of the family, his father having
ruined himself by inventions that others
prO6ted by, and so this fresh pOst-captain,
over six feet in height, and with a name
hard earned, was not ashamed TO go among
boys for the purpose Of picking up
knowledge. In 1903. however, Cochrane
was again at sea, but in tub called the
Arab, and he was sent on cruise to pro-
teCt fisheries where there were none. But
III 1906 he was In command Of a 32gun frig-
ate, fir- built, the Pallas ana Lord Melville
allowed him a cruise Of month off the
Azores. He set his course during that
month so as to fall in with Spanish vessels
making for CadiZ from the West Indies.
be captured three large vessels, all Of which
had valuable cargoes, and two OF them much
treasure. and also a Spanish letteT-Of-
marque, of IA guns, but through the greed
of pTivateer which subsequently lost her
prize he did not capture galeOn with
million dollars on board. When the Pallas
entered Plymouth, at the end of a short
cruise, she had three large golden candle
sticks, each five feet hgh placed upon the
mastheads
sEAMAN's RUsE.
Cochrane wanted to preserve them as
they were Of curious workmanship but the
Customs authorities would not pass them
without paying full duty and so they were
broken up into old gold to escape duty.
The Pallas came near being captured by
three French line-of-battle ships which
gave chase and were coming up hand over
hand. To carry more sail on a crank yes
sci COchrane got all the hawsers of the ship
uD to the mastheads and hove taut. and
then every stitch of canvas was set. Neither
the frigate nor her pursuers could fire gun.
As lie could not escape by superior
sailing Cochrane resolved upon a man
euver which depended for success
upon the masts standing. The order was
given to prepare to clew up and haul down
aai Of ha fuaf Mt
helm hard-a-weather the maDeuver was
executed with great precision. The frigate
shook from stem to stern in the trough Of
the sea, but nothing gave way, and the
FTenchmen shot past some miles quite un-
prepared for the maneuYer. Getting away
on the opposite tack, the Pallas soon had
considerable distance to the good, and at
night a tub with a light was lowered aud no
more was seen of the enemy.
BRILLIANT WORK FOR A FRIGATE.
While engaged off the Garonne on another
cruise, the Pallas performed a still more
brilliant feat. The whole of the crew, ex-
cept 40, were up the river on a cutting-out
expedition, and while waiting for the return
OF the boats, which had done their work
effeciually. three French corvettes hove In
sight to wlndward, making for the river.
COchrane tried the rpse OF making show
Of strength. The hands were set TO work
to fasten the furled sails with rope-yarEs,
at the sheets would cause the sails To fall
simultaneously. The trouble was to sheet
home. This was done slowly of necessity
and CochTane wondered the French did not
perceive this, but they suspected nothing,
and hauled the wind with the Pallas
in chase. The Pallas had only men
enough to man the bOwchasers, yet half
dozen shots were sufficient to send one Of
the cOTvettes ashore. The crew escaped
and the wreck was hulled with shot. As
the two other cOTvettes came TO the rescue
the Pallas again made a show OF strength
and ran at them with her bOWchasers with
the result that both were run on shore and
abandoned. Well may Lord Cochrane
exclaim, "The chase of these three
c0Tvettes forms one of my most SIN
gular recOllections, all three being
deliberately abandoned and wrecked in the
presence of a British frigate with only 40
men on board Had any one Of the three
known our real condition, or had we not
put a bold face on the matter we might
have been taken. The mere semblance of
strength saved US, and the panic thereby
inspired destroyed the enemy" This was
certainly a good stroke of business-eutting
out frigate and sending three corvettes
ashore.
STRATEGY AS A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Having, as it were, millions in prize
money, COchrane offered himself as a can
didate for Parliament HOniton was a cor
rupt borough, and the votes we're given to
"Mr. Most" and as Cochrane would not
bribe he was defeated. But he sent round
the bellman after the election and paid
every one who had voted for him 10 guineas
His successful opponent had only paid five
pounds per vote. When the election came
round again, Cochrane was again candi-
date, and this time nobody asked him for
money prior to voting. He was elected by
a magnificent majority, ana then the worthy
voters came to him. expecting post payment.
But Cochrane said that would be bribery,
and he would not give them halfpenny.
However, be was coaxed into giving his