The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-07
PIRACY ON EASTERN SEAS.
Freebooters Still Operating Exten-
sivelv in Oriental Waters.
Trom Chambers journal.

Probably every school boy who was
ever worth his salt, at some early period
in his teens, has sighed because the de-
cadence of piracy as a regular profession
necessitated selecting some more prosaic
career in life. Without in any way wish
ing to encouraging his youthful aspira-
tons to emulate Blackboard or Capt.
| Kid or other worthless of the Spanish
Main; and, on the other hand without
desiring to arouse the fears of those of his
elders who contemplate running over to
| Calais or up to Scarborough or even across
the Atlantic. it may be very truthfully
pointed out that piracy is still more or
less regularly pursued as a business by
thousands of people in various parts of
the world Execution dock is no longer
decorated with dangling gibbets, it is
true, and the successor of Tangier's terri
BILE dey now relies on voluntary visitors
for part of his revenue; but the lOup de
mer still infests many sea, and nowhere
does the genus flourish as it does in far
eastern waters.
The Peninsular and Oriental, the Mes
sagerieS MaritimcS, and other China
bound great lines, all expressly stipulate
in their charters and bills of lading and
agreements with passengers, that they
shall not be held responsible for loss
caused by fire, pillage, or piracy"
Piracy, fOrsooth, on a 5O00-ton vessel.
speeding al eighteen or twenty knots an
hour, along familiar courses, through wa
tiers policed by the navies of a score of civ
ilized nations! Vet the condition is not su-
perhuOuS. even in these end-Of-the-century
days. For instance, very serious case
of piracy occurred near Hong Kong on the
steamer NaOma, in November, 1880, when
a crowd of Chinese passengers shot the
captain and another Europeans dead
wounded several officers, and looted the
vessel, escaping in Junks. which sailed up
when the victorious signal was hOiSted
Buo although the engine had been disa-
bled, the boilers emptied, and the side
lights thrown overheard the engineers
got the vessel headed for Hong Kong be
fore dawn. The writer had the felicity.
a few months later, of seeing number of
the piratiCal gang made q head shorter.
The scene, with its background of rugged
hills the gunboats in the middle dis
lance, and an evllSmelling beach, lined
with nineteen dispiUitcd haggard I'M
lSempt wretches. waiting till the man
DARN gave the signal to begin which sig
nal was delayed until half a dozen anna
teur photographers had obtained a salts
factory fOous-the scene. | repeat, was
one which will take long to Cfface from
the memory. One of the condemned
wretches in particular made and unpleas-
ant impression. IIO was alleged TO be the
leader of the attack on the Naoma and as
he was brought to the village of Acel-
DANA, trusted like fowl and squatting
on a basket. he raved vaingloriously
about his crimes in pigeon English and
Chinese alternately. Il shall come back
in eighteen months and haunt you all ="
he threatened. The allotted time is now
long past, but Max Aloi has not yet re-
visited the pale glimpses of the moon.
China is peculiarly the pirates happy
hunting ground, and nowhere does he
flourish more strange to say. tnan in the
neighborhood of the most civilized centers
in the south. such as Canton, Annoy and
FOOchOw and this, too, Notwithstanding
the existence Of feet OF small but swift
gunboats specially detailed to patrol the
rivers. in order to suppress frec-booters
and smugglers. Comparatively the other
day steam launch belonging to a resi-
dent at Canton-an English eX-navy Of
ficer-was seized by a dozen Of these des-
peradoes under the very nose of the au-
thorities, in broad daylight, and used for
a while pillaging some of the myriad
craft which navigate the West river, be-
ing ultimately left derelict. Even in
Hong Kong within sight of the govern
ment house, these water wolves have
established regular colony. They refer