The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-21
GOLD WAS USELESS TO HIM.
Remarkable Experiece of an ANA
teur Pirate on the Cost Of China.

teur ftrnte on the Cost OF china.
The London Standard has been publish
ing series OF articles on THE Curlosi-
ties OF Impecuniosity." These have NOV
ed a espondent OF that paper 10 send
it an experience of his own. which he
thinks is "A curiosity Of opulence' He
writes.
1t has surely fallen 20 the lot OF few
men TO come near starving to death In
land OF plenty. with over 500 in gold in
thelr pockets-nay, by reason OF that very
fact. | had shipped at Rangoon on board
a steamer bound for Shanghai. When 1
signed, she was flying Jardine's flag at
the main; but 1 believe she carried the
ensign or every nation and half the house
nags OF the world In her signal locker.
An opium smuggler I was prepared to find
her, but that her chief business on the
waters was piracy Of the vilest sort, and,
unredeemed by a CLINT OF romance, came
upon me certainly as a revelation.
I'VE attacked no ships, so far as
know; but, handled with marvellous skill
and knowledge of the intricate coast nav
igation, she would run i'm after nightfalI
among rocks and banks where one would
expect a sampan to take the bottom, while
shr1ekS, flames. the report OF ffearms
and clash OF steel would testify to the
descent OF my deiectabie shipmates upon
one or another of the numerous fishing
villages which fringe the shores of the
China seas.
after four months duress ] struck a
blow for liberty; my little hoard of NOR
tuality-deepened the narcotism in which
the whole crew lay stepped after a ghast-
~ debauch as we rode at anchor; and. for
saking all my goods and chattels, and
selling in lieu such moneys as / could
find, dropped into the dinghy and pulled
on shoeless, hatless, arrayed only IN
Shirt, trousers, and belt containing the
above named sum, (close on f2OO) hoping
70 reach German gunboat which had
been sighted in the ofiing earlier in the
"But the night was thick. and in less
than an hour found myself close in shore.
The question of what to do was speedily
settled by the boat capsizing among the
breakers, leaving me no alternative but
to land. Day was breaking, and lay till
next morning I'm a tomb cut above the road
in the hillside; and for the next three
weeks nearly persisted for lack OF nour-
ishment, not daring to exhibit gold piece
TOR l mad no weapon, and would certainly
have been robbed and murdered
Il would have gladly thrown away all
but one piece, but there was no single
small coin in the sum total, and the result
would have been the same. Though a good
walker at that age q had made a record
for twenty miles not long before and could
cover three hundred a week without a
blister) / accomplished no more than two
hundred miles in twenty-five days-trav-
cling only by night, and hiding in tombs
or bitches all day, often rushing back to
my last-deserted lair. in terror OF the ad.
vanoing sun, when no suitable place OF
concealment hove in view
with paddy and plantains snatched
pfecarlouSly h9re and there, / managed
to exist during those awful weeks. Char
Chan is not regarded as a terrestrial Par.
adise by those Europeans whom fate ma.
lign has compelled to sojourn there but
Walhalla. was never hailed with greater
ecstacy by the world-worn pilgrim thar
was that Celestial sink by myself Toward
the twentieth day the smell of meat cook.
ing absolutely oVercame me one morning
and at the peril of my life / emerged into
the light of day, and laid felonious hands
and teeth on what / believe was part OF
a baked cat, In the temporary absence OF
the legitimate landlord thereof"