Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-06-08
ATTACKED BY PIRATES.
a DESPERATE FIGHT IN THE
CHINA SEA.
Deadly Work of the Malay Creese-Seven-
teen Brave Sailors Gave Up Their Lives.
But the Black Prince Reached Yokoha-
ma Safely.
"All hands ON deckln

Knell. Win q raging storm as an
additional cause of fear. it is a
frightful warning, and is, undoubt-
edly, obeyed with more promptness
by every one, passengers and crew,
than any other command, oven on
board q ship.
"All hands on deckm
Those words rang out early one
morning, when was in command OF
the z. and O. steamship Black Prince,
about seventeen years ago.
1t was fine May morning. We
had been having glorious weather
for nearly week, and. notwithstand-
ing the frequent reports of outrages
by Malay pirates, we hoped 80 reach
our destination, Yokohama, in
safety.
"All hands on deckw
The warming put an end to tho
feeling Of security which had grown
upon the passengers. They came
tumbling up the companion way, half
dressed and rubbing their eyes. The
women jumped TO the conclusion that
the vessel was ahre.- that's the first
thing they think of in case of an
alarm at sea--and they shrieked for
their men folk until | thought they
would brighten into Mysteries any
enemy who might be prowling about.
/ was mistaken.
Whiz! No sooner did | look over
the afterrail than something CLEANED
in front of my eyes, and. just miss
ing my nose by hairs breadth,
buried itself in the side OF the ship.
1t was a Malay creese. We were at
tackled by pirates!
Confusion reigned, for a few
minutes. The passengers, of course,
fell all over themselves and got in
the way of the crew. Finally. we
/ had to drive them all back TO the
cabin and lock them in. The men
were moro in the way than the wo-
men.
Then followed one of the toughest
fight, | have ever been in. The
Malays swarmed up the sides of the
steamer like ants and fell upon US in
bulk, each swinging his deadly creese
like lightning and cutting down our
brave fellows with awful swiftness.
And let me tell you that Malay
creese is something sharper tLan a
paper-cutter
There seemed to be no end TO them
AS fast as one was cut down another
would take his place. The gallant
seamen fought with all the courage
OF desperation. hand to hand, foot to
foot tooth and nail as none of them
had ever fought before. Every man
jack of them knew that captivity by
those yellow devils meant worse than
/ death.
Bang! bang! bang! went the pis.
tolls; swish! swish! swung the cut
lasses; zip! zip! sang the creeses,
clashing against our blades as if they
were welded by the arch fiead him
self. We fought every inch of the
way, but we were beaten back from
the after-deck to midships and held
at bay against the cabin.
Meanwhile the women in the cabin
were screaming at the tops of their
voices. Bless them! Lord, how those
women shrieked!
The cause OF their fright, which
seemed rather unusual even under
the circumstances, soon became APP
parent.
Fire had broken out in the cabin!
One of the pirates had thrown a
ball of lighted cotton waste through
an open window, and it had smol-
dered, unnoticed, amid the general
excitement, until it blazed up and
threatened TO ignite the garments OF
the passengers. What was to be
| done?
| feared to let the passengers
! leave the cabin and rush out among
those bowling devils. Yet it was
impossible, of course, to keep them
shut up with the flames. There was
nothing for it but to let them out.
Forming a square, minus one side,
we unfastened the door of the cabin,
the sailors in front keeping up the
| fight all the time, and placing the
women and children and all of the
unarmed male passengers in the
middle, we advanced upon the enemy.
1t was march to death.
Fortunately for the non-combat-
ants, the pirates had no firearms
Consequently. so long as the brave
seamen could interpose themselves
as living wall between the women
and children and the Malays, they
were almost safe.
Bang! bangi bang!
The constant pistol fire OF my gal
liant lads harassed the bloodthirsty
fiends considerably, but still the
fatal swing of the creeses sent them
to their last accounts with terrific
rapidity
Swlsh-sh-sh!
Zip! zip! zip
1t was easy to distinguish the
slow, steady. sure strokes of the cut
lasses from the quick, nervous blows
of the creeses. Both were effective,
as next mornings tale showed
For there was next morning,
thank God! While the male passen-
gers were putting out the flames in
the cabin, the loyal sailors attacked
the murderous heathens with re-
doubled ferocity and determination