Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-01-06

shoreman at New Orleans may never nave
heard of General jackson, but he can reel
you off yarn after yarn about the exploits
of Lafitte, the corsair who ruled ut the
nearby island of Barataria in the early
days OF the present century.
The lower class West Indian has but a
vague knowledge Of Christopher Column
bus but he knows any amount OF tales re-
garding Black beard, Sir Henry Morgan,
Captain Kidd and other gentlemen adj
venturers" who were wont to make sea
voyage anything but healthy for the honest
mariner or peaceful merchant And SO it
Is the world over.
was forcibly reminded Of this strange
hold that rascals have On fame when visit
ing Bedloe's island not long ago The
statue Of Liberty apparently dominated
the scene, and the group Of huge willow
trees on the New York side of the island
was dwarfed by contrast with this giant
creation of Bartholdis art. A man strolled
up. He was accompanied by two women
who seemed to admire him because he was
big, self assertive and boisterously con-
descending.
II don't care very much about this stat
ue" he remarked, "but wanted you to
proceeded to tell the tale, his companions
looking at him admiringly and occasional
ly shuddering as they glanced at the limb
of the tree from which the pirate is said to
have swung.
Ii we rate pirates according to the old
time standard, Albert f. Hicks was Lrob-
ably the last of the breed to operate along
the Atlantic coast He had served long
apprenticeship in villainy as the mate of a
SLAYER plying between the gold coast of
Africa and Cuba. Things went wrong
with him, as they generally do with that
sort of people, and he grew poor and des-
perate. So he and others concocted a
scheme by which they hoped to gain
wealth at the price of murder.
In pursuance Of the plan, Hicks shipped
aboard an oyster sloop called the E. A.
johnson, bound from New York for Deep
Creek, Va. The captain, Burr by name,
didn't believe I'M banks and kept several
thousand dollars, the savings of years, be-
meath his cabin bunk, locked in an iron
box. Five days after sailing the johnson
was picked up at sea and brought back to
New York
The people who boarded the vessel found
that it was a regular shambles. Not a
soul was alive. On deck and below. in
various places where they had met their
fate, lay the captain and the crew-mur-
dered! Blood stained almost everything.
There were great blotches even on the idly
Tapping sails tit was n day of dead calm
when the discovery was made). No trace
could be found of any suspected person
save the man Hicks. He had shipped un-
bsin IA of Tah l.
body was not among those of the victims.
he was tracked to Providence, captured
there and taken back to New York.
After due trial and conviction the off.
GERS of the law conveyed him to Bedloe's
island and there executed him The man
who didn't care for the statue Of Liberty,
but wanted to show his wife and sister the
willow trees, was the deputy sheriff who
Swung him off" And SO on july 13
1850, died Hicks, the pirate, the last of his
Kind to trouble he honest mariners of the
north Atlantic coast.
That region, by the way, has never been
healthy one for ocean freebooters. Stare
robbers call themselves 'road agents." In
the old days when man turned pirate he
was said to have 'gone upon the ACCOUNT
whatever that may mean. A man named
Bellamy went upon the account" in III
He had fine ship and ravaged the cosst
from Newfoundland to Virginia He blil:
a fort and had his rendezvous on the Ma
chias river, Maine. But he only prospered
for few months, and with seven of his
crew was hanged at Boston in the same
year that he began his nefarious under
taking.
TO him succeeded the bloodthirsty ruff
nan known as John Philips. John was too
tough even for his crew, SO they killed him,
and thinking that that meritorious action
had wiped out their previous sins put into
Boston harbor and surrendered to the
authorities, who promptly executed them.