The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-24
UP-TO-DATE PIRATES.


\ hehiinIscence Of the Chinese Seas.
EX-Attache in the New York Tribune.
Pirates, although they no longer infest
the coasts of North America or roam
through the caribbean sea, are neverthe-
less far from being as obsolete and out Of
date as is imagined by those good people
who are accus toned to associate them
with seventeenth and eighteenth century
stories of the Spanish Main. The attack
made the other day upon Mr.. Walkers
well known yacht the Ailsa by Rifian pi-
rates while she was hugging the coast of
Morocco on her way back from Nice to the
Solent is by no means an Isolated case. It
was but "a short time ago that a sailing
vessel was brought into Gibraltar by a
steamship which had found her drifting off
the western coast of Northern Africa with
not soul on board, the decks and cabins
stained with blood and displaying unmis-
taxable signs of the fact that the craft had
been the scene of a terrible struggle before
being plundered by pirates. And within
me last three weeks the Tangier and Gil
DIdItaF newspapers nave published ac-
counts of how small English coaster,
tradlng between the various Spanish ports
and the African coast, was CAPTURED and
run ashore by Riffian pirates those of the
crew who escaped death being carried off
INTO the interior of Morocco to slavery
one OF them, mere boy, managed to get
away, and presented himself at the Brit
ISM consulate at Tangiers, where for the
first time, the fate of his ship and of his
messmates was made known
Pirates are likewise to be found in Ma
lay waters, on the huge rivers in Cochin
emma, ana, above all, along the Chinese
coast. Repeated endeaVOrs have been
made BY American and European cruis-
ers to wipe these cOrsairs of the far east
OF Asia. OF the face of the globe. But
no practlcal results have been attained
IN this direction, and to-day there is not
a single sailing vessel frequenting those
seas that does not include an attack bv
] ha ic
called upon to face. Sometimes the ri
rates will come on board the ship at Hong
Kong, at Shanghai, Annoy, Saigon and
Singapore in the guise of innocent and
guilelesS Chinese passengers and then
| when the vessel is two or three days out
there Will be sudden outbreak among
the deck and steerage passengers al
night, the crew and captain will he ken
! by surprise, and before morning not a
white man will be left on board 10 tell
the tale, no trace of their fate existing
save in the blOOdstains marking the snot
where their threats had been cut with
tnose murderouS curved creeseS or knives
which are to the seafaring men of the
far east of Asia what the machete is to
It was only few years ago, while
was on my way up the coast from Hong
Kong TO Shanghai, on board one of the
| big Peninsular and Oriental steamers
that we ran right through fleet of pirate
Junks lying becalmed. l had come up
early on deck to find out why the engines
were moving slowly, and found that
we were cropping our way through an i'm
penetrable fog. 1t was one of those fogs
that would almost bear cutting with a
knife, and that seemed to lie on the top.
of the water like some heavy pail. Sud
denly, as l stood there on deck looking
over the tattrail the ship emerged from
the mist, which we left behind us looking
for all the world like some lofty gray wall
or cliff, and we found ourselves without
| the slightest warning in the very midst
of fleet of Chinese Junks, manned by the
most Misunderstanding lot of Mongolians
| that have ever seen. Whether it was
10 take advantage of the lifting of the
fog, or possibly to get away from the
junks the officer on the bridge shouted
down into the engine room to increase
the rate of speed. At the same moment
! there appeared on the deck of a junk
which we were passing at "a distance Of
less than a stones throw a white man
stark naked. Knocking down with his
fists a couple of Cinnamon, who were en-
! deavOring to stop him, he raised his hands
implOringly toward us and shouted in En-
glish that had an unmistakable New Eng
land twang, For Gods sake, helpr' With
hashlike rapidity al least a dozen China
men jumped upon him and bore him down
into the hold. He disappeared from sight
but moment later when the junk was
already several hundred yards distant and
beyond the reach of the voice | could
see him struggling up on deck again, his
face and body streaming with blood At
this precise minute we ran into another
impenetrable fOgbank, as dense and as
thick as the last, which concealed every
thing from our. view; and then, quite as
suddenly, the engines slowed down again
Much concerned, FASTENED to the bridge
and communicated to the officer of the
watch what l had witnessed urging him
to stop the vessel and to attempt to rescue
the unfortunate captive, for such l took
him to be. from the hands of the ruff
ans The officer who Acknowledged thar
he too, had seen the man and heard MS
cry for help, went TO the length of stop
ping the engines and of going down to the
| captain to report and to ask for instruc-
lions. A couple of minutes afterward he
returned to the bridge, and without voucb-
I'm ff no Ion
steam ahead at a rate Of speed which an
peared to me terribly dangerous in view